"The second Kim is like a sneaky guy." is a very unintentionally funny line. Man I can't imagine the weight on his heart knowing that his family is being punished by the regime all because he and his father chose not to live there any more.
@@MOME914 Ah, I see you follow a bunch of far left socialist UA-camrs, that explains it. So you think this guy is an actor or he’s lying or do you tell yourself other lies to make you feel better about supporting brutal authoritarian regimes?
North Korean defectors stories need to be taken with a pinch of salt. Many have been proven to be fabrications by other defectors. Interviewing a NK defector is a lucratively business and the juicier the story, the more they can charge per hour. This guys dad was a very important party member with a high ranking position within the government that was responsible for a ton of the countries income. He had a lot more freedom and benefits than he makes it out to be and lived a luxurious life.
imagine only knowing about Morse code and 1930s tech, then being thrown into Ukraine, wondering what these small buzzing things in the air are, only noticing there's a granade strapped to it when it's already too late. insane.
@someperson8649 Yeah. "Big-nose yankee" is a kind of typical stereotype. Not all American are Caucasian. Such an old-fashioned and outdated stereotype comes from the colonial periods, when my grandfather was educated by Imperial Japan. Some expressions North Korean defectors have introduced to me (I have personally meet some of them occasionally) are strikingly similar to that of my grandfather. He passed away more than a decade ago, and I still love & miss him while remaining rejecting his old & outdated ideas from the late 19th & early 20th century. So, the expressions North Korean defectors often use, such as "big-nose Yankee", gives me a mixed feeling. It reminds me of the fact that we are the same people who have the same language, culture, sentiment, and history, while exposing how huge the gap is, which we have to deal with.
@@jwhan2086 I am Caucasian. My whole family has small noses too. Don't take any offense from it. Just curious where the stereotype came from. 🛡 🇺🇸 ♥ 🇰🇷🛡
@someperson8649 It's me who should be worried about whether I did some offence toward you. If you've felt so, I'm really sorry. Anyhow, regarding the stereotype of the "big-nose Yankee," it's not clear where exactly such a stereotype has come from. As far as I know, the term 'Ko-jaeng-yi (코쟁이.. It literally means a guy with a big nose')' was quite commonly used in South Korea. We can find it in some literature from the 1960s. As far as I remember, some old people still used the term in 1990 when I spent most of my childhood. Interestingly, the term was mainly used to refer to Americans. I think this was because Americans, particularly politicians, diplomats, business leaders, scholars, Christian missionaries or military personnel, were the foreign group most frequently exposed to Korea at that period. And most of them were somehow Caucasian males. And somehow, again, there was a stereotype that Caucasians are big-nosed. We don't know when it was derived. It may be imported from Japan or China. For example, we can find the term 'Daebi-Dalja(대비달자)' was introduced to Koreans in the 17th century. This 'Daebi-Dalja' is a Korean version of the pronunciation of Chinse word '大鼻㺚子,' which means 'big nose barbarian,' originally referring to Tartar or Cossack. In 17th century Korea, the term was used to refer to Russians, who employed Cossacks in the border conflict with the Chinese Qing empire. But I cannot find this expression in 18th or 19th-century literature. So quite sceptical. Maybe the term independently originated in 19th-century Korea. Koreans at that time may have thought that the most distinctive physical feature of 'Westerners' was a 'big nose' So they might have invented the expression by themselves. Whatever the origin of the term would be, the term 'Kojaengyi' must have a negative sentiment. Because the Korean suffix '-jaengyi' is used to mean a guy with a certain characteristic in a quite negative way. For example, 'Gupjaengyi(겁쟁이)' is literally a guy with a lot of fear(겁), which means a coward. It seems that the term 'Kojaengyi' is rarely used in South Korea today. At least, the younger generation may not know this expression. For example, several months ago, I was asked what kojaengyi means. The guy asked the question had heard the word from an old lady who saw a group of foreign tourists. "It's kojaengyi, it's kojengyi!' He said he had no idea.
They use water to clean themselves which is a lot cleaner than you yankees. I dare to ask, is it enough for you to use toilet paper to clean your entire body with when you "shower" or is water necessary?
Y’all, he would need authorization from the authorities in South Korean and American intelligence he told what he knew about the regime and its military. Not only for his own safety, but had he told this story publicly before now the intelligence he passed along about Kim or the regime could be worthless. He was given citizenship in America in exchange for this information, in all likelihood. A lot of the details he gave are probably still classified and included in analyst reports given his family’s status in North Korea, but enough time has passed they deemed this safe. It’s no different than someone retired from the CIA getting their past operations published in a book after 30 years. They are who authorized this; he wouldn’t have been brought to live in America through the channels he likely did if he wasn’t of any intel value. There are other interviewers of defectors who specifically disclose they were interviewed by the CIA and SK equivalents with regard to what they know as well
Slight correction. CIA doesn’t care what they know. People get interviewed for the CIA to learn what they are trying to find out ie what mission they were given.
I don't think anything he says is secret or classified. There are hundreds, even thousands of NK defectors out there, all of whom have told very similar stories with much the same details and many with even more compromising information. There's a lot he's not even saying here, like how many North Koreans, even ambassadors and other diplomatic staff, are part of major smuggling, hacking, money-laundering and counterfeiting rings. All this is public knowledge and has been since the late 90s. Governments around the world have no interest in classifying any of this because it helps them easily paint a picture of NK as a rogue state. Frankly there is nothing classified about NK. We know more about their weapons and nuclear infrastructure just reading the mainstream news than we know about America's own weapons and nuclear infrastructure, or many other countries.
@michelle8190 Ehh I’m sorry.. Yes, they do care. They obviously have counterintel folks interview defectors too, but firsthand intelligence from behind the veil of any modern surveillance state is hard to come by, and NK is the epitome of this. They couldn’t care more because these people hear information by mouth that no billion dollar satellite can. This guy would’ve been interviewed from top to bottom and left to right on tape and given things collected by analysts to confirm, all the while wearing a polygraph and being watched behind a window by a psychiatrist and case officer. He was within two degrees of separation from Kim. People like that don’t defect every day and they know a heck of a lot more than the average military conscript, which are still likely interviewed for their military-related intel by the same people. It’s not like defectors are all spies, and the SK pipelines to get North Korean escapees from China to SK is well established and experienced with this sort of thing. You’re right in that North Korea has sent spies as defectors many times, but don’t think the CIA would give someone any information at all before they are fully vetted, have given verifiable information before, and have been proven to be truthful etc. This is more like a 4d chess game, not checkers.
Imagine a criminal like Trump called Kim Jong Un a lover and saluted his murderous general. Thankfully we had real Americans fighting for freedom. The ones he calls losers
As a former teacher in South Korea, he’s so right when he says that most Asian education systems don’t allow you to express yourself. The one thing that completely through us foreign teachers off guard was the lack of common sense that our students had. If their parents didn’t tell them what to do, when to do it and how to do it, then they didn’t know even if they were middle school or high school age. I always tried to teach my students to be independent and to think independently.
I used to teach English as an additional language, and I remember trying to teach Chinese students how to express opinions and debate in English and realising that they didn't know how to express opinions and debate in their own language.
@@thalmoragent9344sorry, I think that way I explained it makes sense only to former/current foreign teachers in East Asia. Let me try to explain this better. The students there are told everything. How to think and what to do. And depending on the school, teachers do everything for them as well. I felt like a maid sometimes at the private kindergarten I worked for and I stopped doing some of the things that the teachers were allowing to go on. For example, the students brush their teeth after lunch. Their parents are told to pack small wash cloths in their backpack. The children had no idea which washcloth was theirs when we emptied all of them into a bin together to take to the teeth brushing room. And part of the reason they didn’t know is because we handed each individual wash cloth to each child after they finished brushing their teeth. So the responsibility was on the teachers to remember the wash cloth that each child brought to school that day. We also poured their toothpaste onto their toothbrush. I understand how difficult it can be to squirt the toothpaste when it’s almost finished, but there’s no excuse why a child shouldn’t be able to practice their fine motor skills on a full tube of toothpaste. Additionally, if 5 year olds can tell you which toys are theirs because they don’t want to share with others, then they have the capacity to recognize which cloth is theirs. So I stopped that system of doing everything for them, I made them get their own washcloth and I made them squeeze their own toothpaste onto their toothbrush. My point is that if a person is always told what to think, told what to do and everything is done for them then they don’t develop critical thinking skills because that’s not a skill that they would even need, and if they don’t develop critical thinking skills, then they don’t develop common sense either. And that’s fine at kindergarten level. But foreign teachers saw this even at high school level. It was a huge culture shock.
⏱️ Timestamps by TimeSkip ⏱️ 00:00:00 - Introduction to Defection Story 00:00:56 - North Korean Propaganda Against America 00:01:39 - American Movies in North Korea 00:02:51 - Access to Information in North Korea 00:07:51 - The Songbun System Explained 00:10:09 - Military Service in North Korea 00:11:25 - Training and Conditions in the Military 00:17:13 - Storm Corps and Special Forces Training 00:18:22 - Current Situation of North Korean Soldiers 00:19:06 - Personal Background and Business in China 00:20:02 - North Korean Executions Explained 00:21:11 - Impact of Kim Jong Un's Policies 00:22:48 - Planning Our Defection 00:25:21 - Threats from North Korean Regime 00:27:49 - Life in North Korean Prison Camps 00:28:41 - Three-Generation Punishment System 00:31:11 - Kim Jong Un's Leadership Critique 00:33:53 - North Korea's Propaganda and Control 00:37:13 - Future of North Korea After Kim Jong Un 00:37:57 - Life Without Freedom in North Korea 00:38:52 - Reflections on Life in America 00:40:03 - Differences in Accents 00:40:55 - Critical Thinking in US Education 00:42:17 - Safety Concerns for North Koreans 00:43:00 - Consulting on Korean Reunification
@ even native English speakers are tripping up over this. Language barrier is one thing but media literacy is nonexistent in society. Like why jump the gun and go “WHO AUTHORIZED THIS?” when a few clicks into Insider’s page will show you it’s a video segment title
And it's not a bad thing that he established a relationship with him. Nobody truly knows what their nuclear capabilities are, but it has been confirmed multiple times that they've set off nuclear weapons during tests and verified they do in fact have them. At the time Trump made "peace" with him, it was when tensions between the DPRK and the U.S. were at an all-time high. Trump is a lot like Reagan, only far less class. Reagan believed in amping up the rhetoric, and then coming to the table. He did it with the USSR most notably, same strategy.
