Shin Dong-hyuk, whose story is told in Escape from Camp 14, will be talking at St Anne’s Church, 55 Dean Street, London, W1D 6AF on Tuesday 16 September, 7.15pm to 8.45pm, as the first of a “North Korean Memoirs” series, which will act as a focal point of the work of European Alliance for Human … [Read More]
Tag: North Korean border-crossers exiles and defectors (page 3)
Selected publications
- Eunhee Park: The Courage To Die: A North Korean Woman’s Escape and Rebirth in Freedom, Independently published 2025
- Ae Ran Lee: One Meal, One Memory: The Taste of Survival in North Korean Cuisine, Independently published 2025
- Thae Yong-Ho: Passcode to the Third Floor: An Insider’s Account of Life Among North Korea’s Political Elite tr Robert Lauler, Columbia University Press 2024
- Heidi Tucker: A Necessary Lie: Escape for Freedom and Love, Heidi Tucker 2023
- Jang Young-jin: A Mark of Red Honor tr John Cha, Seoul Selection 2022
- Jihyun Park, Seh-Lynn Chai: The Hard Road Out: Escaping North Korea tr Sarah Baldwin-Beneich, HarperNorth 2022
- Chun Kyung-hyo, Haeran Shin, Kim Heuijeong, Kim Seok-hyang, Lee Hyunuk: North Korean Defectors in Diaspora: Identities, Mobilities, and Resettlements, Lexington Books 2022
- Han Won-chae: My Father’s North Korea Story: Walk to Freedom tr Han Bong-hee, Independently published 2022
- Casey Lartigue Jr, Han Songmi: Greenlight to Freedom: A North Korean Daughter’s Search for Her Mother and Herself, Independently published 2022
- Markus Bell: Outsiders: Memories of Migration to and from North Korea, Berghahn Books 2021
- Adam Zulawnik, Lim Il: Interviews with North Korean Defectors: From Kim Shin-jo to Thae Yong-ho tr Adam Zulawnik, Routledge 2021
- Minju Kim: The Woman From The North: Between Life and Death in North Korea, Independently published 2021
- Anthology: Decoding the Sino-North Korean Borderlands ed Adam Cathcart, Christopher Green, Steven Denney, Amsterdam University Press 2021
- Cho Hae-jin: I Met Loh Kiwan tr Lee Ji-eun, University of Hawai'i Press 2019
- Andrei Lankov, Daniel Tudor: Ask A North Korean: Defectors Talk About Their Lives Inside the World’s Most Secretive Nation, Tuttle 2018
- Masaji Ishikawa: A River in Darkness: One Man’s Escape from North Korea tr Martin Brown, Risa Kobayashi, Amazon Crossing 2018
- Sungju Lee, Susan McClelland: Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea, Amulet 2016
- Krys Lee: How I became a North Korean, Faber 2016
- Yeonmi Park: In Order To Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom, Penguin 2016
- Mia Chung: You For Me For You, Methuen Drama 2016
- Ahlam Lee: North Korean Defectors in a New and Competitive Society: Issues and Challenges in Resettlement, Adjustment, and the Learning Process, Lexington Books 2015
- Lucia Jang, Susan McClelland: Stars Between the Sun and Moon: One Woman’s Life in North Korea and Escape to Freedom, WW Norton 2015
- Eunsun Kim, Sébastien Falletti: A Thousand Miles to Freedom: My Escape From North Korea tr David Tian, St Martin's Griffin 2015
- David John, Hyeonseo Lee: The Girl with Seven Names: Escape from North Korea, Harper Collins 2015
- Joseph Kim, Stephan Talty: Under the Same Sky: From Starvation in North Korea to Salvation in America, Mariner 2015
- Jang Jin-sung: Dear Leader tr Shirley Lee, Penguin 2014
- Hark Joon Lee: Crossing Heaven’s Border, Shorenstein APARC 2013
- Anthology: De-Bordering Korea: Tangible and Intangible Legacies of the Sunshine Policy ed Valérie Gelézeau, Koen De Ceuster, Alain Delissen, Routledge 2013
- Blaine Harden, Shin Dong-hyuk: Escape from Camp 14: One man’s remarkable odyssey from North Korea to freedom in the West, Pan Macmillan 2012
- Marcus Noland, Stephan Haggard: Witness to Transformation: Refugee Insights into North Korea, Peterson Institute 2010
- Peter Oh: The People’s Paradise: True Stories from North Korea, the People’s Paradise on Earth, BookBaby 2010
- Barbara Demick: Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea, Granta 2010
- Kim Yong, Suk-young Kim: Long Road Home: Testimony of a North Korean Camp Survivor, Columbia University Press 2009
- Mike Kim: Escaping North Korea: Defiance and Hope in the World’s Most Repressive Country, Rowman + Littlefield 2008
- Kang Hyok, Philippe Grangereau: This is Paradise! My North Korean Childhood tr Shaun Whiteside, Abacus 2007
- Kang Chol-Hwan, Pierre Rigoulot: The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag tr Yair Reiner, Atlantic 2006
The experience of North Koreans in New Malden
A panel session about the experiences of North Korean defectors in New Malden is at first sight a strange event to promote as part of an arts festival. But the 7th New Malden Arts Festival overlaps with Malden Fortnight, a celebration of New Malden’s varied community, of which Koreans are of course a significant part. … [Read More]
“Jazz” in the DPRK: Autumn Whispers and the forbidden fruit of Richard Clayderman
