I was imprisoned for 10 years in a North Korean political prisoner camp. My name is Kang Cholhwan, AMA.

Do you miss North Korea despite what you endured? And, is there any misconception about North Korea that you would like to share?

I dislike the North Korean government, not the people- so yes, I do miss the people there. North Koreans may seem different because they are brainwashed by the government; but once their thoughts change through the flow of information, they are the same as anywhere else. I think it is lamentable that people think of the North Korean government and North Koreans as one entity. North Koreans may seem loyal to the government, but because they fear the government, they cannot speak their minds. For example, Seungjin Park, the North Korean soccer player during the World Cup, was at the Yoduk Political Prisoners Camp with me, but is now acting as the soccer team coach. However, he must hide the fact that he was at the prisoners camp. To learn more about North Korea, you must know something about the nature of North Korea. This is true even when visiting North Korea.

What goes on day to day in the jail/concentration camps?

Has anyone gotten in-trouble from getting caught with USB sticks?

What other items are dropped such as books I would presume?

Daily life in the work camps is very mundane. We wake up at 5 am and are forced to work until sunset. We are given lessons on Kim il-sung and Juche. We are forced to watch public executions. We are physically abused - hit and tortured. I think of it as another form of Auschwitz. These work camps are like products of Nazism, and an abusive government needs elements such as Nazi concentration camps. They just have different ways of killing people.

People have almost gotten caught with the USB sticks. Thankfully, they managed to get out before they were caught. However, they cannot go back to North Korea now. But that’s about it currently. North Korean citizens often get caught using these USB sticks but they are released when they give bribes to the police. I believe it would be about 500 dollars maximum in Pyeongang and about 200~300 dollars in other regions. The problem would be if they are caught and they have no money to bribe their way out.

What is your view on westerners visiting North Korea as part of a tour and giving money back to the regime?

I think that the government does benefit a little bit from the money gained through the tours Westerners take to North Korea. I don’t think that it is a bad idea to experience and see North Korea this way. However, currently, foreign visiters are getting arrested by the government and are used as pieces for negotiation, so refraining from visiting North Korea seems wise. I think that the North Korean government are using these tourists as a method of negotiation with foreign governments (ie. the Canadian pastor and the American student). Because the government is receiving internal and external pressure, they are using these tourists as hostages for negotiation, because they are unstable. So currently, I think it is better to refrain from visiting North Korea.

What kept you going?

When I was escaping, it was the early stages and there were no set escape routes. It was hard to defect without the help of the South Korean government. I had heard that you could live in places such as Harbin, China. However, I was hopeful that other paths would open. Missionaries came and prayed for us. The heavens helped me and I was able to board a ship that took me from China to South Korea.

Wow, I'm really glad you survived. It's a hard question, but how do you feel about leaving your family behind? How aware are they of the "outside world"? How aware were you before you fled North Korea? Do you think there is any hope for North Korea to open up in the near (10-20 years) future?

All the best to you.

I would have loved to escape with all of my family but that was physically impossible. I feel sorry for them but I try to help them as much as I can. Many people who have escaped from North Korea are trying to help their families back there. These days, the North Korean government seems to be contacting the North Korean defectors in order to allure them back to North Korea, often, while holding the defectors’ families still in North Korea as hostages.

The degree of exposure to the outside world varies from family to family in North Korea. They can gain exposure through Korean media, for example.

I had listened to the radio in secret for more than a year prior to escaping. I knew from it the economic situation in South Korea and I thought I knew enough. However, when I actually arrived in South Korea saw it with my own eyes, the economic situation was much different from what I had heard. These days, people watch media more than they listen to radios and that visual media, I believe, is more powerful.

Regarding your question on whether there is any hope for North Korea to open up in the near future, I think it really varies whether Kim Jung-Eun will still be alive by then. Opening up the country and reform is important for the North Korean people but all power in North Korea exists for a single individual (Kim Jung-EUn). In order for the country to open up, there needs to be a change in individual-centered political power. However, I don’t think Kim will open up the country like Deng Xiaoping of China had done. However, I think within 5 years, the Kim Jung-Eun regime will disappear.

Thank you for the answer. Especially the last part about Kim Jong-un's regime falling or disappearing was really interesting. Why do you think that? Military coup?