There are reports of some of them standing still when a suicide drone approaches, thinking it can't see them if they don't move. It's honestly pretty horrifying how unprepared they are by their government. A lesson to all about what fascism produces for the common people and why it's critical to always fight right-wing ideologies wherever they appear.
@@SuperlunarNimcommunism is left wing and so is facism. Your a weird commie that knows nothing. Democrats are pawns for one world government cloaked by the cloud of liberals take this from someone whos whole family came from communism and sees what the democratic party is doing.
I literally commented like 20 seconds in the video just cause it just seemed to make sense but he just mentioned it now ( 24:50), and yeah no surprise it's to protect future escapees and their networks. There is one thing i do find puzzling tho... now i'm not a conspiracy guy at all, and i had to guess chances are i'm confused because i'm, we all are, lacking the real precise sensitive details which obviously is the point of keeping a secret and i didn't notice any statements that could be actually used to crack down on espaces, at a macro level. But on a personal level... this video makes no sense whatsoever. Like reasoning is pretty straightforward. You we probably helped by some kind of underground network that helps NK defectors, probably crossed path with at least 2 intelligence agencies at some point and if a single loyal NK saw this any info would be used both at a political level, like idk destroying some route but more so on a personal level. NK doesn't seem to enjoy people trying to simply leave, imagine how so much the must hate this kind of inside "secrets" to leak, àd this guy makes it seem like he wasn't a top tier dude but still had WAY higher social standing then most, went to elite military units studied abroad, and just doesn't give the same "holocaust survivor" vib3 for lack of a better word most NK defectors i ve seen give, who suffered starvation etc So he is not a nobody to the regime. If he's worrizd about people back there, isn't this like the best way to get them locked up? I mean u made it, escaped and managed to pass it as something else, now if any brainwashed NK sees this... i wouldn't wanna be a relative
Man, it is so depressing seeing what these people have to go through. I can only hope the North Korean people can one day live free lives. I hope this guy has a good life in the US. Prayers to his family.
I also came from a free country( Brazil). And been in the US for 65 years,god bless my america 🇺🇸 ,we do have our problems but nothing like them or even Brazil,I came I was 15 and I, 80 now and a citizen since I was 16,the grayest gift my dad( american) gave me was this great nation of ours ❤
Was wondering that too. I would guess CIA through State Dept which handled his defection, which would prefer Kim regime not explicitly knowing what exact details he revealed. They won't necessarily know what he knew or didn't. It's always better for an adversary to not know what you know and/or think you know more or less than you do. Creates either too much or too little be changed as result to the advantage of US.
Was wondering that too. I would guess CIA through State Dept which handled his defection, which would prefer Kim regime not explicitly knowing what exact details he revealed. They won't necessarily know what he knew or didn't. It's always better for an adversary to not know what you know and/or think you know more or less than you do. Creates either too much or too little be changed as result to the advantage of US.
"Airborne troops they never had airborne training, never had a chance to jump out of an airplane because they like few and they don't have parachutes" OHHHH BOY. A lot to unpack there...if they had parachutes..
Bulls**t. You can check some of the videos of military parades, you can see airborne troops parachuting on the parade. Why make such an easily verifiable lie?
But they are very flexible, can withstand boards being broken over them, and can break chains over their backs. That's what makes them airborne. They don't need parachutes because they kick the air into submission on the way down.
This is the first North Koreans experience I have heard from someone who was in an elite class. Its crazy how even the chosen few were still living miserable lives. At least they didnt spend every second of every day thinking about how they can get something edible so they wont die. They still had to worry about being killed though. So much fear and uncertainty at all times. Having to worry that some distant relative is going to do something "wrong" that will land you in trouble or dead. Its so heartbreaking that so many people live like this. If you havent heard what its like for people in rural communities, I'd recommend Shawn Ryans' interview with Yeonomi Park. Very different experience. Yeonomi said she was considered middle class basically because none of her immediate family starved to death. Also, the things she had to get through after getting out of North Korea and was in China..... Its a tough listen just to warn people.
I don't know how trustable these people are, but from what i understood, the more power they have, more is the risk of them being killed. Understandable, as people who works in positions of power and often travels and works abroad have bigger chances of being or being perceived as foreign agents. This guy sounds like it, he ran when he discovered people close to him were getting arrested, fled to the US (North Koreans usually are not allowed into the US) and now works for a "democracy agency". I guess DPRK government isn't that tolerant about foreign interference.
You know Yeonomi park is a complete grifter right? She’s added new things to her story over the years to make it more dramatic, despite the fact she was from the wealthy class. She was on a South Korean reality show years ago where her story was different.
I don't know if you listen to the video carefully but he is not a regular North Korean citizen he is from the elite class, he most likely already knew English at an early age.
No, Authorized Account is the name of the series on Insider. Why would you post this like you know what you're talking about, when you clearly have no clue? Just be quiet next time since you clearly are not well informed
how is it spectacular? It isn't at all, he is from the elite class in NK, he traveled the entire world and studied all his life, and even then he still talks worse than random European teenagers who also have English as their second or third language.
@@freshrockpapa-e7799 English and Korean have very different accents, you know that? Most European languages have their roots in Indo-European languages and Most Europeans understand English usage better than non-Europeans.
@@TheUrisiO Most Europeans aren't the social elite of their country and haven't traveled the entire world. Many haven't studied English their entire lives either. Also not all European languges have a Germanic origin. Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese...
@@freshrockpapa-e7799 His English is spectacular for a North Korean, elite or not. He probably also speaks Chinese. Most European teenagers start leaning English at kindergarten. You need to chill and think before you speak
His English sounds like a second language learned at a young age. In a dictatorship shutoff from the world, the ‘Elite’ are the last people you’d want to travel a lot and be able to speak a bridge language this well. Everything about him feels wrong, once he talked about ‘unification’, I couldn’t see him as a ‘defector’ or ‘evacuee’… He sounds like a spy trying to hide in plain sight.
This is one hundred percent lies and propaganda buddy. I am a journalist who focuses on that part of the world and I can tell you first hand that none of this is true.
@@PibrochPonder you literally have free access to the Internet, an education, human rights. Your arrogance is blatant proof of how spoiled you are compared to people in N. Korea. People in N Korea get executed for watching non N Korean media
I'm polish, and I was born after the authoritarian USSR client government collapsed, but tales from my parents, and especialy grandparents from 40s and 50s really resonate with this story. Poland was lucky to sit in the middle of europe, and we couldn't be as easly isolated, but the point system, disappearing, bribery and beaurocracy built to supress - it all happened here too. I really hope that North Koreans can enjoy the freedom one day.
USSR is not to blame. the blame was on Incompetent leaders, if wasn't for USSR, Poland wouldn't even exist anymore. Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Germany was very good places to live.
@@Иван_Михайлов-ь8бIf it wasn’t for the USSR WW2 would have never happened since Nazi Germany and the Soviets wouldn’t have worked together via Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Poland only exists because of the bravery of Poles. Russia is not a very great place to live if you haven’t noticed.
This is my underwear. There are many like them but this pair is mine. My underwear is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My underwear, without me, is useless. Without my underwear I am useless. - The Underwearman's Creed
it is part of the soviet style 1950's dehumanization programs. They are designed to foster aggression, and break down personal bonds and unit bonds, while making them deferential to the most senior soldier present. This means men can be transferred in and out of units easily, losses can be ignored from a morale perspective, and it reduces the chances of unit rebellion since everyone fears the head solder (or officer), and only listens to them. Russia does similar things with their "meat wave" units today.
Apparently you didn’t watch the whole video before you commented. The part about disappearing 3 generations of a family because some guy said something anti govt didn’t shock you?
@@wm79198 Quite unfortunately if you're well researched in the horrible methods of authoritarian regimes this level of heinous inhumanity is 'expected'. That does not mean these things do not hold weight of emotion or do not deserve the discussion and anger that they clearly do. But the context of the comment the guy made was a shocking (perhaps surprising would be a better synonym?) revelation.
I think most Americans look at NK and they despise the government. They do not blame or dislike the people who live there. When they are born and throughout their lives, they only know what NK allows them. I can't imagine any North Korean would want to come to the US. How difficult it would be to realize their government has been lying and oppressing them for their own gains. American government is far from perfect but to one day realize that the rest of the world has been watching NK suffering would be so hard to process.
Fairly certain many North Korean want to escape to US given the choice. Even in a highly controlled place like NK, there's still a lot of contraband, especially of movies. So a fair number of people are aware that the US may not be what is shown in propaganda. And they would also be aware of their own real situation.
Makes you really appreciate being born in a free western country. The average N.Korean family who's beaten down starving and innocent I feel bad for them. Eventually the people ALWAYS rise up and revolt.