I’ve just finished reading Jang Jin-sung’s memoir, Dear Leader. It’s a real page-turner that will appeal to many types of readers, including people who like a good adventure story (the passages describing Jang’s evasion of Chinese and North Korean security forces once he has fled from the North Korean capital are genuinely exciting) and of … [Read More]
The life of North Koreans in New Malden
As part of the 7th New Malden Arts Festival (19th July ~ 2 August 2014), Theatre4All are presenting an evening focusing on the lives of North Koreans in New Malden. Life of North Koreans in New Malden Malden Centre | Blagdon Road | New Malden | KT3 4TA Saturday 26 July 2014 7:30pm ~ 9:00pm … [Read More]
Escape from North Korea – Panel discussion at LSE
Another North Korea refugee related event this Wednesday at the LSE. This is a public event, but please signify your attendance on the event’s Facebook page or by emailing R.Faruq at lse.ac.uk so that they can register your name for security purposes. At time of writing there are 120+ attendees, so I hope they’ve got … [Read More]
Kim Joo-il interview: a defector reflects on life in the North and on cinematic realities
Kim Joo-il reflects on his defection from North Korea and critiques South Korean cinema’s “distorted” portrayals of the North. He details the absence of concepts like “human rights” under state brainwashing, advocates for refugee status for defectors in China, and describes North Korean film as a tool for regime-led propaganda and psychological indoctrination. [Read More]
Crossing – the defector documentary by Kim Tae-gyun – screens at Amnesty International
A quick note of an upcoming film screening at Amnesty International: Crossing (크로싱, dir Kim Tae-gyun, South Korea, 2008) Cast: Cha In-pyo, Seo Young-hwa, Shin Myeong-cheol Venue: Amnesty International UK, The Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA Date: Mon 24 Jun 2013, 7.00 pm The film details the tragic plight … [Read More]
Camp 14 – Total Control Zone at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival
One of the most prominent publications last year on the subject of North Korea was Escape from Camp 14 – the story of an escapee from one of North Korea’s death camps. While such a story is rare in itself, what makes Shin Dong-hyuk’s tale more remarkable is that he was actually born in one … [Read More]
The Defector: Escape from North Korea — a new documentary to screen at IDFA Amsterdam
Last year the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam featured the moving South Korean documentary Planet of Snail. This year the interest is north of the border, with a new documentary on North Korean defectors by award-winning film-maker Ann Shin. The Defector: Escape from North Korea Ann Shin, Canada, 2012, color, HDcam, 71′ THE DEFECTOR: … [Read More]
Now on My Way to Meet you – the TV show that bridges North and South
Today’s Daily Mail features a Korean TV women’s talk / talent show featuring North Korean defectors: Now on My Way to Meet You. [Read More]
Author of Escape from Camp 14 interviewed in the Standard
Interview with North Korean escapee Shin Dong-hyuk in the Evening Standard today. Shame they can’t spell his name right. http://bit.ly/IQgTFA. “When I saw the outside world for the first time, I thought it was paradise.” [Read More]
Oh Kil-nam, double defector, on the BBC
Interesting interview with Oh Kil-nam on the BBC website. Oh defected from the South to the North with his family (partly at the persuasion of composer Yun Isang), realised his mistake and defected back – on his own. His wife and daughters (now known as the Daughters of Tongyeong) got sent to Yodok. You can … [Read More]
Exposing Crimes against Humanity in North Korea
This Wednesday there’s an opportunity to hear about human rights abuses first-hand from North Korean escapees, in the Houses of Parliament. The World’s Most Closed Nation: Exposing Crimes against Humanity in North Korea Kim Joo-il Former Soldier in the North Korean Army Shin Dong-hyuk North Korean prison camp escapee Yun Tae-yang Parliamentary Candidate in South … [Read More]
NK defectors look to UK for life free of fear
Nearly 600 North Koreans now live in the United Kingdom, the most popular destination for asylum seekers from the communist state, according to the Korea Times: http://bit.ly/xqmRXr [Read More]
North Koreans demonstrate in London
North Korean exiles demonstrate outside the Chinese embassy in London protesting against China repatriating refugees back to the DPRK – 22 September 2011. http://bit.ly/pQcm6i Photos by Michael Rank. [Read More]
North Korean Defectors Flock to U.K.
James Bond 007 lures DPRK defectors to UK – that and the favourable regime for asylum seekers http://bit.ly/oob3f6 #. 581 North Korean defectors have been given asylum in the United Kingdom, says the Chosun Ilbo. [Read More]