You cannot quantify the North Korean situation, but there is evidence for objective judgement. You can compare it to Kim Jong-un’s fathers regime. You must also take into account the South Korean government’s stance compared to its past. North Koreans are disatisfied because even with the delayed reforms, the change they expect is not taking place. So the government’s unrest is growing. Kim Jong-un lacks insight when compared to his father, and doesn’t seem to know what is truly important. He seems to know vaguely about democracy from his study abroad in Switzerland. However, the North Korean government values close-ties more than the people, and Kim Jong-un does not seem to know that his close-ties are feeling unrest. His father, although he killed many citizens, did not treat his close-ties unwell. Today, it is the opposite. Kim Jung-un is killing close-ties in hopes of gaining the citizens’ loyalty. Although this has been somewhat effective, his close-ties in government feel unrest. They believe his regime will not last very long. There is a negative cycle taking place, and the risk of regime failure is escalating when compared to his father’s regime. With all this in mind, I find it hard to believe that this regime will last for more than 5 years.

Hello! I read your book, "The Aquariums of Pyongyang" all in one night. I couldn't put it down. Truly terrifying story that I still think of this day when discussing DPRK issues. Anyway, my question is maybe a bit insensitive but bear with me... Recently some defectors, such as Shin Dong-hyuk have admitted parts of their story have been fabricated or exaggerated. Given the already terrible nature of what REALLY happened, why do you think they feel the need to make up some things? It risks discrediting not only them, but other defectors and worst of all, casts doubt by some on the brutality of the regime in general. Is exaggerating the truth so common in the DPRK for survival that people don't feel wrongly about doing it?

Thank you for reading my book.

There are up to 30,000 defectors. When someone provides a story, it must be verified. I heard about Shin Dong-hyuk, but I believe the fault lies with the translator of the book also. It was wrong for Shin Dong-hyuk to not tell the complete truth but it is also the fault of the reporter that published the story without verification. And also with the publisher that published it without verification. I worked as a journalist once, and I know that you must verify through many channels including the government. It is always risky to skip verification. There are many people who are willing to lie to the world, regardless of nationality. I think it is wrong to judge the whole defector community as a whole bec

What is the ultimate end game here? How does the west need to respond to free the North Korean people?

The outside world seems to talk about putting ‘pressure’ on the North Korean government, but I don’t think they know exactly what kind of pressure is necessary. Economic pressure is not the only type of pressure. People need to learn what the North Korean government fears the most. What they are doing to keep the government afloat. First, the government wants to prevent defection. They fear that if many people start to defect, a unification similar to the German case will take place. So, they are focused on keeping the border shut. Second, the government wants to prevent North Koreans from having access to outside information. The more North Korean citizens know, the more danger it is for the government. So far, I do not believe we have been targeting either of these. Real pressure on the North Korean government would be to open up the physical border and induce mass defection, or to open up the information barrier and to provide access to outside information. There needs to be a separation of the North Korean citizens from the government - for example, if more North Korean workers work abroad, they are not getting paid by the government and this eliminates their ties to the government.

Do you think the North Korean government would ever go after you or others like you? Also curious to see if you are a Christian and if so, did you become one while in North Korea? Thanks so much!

I became a Christian after arriving in South Korea. In August 2015, an ax was delivered to my office with a writing saying that if I don’t stop what I am doing, I will be murdered. The police has been investigating this and the investigation is coming to a close. In 2012, an assassin sent from North Korea was caught following me and keeping track of my whereabouts. He is facing trial now. Currently, there is a police protecting me 24/7. Although North Korea is threatening me, I cannot stop what I am doing. I am upset that although I have earned freedom, I am still facing threats.

How did you escape? Im assuming through China. What was the process of escaping? Did you go to South Korea after the fact? What was the biggest culture shock upon escaping? What happened with the rest of your family? Have you kept up with the current election? Who do you believe would be the best candidate for President?

Yes, I escaped through China in 1992. I left in January and entered South Korea in August of 1992. The full story of my escape is very long but you can find it in my book, Aquariums of Pyeongyang, which is available in English. When I was in North Korea, I often listened to the South Korean radio secretly, but South Korea was still very shocking when I arrived. The market economy was the biggest shock. In North Korea, there was only one type of toothbrush available but here, there were so many and I didn’t know which one to choose. Also, women’s rights in the two countries are so different. In North Korea, women are often treated harshly, but in South Korea, I saw women smoking, which is unimaginable in the North. Actually everything was a shock. The fact that I could travel whenever I want was shocking. In North Korea, you need a travel pass to go anywhere but in South Korea, the freedom of movement is taken for granted. I have a younger sister and uncles in North Korea. I had contact with my sister until 2013 but not currently. I requested a lost person check through the UN, and the North Korean government refused to do so.

Have you watched The Interview with Seth Rogan and James Franco? If you have, how accurately do you think they portrayed North Korea? Also, did they finally make North Korea funny?