The comments did not pass the vibe check. This is his story to tell, as he was the one who lived through it. Who are you to question the “authorization”. Imagine going through all the just for people to hint that your lying. Everything he has said has tracked with other other defectors. Why y’all want to hate so bad?? Thank you insider for this very informative interview, we really have no idea the cruelty that goes on there,
I think that is throwing a stick in the spokes for many. The series of videos is called Authorized Accounts. So reference to that is tripping people up. The only things he might not want to talk about (authorized or not) is details of how he escaped or things that might cause even more danger to his family. Maybe they should have picked a different name for the series.
Not that he's lying, it's that he's not saying the whole truth. And yes, there are defectors who lie. The truth matters. There is a geopolitical conflict involving North Korea, South Korea, China and the US. Defectors are used as pawns, their message is a tool to influence public opinion.
I think them being so cared that someone in the army shoots glorious leader with live ammo is just a convenient excuse to hide the fact that they can't afford bullets in large quantity for training. Rocketman fooling no one but his own people yet again.
Elite unit? Mandatory service, three rounds per year and no underpants. I was always fascinated by the medals all over their uniforms with zero combat experience since 1950.
Some of the footage they show in various propaganda is so badly done that it would be hilarious if not so dark. I remember seeing a fake shack with blankets that said "American Red Cross," and there was a North Korean guy with heavy makeup in a Green Bay coat trying to look vaguely American. They spliced in real footage of homeless people somewhere in Eastern Europe.
I've seen a couple of these type of videos and I'm always amazed how much emphasis is placed on hating Americans. Obviously there were plenty of times in US history where certain groups have been targeted, I'm in no way saying historically and even at present, the US has clean hands, but if you ask the average American, on a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis, how much you think about North Korea---they'd probably confuse it with South Korea or say not at all. It must be quite a shock to those that have made it to the US, to first come to the "land of their enemies," or to find out that people are just existing and doing there own things and not talking about them or "addressing their enemies."
It shouldn't be surprising. NK is literally still in a state of war with the South and the US has been a key ally since the 50s, and is the source of most of the sanctions that have severely limited the NK economy. The US has built up its economy and affluence and been able to move on (I mean, think of how many wars they've started or been in since the Korean War); meanwhile, NK has been stuck in this state the whole time, still sanctioned and treated like a global enemy. It's why they still literally use the term "deserter" rather than "refugee" or even just "someone who leaves"; it's a country that treats every citizen like an active combatant and to leave is equivalent to deserting an army.
Maybe because of what the USA did to North Korea? Almost every country who hates the USA is because of something the USA did to Them. It’s never for no reason…😅
When ever I think about this I just remember that NK has an Agitation and propoganda department (APD that is one of their key government programs. Food for thought for sure
To compare, America is that loud and proud child. They show off everything and say they are the best at everything, thats why its a common thing to other country to hate American culture
North korea is a very fragile nation, i am pretty sure 70-80% of their army would defect or surrender less than a month into war with south... the problematic stuff is just nuclear weapon, political willingness and some damages to Seoul..
From what I gather, the troops who are being sent to fight in Ukraine are in a constant state of confusion and panic. They're seeing war for the first time in 70 years, and most of this tech is completely alien to them. Like, almost literally alien, these guys never prepared for drones dropping grenades and bombs at them. They were too busy showing off flashy punches and kicks to look cool to other troops. Plus, imagine the horror you would feel when you come to realize that you're not as powerful and invincible as a fighting force that you were led to believe. And now you're getting blown to pieces by robots operated by volunteers and factory workers.
@@thestraydog even without the drone, even in conventional 90`s style warfare, i highly doubt their capabilities in fighting.. from what we hear so far, their shooting training are very minimal.. their tactic is just strom you position to get very2 close n thus didnt need precision shooting. might work for defensive ambushes, but nothing else..
@ they also dont get to own or keep any of their underwear at all. They have to share them with the rest of the army. And the officers distribute them themselves. And no they dont wash them in a washing machine they do that in the river. I think that should be enough to conclude that north korean soldiers may possibly have severe stds?
@@thestraydog That is horrific. I would probably consider their soldiers to be victims as much as anyone else. The humane thing would be to simply help them defect.
Now, people need to remember that this guy was self-admittedly part of the "elite class" and they only had things like 2 hours of electricity. Imagine what your average North Korean citizen goes through.
@38:30, I think the CIA and other agencies have found this out the hard way. A regime must leave by being unwelcomed from inside, by the people. A foreign interdiction will not end well. Maybe the UN could hold an open debate and election but that would require UN forces to control large portions of North Korea. There is a world where South Korea absorbs the entire peninsula. Making a unified democratic Korea. Yet that is an invasion which will be costly.
@@lukassubstanzentanz3053 You certainly have more freedoms in South Korea than you do in the North. There isnt a perfect country by any means. Like capitalism is deeply flawed, especially when we talk about 'free and unregulated markets/industries'. That isnt the goal here. I'm just talking more directly about how decapitation strategies do not really work. And would be foolish to think ‘this time around’ is any better.
One reoccurring theme that I notice from both North and South Korean citizens (and former citizens) is a very strong desire to reconnect the Korean peninsula. I think that says a lot about humans and healing.
It’s hard to know if that’s even true or if it’s just a lie to make them look bad. Why would Western countries say good things about a country They view as an enemy? I have trouble believing that a Nuclear state lacks food. But it’s definitely possible.
I was stationed in Panmunjom (President Trump stood in the spot my duty position was on Conference Row) in the early 90s, and several of our KATUSA soldiers had family in North Korea. One was caught and convicted of smuggling because he had been sending money and food across the border to his literally starving relatives. The stories the KATUSA's told of what North Korea was really like were horrifying. The whole country is a sham, a cardboard cutout of a society where only the "elites" live in luxury while the "peasants" endure Medieval conditions. Mr. Lee's comment about only firing 3 bullets shows a stark contrast between the USA and South Korea, there were times when we had to burn thousands of rounds of ammo in order to make sure the budget for the next year didn't get reduced. The one thing the NKPA has is bodies, their tech and tactics are woefully inadequate as is being shown in Ukraine. The ROK Army is pretty solid, they trained with us regularly and know how to use our equipment and the soldiers are excellent overall. Every North Korean who manages to make it out of that hellhole tells the same stories, even 30 years ago defectors said the same things, that country is locked in poverty and misery.
not much to hack, it seems- saw a guy on youtube get a north korean computer browser to connect to the internet (with limits, of course- ex. couldn’t reach youtube, but was able reach google)
To me one of the most interesting parts was him coming to America thinking he was going to see the pinnacle of western society and being met with a run down filthy city full of drugs and homelessness. Then hearing him go on to yearn to return to North Korea one day (albeit after serious reform).
I lived in the USA for ten years. Coming from Europe I also had a bit of culture shock. The USA does not distribute wealth so as well as having some fabulously wealthy people and an affluent middle class there are many that are just forgotten.
I mean it was ingrained in him since childhood so of course once he got here it was probably natural and sub consciously that he looked for flaws as presented to him his entire life before then.
Lots of guns used to be designed with top- or side-mounted magazines in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Think MP 18, Boys, Bren, Sten, DP-27, Vickers, and so on. It allows the gun, and soldier, to lay lower to cover and stay more protected inside a trench, or foxhole, behind a wall, or even just present a smaller silhouette when prone on flat ground. Belt-fed machine guns still feed from the side. It's also easier to change magazines while prone if the mag isn't on the bottom. These designs mostly went away as trench warfare did, and modern maneuver warfare prioritized volume and mobility over protecting static positions. Remember, North Koreans aren't stupid. They're isolated and inexperienced, their government's priorities are wildly misplaced, but they don't just do things without reason.
This was enjoyable to watch. I under the topic is a very sensitive one. But to hear him come out of it in the other side leaves you feeling touched. I really wish I could be around for the annual meetings he has with other North Koreans.
I actually find it inspiring that he calls himself North Korean still. It shows that even the embers of hope for a future survive the biggest and most oppressive of hammers.
North Korea have definitely existed long enough to differentiate from South Korea, no different to Taiwan which now differentiate itself from China. North Korea has a lot of potential but people think it's easy to change it for the better. Mind you, North Korea is the way it is because of international sanctions for possessing nuclear weapons that other nations also possess.
@@adambrande sanctions are kind of an understatement. They were already starting to have problems in the 70s and 80s with their economy and industries. And the collapse of the ussr together with corruption, bureucracy and mismanagement is the main causes as to why north korea has been this way for a while. And then there are other things such as not really caring that much about refurbishing their industries. Like their tractor factory for example. Because nuclear warheads are far more important than domestic consumer goods and the economy.
@deez8202 lol you can clearly see what happened to nations standing against the USA without having nuclear capabilities. Even Ukraine suffered from giving up it's nuclear capabilities. NK can't trust any of it's neighbours to respect it's sovereignty, especially when it's military is in no way capable compared to South Korea's
@@adambrande yeah but heres the thing the chinese dont want the two koreas two unite so even if there was a war. China would just simply say ''over my dead body''
Every time I hear a story like this as an American, I just, idk…wish other Americans (including myself) would realize the true,absolute freedom and power that we have and do better and truly work together to make our nation so much more incredible than it currently is. We are, without a shadow of doubt very ungrateful for what we have. I don’t say that in a mean way, it’s just fortunately we haven’t experienced growing up like that, so we take what we do have for granted. I hope that makes sense to someone and doesn’t come off wrong. God bless this whole world🫶
Yes he does, and the choices his family made, defection and marking the ones left behind, are part of that. I've heard tons of NK people not wanting to defect for that reason, but then again the elites in NK only care for themselves, so, his tale makes sense of gruesome selfishness that ends up growing in that so-called "collective system".
