Youngae Mae grew up in Pyongyang, North Korea and after graduating from school she joined the North Korean army as a performer and would travel the country celebrating 'successful' nuclear missile tests.

She was enlisted to the North Korean Secret Service where she was assigned to China to gather intelligence. But things between her and North Korean officials turned sour when they accused her of being a double agent, working for the South Korean secret service. She was sentenced to death and so fled with her son to the USA.