Yes. However, I think the humor style in the movie was very Western, and did not hit the Asian humor code. The North Korea portrayed in the movies is a North Korea that the Western World has created. The guy did not look like Kim Jung-eun at all, and did not come close to portraying reality in North Korea. So it did not seem like a movie about North Korea. It wasn’t very popular here, nor in North Korea (we did send it over). I think that the movie was not worth much but it received a lot of attention because of the overreacting actions of the North Korean government.

How did you get to your current job, presumably lacking what is considered a proper "formal" education?

There are computers in North Korea now, but were very rare when I was there. English has been very difficult to learn, and I still find it very difficult. South Koreans learn English from an early age, but not in North Korea. I worked at a power company called Hanjun for 3 years. I worked at Chosun Ilbo, a newspaper in South Korea for 11 years, and I like to think that I have skills in writing. I think I liked my job as a columnist the best. Using my specialized knowlege, I wrote about North Korea internal situations. I wrote breaking news articles by communicating with my friends in North Korea, and I was able to report on situations hard to know from the outside. For example, I was the first to write about the public execution of Park Nam-gil, the ex-labor party secretary responsible for financial planning, after the currency reform failed. This article spread world wide and I felt an ecstasy that columnists feel. Defectors have a hard time adjusting to life here, but I think there are occupations that we can use our unique experiences as an advantage.

Hello Mr. Kang, so very happy to have you here: I studied your life in examining North Korea during my graduate studies in comparative politcs and found your accounts riveting. I had a few questions:

1) Can you describe the pressure that the government put upon you day to day? That can be social, educational, etc. Please describe that that was like and how you felt about it before you were sent to prison.

2) How was the food in the 80's?

3) What kind of surveillance were you under before your arrest?

1) It is comparable to being Christian. We pray before we eat. But we pray to the supreme leader instead of a god. We learn about history and the government, but it isn’t taken to be a pressure. There is no freedom of movement during vacations so we cannot travel. We gather in groups to collect scraps of metal and paper to hand in at school but it isn’t thought of as a stress either. It is just a part of life. There was a surveillance system but people do not question it because they have not experienced other government systems. Sometimes we are taken in for questioning for touching the portrait of Kim Il-sung, for example if we see dust or dirt on the portrait. That is stressful. We think about freedom as we grow up, but I think that human nature. We are stressed about this.

2) When I was there, there were government portions. In April of 1991, before I escaped, government rations in South Hamkyung province (Danchun), in a mine with a concentrated population of workers, were cut. There was a protest by the military that were stationed there against the higher officials. This was the beginning of the famine and it spread nation-wide.

3) I understood about freedom because my parents used to live in Japan. They always told me to be careful about what I said. They feared the restrictions of the North Korean government. People near me started to go missing.

1) It is comparable to being Christian. We pray before we eat. But we pray to the supreme leader instead of a god. We learn about history and the government, but it isn’t taken to be a pressure. There is no freedom of movement during vacations so we cannot travel. We gather in groups to collect scraps of metal and paper to hand in at school but it isn’t thought of as a stress either. It is just a part of life. There was a surveillance system but people do not question it because they have not experienced other government systems. Sometimes we are taken in for questioning for touching the portrait of Kim Il-sung, for example if we see dust or dirt on the portrait. That is stressful. We think about freedom as we grow up, but I think that human nature. We are stressed about this.

2) When I was there, there were government portions. In April of 1991, before I escaped, government rations in South Hamkyung province (Danchun), in a mine with a concentrated population of workers, were cut. There was a protest by the military that were stationed there against the higher officials. This was the beginning of the famine and it spread nation-wide.

3) I understood about freedom because my parents used to live in Japan. They always told me to be careful about what I said. They feared the restrictions of the North Korean government. People near me started to go missing.

Can you talk more about your efforts to disseminate free media inside North Korea? Does your organization use balloons sent over the DMZ? How far into the country do they travel? Is there ever push-back from the South Korean government because they are afraid your actions will further inflame tensions?

I'm sorry that you have been a victim of the world's greatest ongoing injustice, and I applaud you for fighting back.

We don’t use balloons. But I do think they play an important role. The South Korean, of course, tries to stop this method of spreading information because of possible political implications. The main thing about using flyers is to have a press conference about the information on the flyers. These flyers must be spread in secret. But the press conference must be held officially with many people and also have interviews. This is more stimulating for North Korea. Only the people near the DMZ have access to these flyers, unless the wind takes them further inland. We use movies, videos send the market to spread information. This way, information can be spread all over North Korea. I believe this to be a the greatest method of changing the way North Koreans think. Spreading information through media is very important.