This gentleman's story appears to be completely believable... unlike... some others... yeonmi*cough*park. He doesn't try to dramatize his experience, whatsoever. He tells it like it is. I wish him all the best.
@@sean2044 The mere fact that you need to ask while being aware of her story (or stories) tells me that, no matter whatever arguments I put forward, you will still believe her. Nevertheless, her story keeps changing on very specific details that no one (bar someone with Alzheimer's) would ever forget, regardless of trauma. In addition, HER OWN MOTHER, had to correct her on South Korean TV. Her own mother said that their lives in North Korea were never that bad and they never had to starve or "eat grass to survive". There are a few videos on UA-cam who will explain it better than this comment ever could. Just do a search "Yeonmi Park lies" or "Yeonmi Park exposed". You will ear, from HER OWN mouth how radically different her stories can be depending on who she is telling them to. I don't think that I will be able to do much better than this.
@@sean2044 I suggest the video from Parallax named "Yeonmi Park - From Activist to Grifter" In it, I commented the following sometime ago: "I think that Park's case can be summarized in a few sentences. What she seems to seek the most is attention, fame and wealth. These three things are extremely limited in North Korea. In fact, for her needs, not even South Korea would ever be enough. The U.S. would give her the unlimited dosages of attention, fame and wealth that she sought. Changing her story to satisfy a particular audience is one tactic which, by the looks of things, has served her very, very well, with very, very few inconveniences. The ability to cry-on-demand, even while telling completely fictional stories is something which has also served her incredibly well. She often blames her lack of fluency in English for the discrepancies in her stories. However, being extremely poor while eating grass in on story to being in the top 1% of North Korean society in a different story is a discrepancy which no language barrier can justify. If you decide to believe all of her stories, in whatever form, then congratulations, you fell for her con."
@@sean2044there are multiple videos up of her giving completely conflicting statements, & retelling the same stories with extreme differences regarding her time in NK/defection over many years.
Obviously North Korea hasn’t authorized anything except his assassination. That’s referring to what he may be authorized to tell about western intelligence agencies or his own route for escaping.
I’m curious to know how he and his father justified defecting while knowing it would destroy the lives of their family members. In his own words, the family was fired from jobs, relocated, heavily monitored, and even sent to prison camp. When he spoke about seeing the fear on his grandmother’s eyes in her plea for his return, I started to wonder if I could do that to my family. I wish he had talked about his justifications for defecting with respect to the family punishment, and whether he feels a sense of guilt or regret. On the surface, it appears to be a selfish act, but I don’t know what I’d do unless I was in the same situation.
Imagining how you’d act when facing a life-or-death decision is completely different from what you’d actually do in that moment. Yes, his entire extended family and future generations paid a terrible price for his defection, and that’s tragic. But that cruelty is the regime’s burden to bear, not his. Blaming him alone overlooks the fact that an oppressive system punishes innocent relatives to maintain control. None of us can fully know how we’d weigh our personal freedom against an entire family’s future unless we were in that impossible situation ourselves.
That is part of the entire point to the three generations punishment. The threat against your entire bloodline is one of the main reasons NKs aren't defecting in mass numbers. If the risk was just to their own lives we'd see millions try. If it was just the immediate family we might see thousands of families try. So the dear leader makes sure everyone knows that even if you and your kids get out, your first, second, third cousins, friends, neighbors, people that saw your face in passing in the last 30 years, will all get disappeared and tortured. Strong incentive to stay and suffer together. So it is the rare few who defect, and without having gone through what they and theirs have, I cannot stand in judgement of their choice.
The fear is what keeps the regime in power. The threat of severe punishment is what gives this dictatorship its power, but it is also its greatest weakness. It's better to live on your feet than die on your knees.
@@stormtempterf8058 Yes and it also combines with the fact that the people who tend to have enough resources to defect are those already elites. Together with the 3 gen rule and their relative standing in society, it makes the number of potential defectors very small.
"The second Kim is like a sneaky guy." is a very unintentionally funny line.
Man I can't imagine the weight on his heart knowing that his family is being punished by the regime all because he and his father chose not to live there any more.
I immediately thought of him in Team America.
@@BassSpy LMFAO
He’s so ronrey
"...I call us escapees but I prefer to be called 'North Korean'" made me tear up. God damn
i could listen to this guy for forever. no crazy stories. everything lines up. super entertaining to listen to.
3 bullets a year and sharing underwear is cap
Why are you lying
He truly is a wonderful storyteller.
@@MOME914 Ah, I see you follow a bunch of far left socialist UA-camrs, that explains it. So you think this guy is an actor or he’s lying or do you tell yourself other lies to make you feel better about supporting brutal authoritarian regimes?
North Korean defectors stories need to be taken with a pinch of salt. Many have been proven to be fabrications by other defectors. Interviewing a NK defector is a lucratively business and the juicier the story, the more they can charge per hour.
This guys dad was a very important party member with a high ranking position within the government that was responsible for a ton of the countries income. He had a lot more freedom and benefits than he makes it out to be and lived a luxurious life.
imagine only knowing about Morse code and 1930s tech, then being thrown into Ukraine, wondering what these small buzzing things in the air are, only noticing there's a granade strapped to it when it's already too late. insane.
DPRK army has drones of their own.
@@Facerip you mean drones as in their people? lmfao
Right!?? They barely even seen a bullet!
That’s a reach, they have technology just like the rest of the world. They’re just limited to the confines of North Korea.
@NotchNate bro stop. The only tech they got is the tech to know how to starve xD
I laughed when he said, "Big-nose Yankees!" because my grandfather, who came from North Korea, said the same thing.
Im a Yankee and my nose is a lot smaller than his 😕
@someperson8649 Yeah. "Big-nose yankee" is a kind of typical stereotype. Not all American are Caucasian. Such an old-fashioned and outdated stereotype comes from the colonial periods, when my grandfather was educated by Imperial Japan.
Some expressions North Korean defectors have introduced to me (I have personally meet some of them occasionally) are strikingly similar to that of my grandfather. He passed away more than a decade ago, and I still love & miss him while remaining rejecting his old & outdated ideas from the late 19th & early 20th century. So, the expressions North Korean defectors often use, such as "big-nose Yankee", gives me a mixed feeling. It reminds me of the fact that we are the same people who have the same language, culture, sentiment, and history, while exposing how huge the gap is, which we have to deal with.
@@jwhan2086 I am Caucasian. My whole family has small noses too.
Don't take any offense from it. Just curious where the stereotype came from.
🛡 🇺🇸 ♥ 🇰🇷🛡
@someperson8649 It's me who should be worried about whether I did some offence toward you. If you've felt so, I'm really sorry.
Anyhow, regarding the stereotype of the "big-nose Yankee," it's not clear where exactly such a stereotype has come from.
As far as I know, the term 'Ko-jaeng-yi (코쟁이.. It literally means a guy with a big nose')' was quite commonly used in South Korea. We can find it in some literature from the 1960s. As far as I remember, some old people still used the term in 1990 when I spent most of my childhood.
Interestingly, the term was mainly used to refer to Americans. I think this was because Americans, particularly politicians, diplomats, business leaders, scholars, Christian missionaries or military personnel, were the foreign group most frequently exposed to Korea at that period. And most of them were somehow Caucasian males. And somehow, again, there was a stereotype that Caucasians are big-nosed.
We don't know when it was derived. It may be imported from Japan or China. For example, we can find the term 'Daebi-Dalja(대비달자)' was introduced to Koreans in the 17th century. This 'Daebi-Dalja' is a Korean version of the pronunciation of Chinse word '大鼻㺚子,' which means 'big nose barbarian,' originally referring to Tartar or Cossack. In 17th century Korea, the term was used to refer to Russians, who employed Cossacks in the border conflict with the Chinese Qing empire.
But I cannot find this expression in 18th or 19th-century literature. So quite sceptical. Maybe the term independently originated in 19th-century Korea. Koreans at that time may have thought that the most distinctive physical feature of 'Westerners' was a 'big nose' So they might have invented the expression by themselves.
Whatever the origin of the term would be, the term 'Kojaengyi' must have a negative sentiment. Because the Korean suffix '-jaengyi' is used to mean a guy with a certain characteristic in a quite negative way. For example, 'Gupjaengyi(겁쟁이)' is literally a guy with a lot of fear(겁), which means a coward.
It seems that the term 'Kojaengyi' is rarely used in South Korea today. At least, the younger generation may not know this expression. For example, several months ago, I was asked what kojaengyi means. The guy asked the question had heard the word from an old lady who saw a group of foreign tourists. "It's kojaengyi, it's kojengyi!' He said he had no idea.
@someperson8649 jewish ppl probably
Everyday I am euphoric by the fact I wasn't born in North Korea.
Or in any developing nation
@@Happy_Spatulaindeed we are blessed
@@Happy_Spatulathat’s why their best are coming here rather than developing their homelands
us from the south must always be thankful of this and remember our families in the north
Unless you are Kim jong
Dennis Rodman and little rocket man has got to be the strangest friendship in the world
this is true but somehow at the same time it makes complete sense
Kim Jong Il loved American movies and basketball
Stephanie Soo has a really interesting video on “little rocket man” and his odd friendships are included.
Make KIMCHI Great Again 😎 Kim Jong Un
Still a better love story than Twilight.
No toilet paper and shared underwear. That is a bad combination.
They use water to clean themselves which is a lot cleaner than you yankees. I dare to ask, is it enough for you to use toilet paper to clean your entire body with when you "shower" or is water necessary?
brings a whole new meaning to "commando"
No shi... err... umm... I mean, I agree... 🙃
At least they don't have to share the toilet paper.
