Hyun Nam was born in Saurkriya, South Korea. Her father was born in North Korea. In 1950, during the Korean War, he escaped to South Korea. Her mother also was born in North Korea and escaped to South Korea with her two siblings. She walked for six months from North Korea to South Korea.
Both of them had a good life in North Korea but when they escaped, they had to abandon everything.
Her father and mother were street vendors in North Korea. They married and lived in Seoul. It was mountainside. Though they were poor, she had a happy childhood. She had one sister and one brother. All carried the same first name – Hyun. Only the middle name was changed.
Music was Hyun’s favorite subject. But her parents could not afford to put her in music class in school. She learned music – vocal and piano – at the church, which she attended since birth. Hyun moved to America with her parents in 1976 when she was 16 years old and settled in Denver.
As she did not know English, it was difficult in the beginning. Her favorite subjects were music and algebra. Her mother worked as a seamstress in a factory and her father worked as a janitor in a department store. After high school graduation, Hyun got a job at Lucent but was still studying as a full-time worker and full-time student for seven or eight years. She studied Electronic technology at the Denver Community College. Hyun studied music at the Metro State college. Hyun went back to Korea for ten days in 1987 and got married. In 1988 she moved to Bucks county Philadelphia and her husband was appointed as a Pastor. Hyun has two boys. One son Duwa works for a church. Another son works in a company.
Her husband established a church in Edison in 2000 and she is very much involved in the church. She teaches music lessons to children and adults. For three years she took mission trips to different countries like Peru, Bolivia, Guyana, Columbia, Mexico, etc.