It could be no underwear and shared toilet paper. Silver linings...
Y’all, he would need authorization from the authorities in South Korean and American intelligence he told what he knew about the regime and its military. Not only for his own safety, but had he told this story publicly before now the intelligence he passed along about Kim or the regime could be worthless. He was given citizenship in America in exchange for this information, in all likelihood. A lot of the details he gave are probably still classified and included in analyst reports given his family’s status in North Korea, but enough time has passed they deemed this safe. It’s no different than someone retired from the CIA getting their past operations published in a book after 30 years. They are who authorized this; he wouldn’t have been brought to live in America through the channels he likely did if he wasn’t of any intel value. There are other interviewers of defectors who specifically disclose they were interviewed by the CIA and SK equivalents with regard to what they know as well
Slight correction. CIA doesn’t care what they know. People get interviewed for the CIA to learn what they are trying to find out ie what mission they were given.
dude works for Global Peace Foundation in Washington, DC.. that is the Moon sect.... just swapped one weird belief system for another
I don't think anything he says is secret or classified. There are hundreds, even thousands of NK defectors out there, all of whom have told very similar stories with much the same details and many with even more compromising information. There's a lot he's not even saying here, like how many North Koreans, even ambassadors and other diplomatic staff, are part of major smuggling, hacking, money-laundering and counterfeiting rings. All this is public knowledge and has been since the late 90s. Governments around the world have no interest in classifying any of this because it helps them easily paint a picture of NK as a rogue state. Frankly there is nothing classified about NK. We know more about their weapons and nuclear infrastructure just reading the mainstream news than we know about America's own weapons and nuclear infrastructure, or many other countries.
@michelle8190 Ehh I’m sorry.. Yes, they do care. They obviously have counterintel folks interview defectors too, but firsthand intelligence from behind the veil of any modern surveillance state is hard to come by, and NK is the epitome of this. They couldn’t care more because these people hear information by mouth that no billion dollar satellite can. This guy would’ve been interviewed from top to bottom and left to right on tape and given things collected by analysts to confirm, all the while wearing a polygraph and being watched behind a window by a psychiatrist and case officer. He was within two degrees of separation from Kim. People like that don’t defect every day and they know a heck of a lot more than the average military conscript, which are still likely interviewed for their military-related intel by the same people. It’s not like defectors are all spies, and the SK pipelines to get North Korean escapees from China to SK is well established and experienced with this sort of thing. You’re right in that North Korea has sent spies as defectors many times, but don’t think the CIA would give someone any information at all before they are fully vetted, have given verifiable information before, and have been proven to be truthful etc. This is more like a 4d chess game, not checkers.
Why aren't you fancy with all your book smarts
It's nice that he acknowledges the freedom most take for granted.
Imagine a criminal like Trump called Kim Jong Un a lover and saluted his murderous general. Thankfully we had real Americans fighting for freedom. The ones he calls losers
I was expecting a "Kim Jung Un did not respond to our request for a comment" at the end.
As a former teacher in South Korea, he’s so right when he says that most Asian education systems don’t allow you to express yourself. The one thing that completely through us foreign teachers off guard was the lack of common sense that our students had. If their parents didn’t tell them what to do, when to do it and how to do it, then they didn’t know even if they were middle school or high school age. I always tried to teach my students to be independent and to think independently.
Self Expression and Common Sense aren't synonymous though... so that's not the direct/only reason. 🤔
Yezzz yezzzz me luh u lonk tyme!!!! Five dollah fi dollah
Me love you long time…. ⬆️ is just me using my accent. 👍🏻
I used to teach English as an additional language, and I remember trying to teach Chinese students how to express opinions and debate in English and realising that they didn't know how to express opinions and debate in their own language.
@@thalmoragent9344sorry, I think that way I explained it makes sense only to former/current foreign teachers in East Asia. Let me try to explain this better. The students there are told everything. How to think and what to do. And depending on the school, teachers do everything for them as well. I felt like a maid sometimes at the private kindergarten I worked for and I stopped doing some of the things that the teachers were allowing to go on. For example, the students brush their teeth after lunch. Their parents are told to pack small wash cloths in their backpack. The children had no idea which washcloth was theirs when we emptied all of them into a bin together to take to the teeth brushing room. And part of the reason they didn’t know is because we handed each individual wash cloth to each child after they finished brushing their teeth. So the responsibility was on the teachers to remember the wash cloth that each child brought to school that day. We also poured their toothpaste onto their toothbrush. I understand how difficult it can be to squirt the toothpaste when it’s almost finished, but there’s no excuse why a child shouldn’t be able to practice their fine motor skills on a full tube of toothpaste. Additionally, if 5 year olds can tell you which toys are theirs because they don’t want to share with others, then they have the capacity to recognize which cloth is theirs. So I stopped that system of doing everything for them, I made them get their own washcloth and I made them squeeze their own toothpaste onto their toothbrush. My point is that if a person is always told what to think, told what to do and everything is done for them then they don’t develop critical thinking skills because that’s not a skill that they would even need, and if they don’t develop critical thinking skills, then they don’t develop common sense either. And that’s fine at kindergarten level. But foreign teachers saw this even at high school level. It was a huge culture shock.
⏱️ Timestamps by TimeSkip ⏱️
00:00:00 - Introduction to Defection Story
00:00:56 - North Korean Propaganda Against America
00:01:39 - American Movies in North Korea
00:02:51 - Access to Information in North Korea
00:07:51 - The Songbun System Explained
00:10:09 - Military Service in North Korea
00:11:25 - Training and Conditions in the Military
00:17:13 - Storm Corps and Special Forces Training
00:18:22 - Current Situation of North Korean Soldiers
00:19:06 - Personal Background and Business in China
00:20:02 - North Korean Executions Explained
00:21:11 - Impact of Kim Jong Un's Policies
00:22:48 - Planning Our Defection
00:25:21 - Threats from North Korean Regime
00:27:49 - Life in North Korean Prison Camps
00:28:41 - Three-Generation Punishment System
00:31:11 - Kim Jong Un's Leadership Critique
00:33:53 - North Korea's Propaganda and Control
00:37:13 - Future of North Korea After Kim Jong Un
00:37:57 - Life Without Freedom in North Korea
00:38:52 - Reflections on Life in America
00:40:03 - Differences in Accents
00:40:55 - Critical Thinking in US Education
00:42:17 - Safety Concerns for North Koreans
00:43:00 - Consulting on Korean Reunification
Why are you here?
@AutismSurvivor they're merely providing useful information.
imagine what you could achieve if you chose to do something useful
He does this for free. He's sacrificing his time for us. He is risen
@@BradW-ye8cni'm sure it is a bot / ai based
Guys “Authorized Account” is the name of the segment by Insider. Not everything’s a conspiracy theory lol
The thing with UA-cam is that it is accessible by people with zero knowledge of the English language.
@ even native English speakers are tripping up over this. Language barrier is one thing but media literacy is nonexistent in society. Like why jump the gun and go “WHO AUTHORIZED THIS?” when a few clicks into Insider’s page will show you it’s a video segment title
However he is likely protected by south Korea and US, so technically this is what he can say without jeopardizing his and other defectors safety
Wired could take some advice from this channel; a nice, warm background instead of the BLINDING white of their Tech Support series
100%!!
You got a lot of time in your life it seems😂😂😂
@@scrubsjlI think that’s a good thing they have time on their hands. Better than someone who doesn’t.
@@kryptomarco3024 Wow that’s incredibly interesting 😀
turn down your brightness
I have to say that I laughed quite hard at his comment that "President Trump wrote a love letter to Kim Jong Un."
Trump wants to be the western equivalent
I was sad back when it occurred
Return of the (orange) blob. Starts Jan 20th 2025
@@kieronparr3403we meet at the capitol?
And it's not a bad thing that he established a relationship with him. Nobody truly knows what their nuclear capabilities are, but it has been confirmed multiple times that they've set off nuclear weapons during tests and verified they do in fact have them. At the time Trump made "peace" with him, it was when tensions between the DPRK and the U.S. were at an all-time high. Trump is a lot like Reagan, only far less class. Reagan believed in amping up the rhetoric, and then coming to the table. He did it with the USSR most notably, same strategy.
It has become very clear that the storm corps were not told about drones with explosives attached to them.
Not told about anything
its mad how 80s movies never predicted drones as they evolved.
There are reports of some of them standing still when a suicide drone approaches, thinking it can't see them if they don't move. It's honestly pretty horrifying how unprepared they are by their government. A lesson to all about what fascism produces for the common people and why it's critical to always fight right-wing ideologies wherever they appear.
@@SuperlunarNimcommunism is left wing and so is facism. Your a weird commie that knows nothing. Democrats are pawns for one world government cloaked by the cloud of liberals take this from someone whos whole family came from communism and sees what the democratic party is doing.
@@SuperlunarNim communism* which inherently leads to fascism.
Im pretty sure he's not authorized to tell us anything
Thank you for your service to the family, comrade!
But i was puzzled too at first lol
I literally commented like 20 seconds in the video just cause it just seemed to make sense but he just mentioned it now ( 24:50), and yeah no surprise it's to protect future escapees and their networks.
There is one thing i do find puzzling tho... now i'm not a conspiracy guy at all, and i had to guess chances are i'm confused because i'm, we all are, lacking the real precise sensitive details which obviously is the point of keeping a secret and i didn't notice any statements that could be actually used to crack down on espaces, at a macro level.
But on a personal level... this video makes no sense whatsoever.
Like reasoning is pretty straightforward. You we probably helped by some kind of underground network that helps NK defectors, probably crossed path with at least 2 intelligence agencies at some point and if a single loyal NK saw this any info would be used both at a political level, like idk destroying some route but more so on a personal level.
NK doesn't seem to enjoy people trying to simply leave, imagine how so much the must hate this kind of inside "secrets" to leak, àd this guy makes it seem like he wasn't a top tier dude but still had WAY higher social standing then most, went to elite military units studied abroad, and just doesn't give the same "holocaust survivor" vib3 for lack of a better word most NK defectors i ve seen give, who suffered starvation etc
So he is not a nobody to the regime. If he's worrizd about people back there, isn't this like the best way to get them locked up? I mean u made it, escaped and managed to pass it as something else, now if any brainwashed NK sees this... i wouldn't wanna be a relative
Hey Kim i know ure browsing the internet,give me a shout😊
@@vincentdecastro4838 He's so ronery and sadry arone
whole country is literally a facade and everyone knows it but their own people.
So is the US.
@eigelgregossweisse9563 No its not 💀
@alexandernunez8360 It really is. We might have more liberties, but the United States is very much a propaganda state.
@@eigelgregossweisse9563 The US don't have internet? Don't have food? Can't travel?
@alexandernunez8360 you just proved him right…
That was very informative and professionally done. Kudos to bro.
Man, it is so depressing seeing what these people have to go through. I can only hope the North Korean people can one day live free lives. I hope this guy has a good life in the US. Prayers to his family.
What an experience. America has its problems, but I’m thankful I was born here every day.
I also came from a free country( Brazil). And been in the US for 65 years,god bless my america 🇺🇸 ,we do have our problems but nothing like them or even Brazil,I came I was 15 and I, 80 now and a citizen since I was 16,the grayest gift my dad( american) gave me was this great nation of ours ❤
Legal immigrants like you are the best Americans. You love our country more than many people born here. @@bonasperry8747
Don't worry, Trump will make the USA into new North Korea very soon
Authorized by whom?
Exactly! by North Korean government or the US government?
Was wondering that too. I would guess CIA through State Dept which handled his defection, which would prefer Kim regime not explicitly knowing what exact details he revealed. They won't necessarily know what he knew or didn't. It's always better for an adversary to not know what you know and/or think you know more or less than you do. Creates either too much or too little be changed as result to the advantage of US.
Me
That was my question 10 sec in
Was wondering that too. I would guess CIA through State Dept which handled his defection, which would prefer Kim regime not explicitly knowing what exact details he revealed. They won't necessarily know what he knew or didn't. It's always better for an adversary to not know what you know and/or think you know more or less than you do. Creates either too much or too little be changed as result to the advantage of US.
So amazing to hear this info from a direct source
"Airborne troops they never had airborne training, never had a chance to jump out of an airplane because they like few and they don't have parachutes" OHHHH BOY. A lot to unpack there...if they had parachutes..
*lack fuel
Bulls**t. You can check some of the videos of military parades, you can see airborne troops parachuting on the parade. Why make such an easily verifiable lie?
But they are very flexible, can withstand boards being broken over them, and can break chains over their backs. That's what makes them airborne. They don't need parachutes because they kick the air into submission on the way down.
Cap
This is the first North Koreans experience I have heard from someone who was in an elite class. Its crazy how even the chosen few were still living miserable lives. At least they didnt spend every second of every day thinking about how they can get something edible so they wont die. They still had to worry about being killed though. So much fear and uncertainty at all times. Having to worry that some distant relative is going to do something "wrong" that will land you in trouble or dead. Its so heartbreaking that so many people live like this.
If you havent heard what its like for people in rural communities, I'd recommend Shawn Ryans' interview with Yeonomi Park. Very different experience. Yeonomi said she was considered middle class basically because none of her immediate family starved to death. Also, the things she had to get through after getting out of North Korea and was in China..... Its a tough listen just to warn people.
i thought of her at the end of this. i have seen a bunch of her videos.
I don't know how trustable these people are, but from what i understood, the more power they have, more is the risk of them being killed.
Understandable, as people who works in positions of power and often travels and works abroad have bigger chances of being or being perceived as foreign agents.
This guy sounds like it, he ran when he discovered people close to him were getting arrested, fled to the US (North Koreans usually are not allowed into the US) and now works for a "democracy agency".
I guess DPRK government isn't that tolerant about foreign interference.
Yeonmi Park is not a reliable source of info.
@@little.tricksWhy not?
You know Yeonomi park is a complete grifter right? She’s added new things to her story over the years to make it more dramatic, despite the fact she was from the wealthy class. She was on a South Korean reality show years ago where her story was different.
I'm always insanely impressed when these defectors end up being able to learn a totally different language that is non-korean this is a talented guy
I don't know if you listen to the video carefully but he is not a regular North Korean citizen he is from the elite class, he most likely already knew English at an early age.
@@HereGoesKevinelite class still on a $3 a month wage.
He had British English lessons in school.
@@HereGoesKevin ohhhhhhhh that makes sense good point
I look forward to when we can welcome the North Korean people into the world. Thank you Hyungseung Lee!
I think the South Koreans are gonna have to be the ones to do it
Slava SAMSUNG 🤳
I DON'T think it will ever happen
Never lol
@@SoldadoAntiBalas2008wrong Korea
When he says "authorized" he means what the S. Korean and US governments will allow him, he probably knows some top secret stuff etc.
From what I understand he’s one of the most high-profile defectors of recent years. Almost no escapees since 2020… pretty grim.
No, Authorized Account is the name of the series on Insider. Why would you post this like you know what you're talking about, when you clearly have no clue? Just be quiet next time since you clearly are not well informed
The idea of Home alone and The hunchback of notre dame being shown in a north korean school is just so funny and sad.
i thought he saw it in china
How is that funny or sad? Both of those movies have probably been shown at a billion different schools across the world. Home Alone rules.
The "Somewhere between the gravel and the rumbly bits" cop had me dying
his english is spectacular
how is it spectacular? It isn't at all, he is from the elite class in NK, he traveled the entire world and studied all his life, and even then he still talks worse than random European teenagers who also have English as their second or third language.
@@freshrockpapa-e7799 English and Korean have very different accents, you know that? Most European languages have their roots in Indo-European languages and Most Europeans understand English usage better than non-Europeans.
@@TheUrisiO Most Europeans aren't the social elite of their country and haven't traveled the entire world. Many haven't studied English their entire lives either.
Also not all European languges have a Germanic origin. Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese...
@@freshrockpapa-e7799 His English is spectacular for a North Korean, elite or not. He probably also speaks Chinese. Most European teenagers start leaning English at kindergarten. You need to chill and think before you speak
His English sounds like a second language learned at a young age. In a dictatorship shutoff from the world, the ‘Elite’ are the last people you’d want to travel a lot and be able to speak a bridge language this well. Everything about him feels wrong, once he talked about ‘unification’, I couldn’t see him as a ‘defector’ or ‘evacuee’… He sounds like a spy trying to hide in plain sight.
Imagine living under such opressive regime... poor guy... I'm glad he's doing better now...
Should send all the oppressed americans there to see how they like it.
I live in the U.K. I don’t need to imagine it.
@@PibrochPonderhomie that is not an apt comparison at all
This is one hundred percent lies and propaganda buddy. I am a journalist who focuses on that part of the world and I can tell you first hand that none of this is true.
@@PibrochPonder you literally have free access to the Internet, an education, human rights. Your arrogance is blatant proof of how spoiled you are compared to people in N. Korea. People in N Korea get executed for watching non N Korean media
this needs more views
I'm polish, and I was born after the authoritarian USSR client government collapsed, but tales from my parents, and especialy grandparents from 40s and 50s really resonate with this story. Poland was lucky to sit in the middle of europe, and we couldn't be as easly isolated, but the point system, disappearing, bribery and beaurocracy built to supress - it all happened here too. I really hope that North Koreans can enjoy the freedom one day.
Think again, were you lucky to be in the middle?
USSR is not to blame. the blame was on Incompetent leaders, if wasn't for USSR, Poland wouldn't even exist anymore. Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Germany was very good places to live.
@@Иван_Михайлов-ь8б ok muscovite
@@Иван_Михайлов-ь8бIf it wasn’t for the USSR WW2 would have never happened since Nazi Germany and the Soviets wouldn’t have worked together via Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Poland only exists because of the bravery of Poles. Russia is not a very great place to live if you haven’t noticed.
@@Иван_Михайлов-ь8б Wrong.
Out of everything he said, the most shocking thing for me is at 11:50. " You can't have your own underwear" in the North Korean Army. 😆🤣
I've never heard that before either. You would think they could learn how to sew their own underwear.
This is my underwear. There are many like them but this pair is mine. My underwear is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My underwear, without me, is useless. Without my underwear I am useless.
- The Underwearman's Creed
it is part of the soviet style 1950's dehumanization programs. They are designed to foster aggression, and break down personal bonds and unit bonds, while making them deferential to the most senior soldier present. This means men can be transferred in and out of units easily, losses can be ignored from a morale perspective, and it reduces the chances of unit rebellion since everyone fears the head solder (or officer), and only listens to them. Russia does similar things with their "meat wave" units today.
Apparently you didn’t watch the whole video before you commented. The part about disappearing 3 generations of a family because some guy said something anti govt didn’t shock you?
@@wm79198 Quite unfortunately if you're well researched in the horrible methods of authoritarian regimes this level of heinous inhumanity is 'expected'. That does not mean these things do not hold weight of emotion or do not deserve the discussion and anger that they clearly do. But the context of the comment the guy made was a shocking (perhaps surprising would be a better synonym?) revelation.
I think most Americans look at NK and they despise the government. They do not blame or dislike the people who live there. When they are born and throughout their lives, they only know what NK allows them. I can't imagine any North Korean would want to come to the US. How difficult it would be to realize their government has been lying and oppressing them for their own gains. American government is far from perfect but to one day realize that the rest of the world has been watching NK suffering would be so hard to process.
you're a white guy, aren't you?
Fairly certain many North Korean want to escape to US given the choice. Even in a highly controlled place like NK, there's still a lot of contraband, especially of movies. So a fair number of people are aware that the US may not be what is shown in propaganda. And they would also be aware of their own real situation.
That was super interesting! Thank you for sharing this man's story.
His account is so enlightening. Thank you for sharing.
A ton of quality information from a man who lived it. Thank you sir for the enlightenment
Excellent topic. Thank you.
Makes you really appreciate being born in a free western country. The average N.Korean family who's beaten down starving and innocent I feel bad for them. Eventually the people ALWAYS rise up and revolt.
This was fascinating.
this is going by fast. great interview
The comments did not pass the vibe check. This is his story to tell, as he was the one who lived through it. Who are you to question the “authorization”. Imagine going through all the just for people to hint that your lying. Everything he has said has tracked with other other defectors. Why y’all want to hate so bad?? Thank you insider for this very informative interview, we really have no idea the cruelty that goes on there,
I think that is throwing a stick in the spokes for many. The series of videos is called Authorized Accounts. So reference to that is tripping people up. The only things he might not want to talk about (authorized or not) is details of how he escaped or things that might cause even more danger to his family. Maybe they should have picked a different name for the series.
Not that he's lying, it's that he's not saying the whole truth. And yes, there are defectors who lie. The truth matters.
There is a geopolitical conflict involving North Korea, South Korea, China and the US. Defectors are used as pawns, their message is a tool to influence public opinion.
I think them being so cared that someone in the army shoots glorious leader with live ammo is just a convenient excuse to hide the fact that they can't afford bullets in large quantity for training.
Rocketman fooling no one but his own people yet again.
Elite unit? Mandatory service, three rounds per year and no underpants. I was always fascinated by the medals all over their uniforms with zero combat experience since 1950.
What a brave man sharing his experience.
His English is so good! Very impressed by his ability to retell his stories.
They showed a propaganda clip of homeless Americans but at least they got to eat food
The rest of that video is kind of unhinged and hilarious, recommend looking it up some time
Some of the footage they show in various propaganda is so badly done that it would be hilarious if not so dark. I remember seeing a fake shack with blankets that said "American Red Cross," and there was a North Korean guy with heavy makeup in a Green Bay coat trying to look vaguely American. They spliced in real footage of homeless people somewhere in Eastern Europe.
I've seen a couple of these type of videos and I'm always amazed how much emphasis is placed on hating Americans. Obviously there were plenty of times in US history where certain groups have been targeted, I'm in no way saying historically and even at present, the US has clean hands, but if you ask the average American, on a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis, how much you think about North Korea---they'd probably confuse it with South Korea or say not at all. It must be quite a shock to those that have made it to the US, to first come to the "land of their enemies," or to find out that people are just existing and doing there own things and not talking about them or "addressing their enemies."
It shouldn't be surprising. NK is literally still in a state of war with the South and the US has been a key ally since the 50s, and is the source of most of the sanctions that have severely limited the NK economy. The US has built up its economy and affluence and been able to move on (I mean, think of how many wars they've started or been in since the Korean War); meanwhile, NK has been stuck in this state the whole time, still sanctioned and treated like a global enemy. It's why they still literally use the term "deserter" rather than "refugee" or even just "someone who leaves"; it's a country that treats every citizen like an active combatant and to leave is equivalent to deserting an army.
I wonder what the USA did in the Korean peninsula to make NK hate us so much 🤔 guess we'll never know! Introspection is for commies
Maybe because of what the USA did to North Korea?
Almost every country who hates the USA is because of something the USA did to Them. It’s never for no reason…😅
When ever I think about this I just remember that NK has an Agitation and propoganda department (APD that is one of their key government programs. Food for thought for sure
To compare, America is that loud and proud child. They show off everything and say they are the best at everything, thats why its a common thing to other country to hate American culture
Respect to this man and anyone who manages to escape that situation
This was a wonderful listen. Thank you.
What an intelligent and articulate gentleman. All the best to you and your Family.
Anyone notice at 20 minutes he starts fiddling with his finger and gets dry mouth? Part of him is still living it.
Maybe, but he also seems like a shy guy who is uncomfortable in front of the camera.
North korea is a very fragile nation, i am pretty sure 70-80% of their army would defect or surrender less than a month into war with south... the problematic stuff is just nuclear weapon, political willingness and some damages to Seoul..
From what I gather, the troops who are being sent to fight in Ukraine are in a constant state of confusion and panic. They're seeing war for the first time in 70 years, and most of this tech is completely alien to them. Like, almost literally alien, these guys never prepared for drones dropping grenades and bombs at them. They were too busy showing off flashy punches and kicks to look cool to other troops. Plus, imagine the horror you would feel when you come to realize that you're not as powerful and invincible as a fighting force that you were led to believe. And now you're getting blown to pieces by robots operated by volunteers and factory workers.
@@thestraydog well they have fought like some somalian pirates once.
@@thestraydog even without the drone, even in conventional 90`s style warfare, i highly doubt their capabilities in fighting.. from what we hear so far, their shooting training are very minimal.. their tactic is just strom you position to get very2 close n thus didnt need precision shooting. might work for defensive ambushes, but nothing else..
@ they also dont get to own or keep any of their underwear at all. They have to share them with the rest of the army. And the officers distribute them themselves. And no they dont wash them in a washing machine they do that in the river. I think that should be enough to conclude that north korean soldiers may possibly have severe stds?
@@thestraydog That is horrific. I would probably consider their soldiers to be victims as much as anyone else. The humane thing would be to simply help them defect.
Mad respect for Mr Lee 🙏🏽
America ain't perfect, but for this gentleman to say that America is the ultimate safe place made me more thankful 🙏
Until our president buddies up with Kim.
Now, people need to remember that this guy was self-admittedly part of the "elite class" and they only had things like 2 hours of electricity. Imagine what your average North Korean citizen goes through.
@38:30, I think the CIA and other agencies have found this out the hard way. A regime must leave by being unwelcomed from inside, by the people. A foreign interdiction will not end well. Maybe the UN could hold an open debate and election but that would require UN forces to control large portions of North Korea.
There is a world where South Korea absorbs the entire peninsula. Making a unified democratic Korea. Yet that is an invasion which will be costly.
if you think north korea is shitty, south korea is exactly like that only its not a communist hellscape but a capitalist one
China will oppose US ally South Korea absorbing North Korea. The US would basically be at their border.
@@lukassubstanzentanz3053 at least the capitalist hellscape is far, far more wealthy. That makes a massive difference to people's quality of life
If you have only two choices where to live and die, is it North Korea or South?@@lukassubstanzentanz3053
@@lukassubstanzentanz3053
You certainly have more freedoms in South Korea than you do in the North. There isnt a perfect country by any means.
Like capitalism is deeply flawed, especially when we talk about 'free and unregulated markets/industries'. That isnt the goal here.
I'm just talking more directly about how decapitation strategies do not really work. And would be foolish to think ‘this time around’ is any better.
Can you imagine someone hatching north korea television channels and starts playing the real news for once and one channel with cartoon network😂
Western news isn't real either
Don't you republicans think the news are lying
What are the real news?
You mean royal, as for British?
One reoccurring theme that I notice from both North and South Korean citizens (and former citizens) is a very strong desire to reconnect the Korean peninsula. I think that says a lot about humans and healing.
defector saying “this is everything im authorized to tell you” is hilarious 🤣
It is funny to hear him say he's from one of north Kores elite units when they don't even have food
If they really didnt have food like we propagandize they wouldn't still have 26 million people. Cant have a population without food.......
It’s hard to know if that’s even true or if it’s just a lie to make them look bad. Why would Western countries say good things about a country They view as an enemy? I have trouble believing that a Nuclear state lacks food. But it’s definitely possible.
you know, in the land of blinds, one-eyed man can be a king.
Supposedly They have no food yet They seem to have plenty of Nuclear warheads….
Something isn’t adding up 🤔
@@daisaq Damn
Its a sad situation over there.
I was stationed in Panmunjom (President Trump stood in the spot my duty position was on Conference Row) in the early 90s, and several of our KATUSA soldiers had family in North Korea. One was caught and convicted of smuggling because he had been sending money and food across the border to his literally starving relatives. The stories the KATUSA's told of what North Korea was really like were horrifying. The whole country is a sham, a cardboard cutout of a society where only the "elites" live in luxury while the "peasants" endure Medieval conditions. Mr. Lee's comment about only firing 3 bullets shows a stark contrast between the USA and South Korea, there were times when we had to burn thousands of rounds of ammo in order to make sure the budget for the next year didn't get reduced.
The one thing the NKPA has is bodies, their tech and tactics are woefully inadequate as is being shown in Ukraine. The ROK Army is pretty solid, they trained with us regularly and know how to use our equipment and the soldiers are excellent overall. Every North Korean who manages to make it out of that hellhole tells the same stories, even 30 years ago defectors said the same things, that country is locked in poverty and misery.
Cap
14:46 meanwhile, in the USA, "Hold MY 2A while I reload my privately owned belt fed machine gun!"
What an incredible project this is. Thank you
I’d pick Larry the Cable Guy’s “Delta Force” over storm corps 😂😂
😂
Thank you for this very interesting video.
I can only imagine the weight of knowing your family is being punished for defecting.
He knew it would happen beforehand and still did it anyway…
13:08… So NK can be “hacked” pretty easily with radio and a 20 year old computer
Not much to hack though
not much to hack, it seems- saw a guy on youtube get a north korean computer browser to connect to the internet (with limits, of course- ex. couldn’t reach youtube, but was able reach google)
@@Burhanontheranch True
You gotta sneak in a steal the folders upon folders of papers
Very interesting interview
You’re not even allowed to think in North Korea
This guy is very smart, he's going to be a success at whatever he does and in whatever country he does it.
He should live among his own people.
No toilet paper and shared underwear sounds like a horrific combination
To me one of the most interesting parts was him coming to America thinking he was going to see the pinnacle of western society and being met with a run down filthy city full of drugs and homelessness. Then hearing him go on to yearn to return to North Korea one day (albeit after serious reform).
North Korea makes the Imperium of Man in Warhammer 40k look like Disneyland.
The clips are great
you know you messed up bad if you have a North Korean defector criticizing your country...
I lived in the USA for ten years. Coming from Europe I also had a bit of culture shock. The USA does not distribute wealth so as well as having some fabulously wealthy people and an affluent middle class there are many that are just forgotten.
Meh.
@@siediousswift8088it’s not “meh,” it’s worrying.
I mean it was ingrained in him since childhood so of course once he got here it was probably natural and sub consciously that he looked for flaws as presented to him his entire life before then.
It’s only natural after you’ve spent some of your life living in a dictatorship
1:02 upside down banana mag is wild
Lots of guns used to be designed with top- or side-mounted magazines in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Think MP 18, Boys, Bren, Sten, DP-27, Vickers, and so on. It allows the gun, and soldier, to lay lower to cover and stay more protected inside a trench, or foxhole, behind a wall, or even just present a smaller silhouette when prone on flat ground. Belt-fed machine guns still feed from the side. It's also easier to change magazines while prone if the mag isn't on the bottom.
These designs mostly went away as trench warfare did, and modern maneuver warfare prioritized volume and mobility over protecting static positions.
Remember, North Koreans aren't stupid. They're isolated and inexperienced, their government's priorities are wildly misplaced, but they don't just do things without reason.
Topic idea: You could do one about the Canadian Dairy Cartel.
This was enjoyable to watch. I under the topic is a very sensitive one. But to hear him come out of it in the other side leaves you feeling touched. I really wish I could be around for the annual meetings he has with other North Koreans.
Hearing from a high ranking defector is fascinating.
That video of two North Koreans against a drone pretty much confirmed his testimony….. they didn’t look like special forces
Well, it is a special military operation, after all, and they need a special military for that operation.
Only THREE bullets shot in a year. Only 3 because the leaders are worried the troops will use the bullets against them. That is mind blowing.
Right! I was completely shocked when he said that their entire military is a sick joke
Or they cost too much
I actually find it inspiring that he calls himself North Korean still. It shows that even the embers of hope for a future survive the biggest and most oppressive of hammers.
North Korea have definitely existed long enough to differentiate from South Korea, no different to Taiwan which now differentiate itself from China. North Korea has a lot of potential but people think it's easy to change it for the better. Mind you, North Korea is the way it is because of international sanctions for possessing nuclear weapons that other nations also possess.
@@adambrande sanctions are kind of an understatement. They were already starting to have problems in the 70s and 80s with their economy and industries. And the collapse of the ussr together with corruption, bureucracy and mismanagement is the main causes as to why north korea has been this way for a while. And then there are other things such as not really caring that much about refurbishing their industries. Like their tractor factory for example. Because nuclear warheads are far more important than domestic consumer goods and the economy.
@deez8202 lol you can clearly see what happened to nations standing against the USA without having nuclear capabilities. Even Ukraine suffered from giving up it's nuclear capabilities. NK can't trust any of it's neighbours to respect it's sovereignty, especially when it's military is in no way capable compared to South Korea's
@@adambrande yeah but heres the thing the chinese dont want the two koreas two unite so even if there was a war. China would just simply say ''over my dead body''
Every time I hear a story like this as an American, I just, idk…wish other Americans (including myself) would realize the true,absolute freedom and power that we have and do better and truly work together to make our nation so much more incredible than it currently is. We are, without a shadow of doubt very ungrateful for what we have. I don’t say that in a mean way, it’s just fortunately we haven’t experienced growing up like that, so we take what we do have for granted. I hope that makes sense to someone and doesn’t come off wrong. God bless this whole world🫶
Brilliant content. Subbing based on this if there is more like it.
This guy is speaking from an elite family in North Korea, not the general.
and he still defected! Says everything!
If he came from a working class family, he wouldn’t know anything or have any inside info
Yes he does, and the choices his family made, defection and marking the ones left behind, are part of that. I've heard tons of NK people not wanting to defect for that reason, but then again the elites in NK only care for themselves, so, his tale makes sense of gruesome selfishness that ends up growing in that so-called "collective system".
@@Ahniimost deflectors are from the elite. It's a very expensive process. Besides you'd have to be amongst the elite to be able to travel to China
This gentleman's story appears to be completely believable... unlike... some others... yeonmi*cough*park.
He doesn't try to dramatize his experience, whatsoever. He tells it like it is. I wish him all the best.
give it like 2 years and this clown will be saying all sorts of crazy lies for money
Why is her's not believable? This guy lived life as an elite while she was lower class. Of course, they would have very different experiences.
@@sean2044 The mere fact that you need to ask while being aware of her story (or stories) tells me that, no matter whatever arguments I put forward, you will still believe her.
Nevertheless, her story keeps changing on very specific details that no one (bar someone with Alzheimer's) would ever forget, regardless of trauma.
In addition, HER OWN MOTHER, had to correct her on South Korean TV.
Her own mother said that their lives in North Korea were never that bad and they never had to starve or "eat grass to survive".
There are a few videos on UA-cam who will explain it better than this comment ever could. Just do a search "Yeonmi Park lies" or "Yeonmi Park exposed".
You will ear, from HER OWN mouth how radically different her stories can be depending on who she is telling them to.
I don't think that I will be able to do much better than this.
@@sean2044 I suggest the video from Parallax named "Yeonmi Park - From Activist to Grifter"
In it, I commented the following sometime ago:
"I think that Park's case can be summarized in a few sentences. What she seems to seek the most is attention, fame and wealth. These three things are extremely limited in North Korea. In fact, for her needs, not even South Korea would ever be enough. The U.S. would give her the unlimited dosages of attention, fame and wealth that she sought.
Changing her story to satisfy a particular audience is one tactic which, by the looks of things, has served her very, very well, with very, very few inconveniences. The ability to cry-on-demand, even while telling completely fictional stories is something which has also served her incredibly well.
She often blames her lack of fluency in English for the discrepancies in her stories. However, being extremely poor while eating grass in on story to being in the top 1% of North Korean society in a different story is a discrepancy which no language barrier can justify.
If you decide to believe all of her stories, in whatever form, then congratulations, you fell for her con."
@@sean2044there are multiple videos up of her giving completely conflicting statements, & retelling the same stories with extreme differences regarding her time in NK/defection over many years.
Just imagine what he isn't authorised to say.
Obviously North Korea hasn’t authorized anything except his assassination. That’s referring to what he may be authorized to tell about western intelligence agencies or his own route for escaping.
Im pretty sure that type of information wouldnt be allowed on UA-cam anyways just because how horrible it is.
he's amazing and i hope he stays safe and thank you to him for sharing this!!
Awesome. Thanks for the video.
Imagining some of the talented ,capable Hackers worldwide using WW2 Morse code is amazing to me 😮
"you don't even have your underwear"
That may be beyond my line 😆😆
I’m curious to know how he and his father justified defecting while knowing it would destroy the lives of their family members. In his own words, the family was fired from jobs, relocated, heavily monitored, and even sent to prison camp. When he spoke about seeing the fear on his grandmother’s eyes in her plea for his return, I started to wonder if I could do that to my family. I wish he had talked about his justifications for defecting with respect to the family punishment, and whether he feels a sense of guilt or regret. On the surface, it appears to be a selfish act, but I don’t know what I’d do unless I was in the same situation.
Imagining how you’d act when facing a life-or-death decision is completely different from what you’d actually do in that moment. Yes, his entire extended family and future generations paid a terrible price for his defection, and that’s tragic. But that cruelty is the regime’s burden to bear, not his. Blaming him alone overlooks the fact that an oppressive system punishes innocent relatives to maintain control. None of us can fully know how we’d weigh our personal freedom against an entire family’s future unless we were in that impossible situation ourselves.
That is part of the entire point to the three generations punishment. The threat against your entire bloodline is one of the main reasons NKs aren't defecting in mass numbers. If the risk was just to their own lives we'd see millions try. If it was just the immediate family we might see thousands of families try.
So the dear leader makes sure everyone knows that even if you and your kids get out, your first, second, third cousins, friends, neighbors, people that saw your face in passing in the last 30 years, will all get disappeared and tortured. Strong incentive to stay and suffer together.
So it is the rare few who defect, and without having gone through what they and theirs have, I cannot stand in judgement of their choice.
The fear is what keeps the regime in power. The threat of severe punishment is what gives this dictatorship its power, but it is also its greatest weakness. It's better to live on your feet than die on your knees.
You answered it
@@stormtempterf8058 Yes and it also combines with the fact that the people who tend to have enough resources to defect are those already elites. Together with the 3 gen rule and their relative standing in society, it makes the number of potential defectors very small.
modern tec can be hacked so what we do? use tec from ww2.... genious!
the old 'Independence Day' trick.
Sign language
I'm impressed with his level of English since he defected only 10 years ago
He studied english. He said it.
the irony that i got an advert for a Samsung phone before I watched this 😂