Strangers at Home: North Koreans in the South is the latest report from the International Crisis Group, draws attention to the difficulties South Korea is facing in absorbing North Korean defectors. The full report is available here: http://bit.ly/pNZeR7. [Read More]
Tag: North Korean border-crossers exiles and defectors (page 4)
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
North Korean refugee gives testimony
Radio interview with Kim Hye Sook, an escapee from one of North Korea's prison camps, on the BBC website: http://bbc.in/lFPRlO # The testimony of concentration camp escapees before the All Party Parliamentary Group now seems to be an annual event. This year courtesy of Christian Solidarity Worldwide Michael Rank reports from the hearing in the … [Read More]
It’s not all grim up North
Darren Southcott discovers that North Korean refugees in the UK find life tough, particularly with looming spending cuts Food shortages and societal collapse have brought record numbers of refugees fleeing the grip of the North Korean regime, yet for many the short crossing of the Tumen River into China brings more the life of the … [Read More]
Paradise does not exist: the tough experience of north Koreans in the South – By Mihyun Jang
Thousands of North Korean refugees fleeing face a cold reality in South Korean society. Many are seeking refuge in 3rd countries, although strict asylum rules mean many eventually are forced to settle in the South without benefits or resettlement payments. By Mihyun Jang North Korean refugees in China According to the Unification Ministry of South … [Read More]
Menari and Musan win awards
“Menari, the Sound of Korea”, a short documentary on eastern folk singer Park Soo-kwan wins Delphic Art Movie Award 2011 The Journals of Musan, a film about difficulties of Northern defectors, wins jury prize at Deauville Asian Film Fest http://bit.ly/gnzRaJ [Read More]
British Council teaches English to NK defectors
British Council in Seoul sets example of helping NK defectors with English lessons – Korea Times. http://bit.ly/fk4wPX # “English language ability can be a real barrier for new-settlers who strive to access the higher education opportunities that South Korea has to offer,” said Ambassador Martin Uden. [Read More]
Oxford seminar on North Korean Human Rights and Migration
Notice of an upcoming seminar in Oxford, organised by the Korea Institute for National Reunification: KINU Seminar on North Korean Human Rights and Migration 13:00-18:00, 15 December 2010 Seminar Room, Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) 58 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 6QS Programme 13:00-14:00 Sandwich lunch reception and registration 14:00-14:15 Introductory remarks by Dr … [Read More]
Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy lives up to the hype
Barbara Demick: Nothing to Envy – Real Lives in North Korea Granta, 2010 Why, when Korean Studies bookshelves are dominated by volumes about the North, about which so much less is known than the South, do we need yet another volume? Why, when we have so many defector eye-witness accounts of starvation, torture and oppression, … [Read More]
The North Korean EU Residents Society
The North Koreans have a European Union Residents Society?? Based in New Malden of course, headed by defector Kim Ju-il (right). Read their letter in the FT http://bit.ly/90ayMs #, also reported by the Front Line Club: Ordinary North Koreans and the ruling class are deeply humiliated by Kim Jong-il’s begging to China. (Image: BBC) [Read More]
Demick wins Samuel Johnson prize
Congratulations to Barbara Demick for winning the Samuel Johnson Prize for Nothing to Envy (reviewed by LKL here) Through extensive interviews with defectors, Los Angeles Times journalist Barbara Demick shows in a compelling and unforgettable way that this hermetic country is Orwell’s 1984 made reality. Sources: Samuel Johnson Prize website | Guardian # [Read More]
Nothing to Envy: it brought tears to the eyes of a jaded cynic
LKL reports from the book launch of Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy – Real Lives in North Korea It was a well-informed audience attending Barbara Demick’s book launch at the Royal Festival Hall on Tuesday, many of whom had been to North Korea. As the strains of a Mozart Symphony wafted upstairs from the concert … [Read More]
North Korean human rights and money laundering discussed in the Lords
A transcript of the discussion in the House of Lords earlier this week North Korea: Human Rights Question 2.57 pm Tuesday February 2nd 2010 Tabled by Lord Alton of Liverpool To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of alleged human rights violations in North Korea following the publication of the report by the … [Read More]
Pleasure Squad defector tells all
Dear Leader’s Pleasure Squad defector tells all: “His favourite delicacy contains the reproductive organ of sharks.” Interesting article from Sunny Lee in The National. Pleasure Squad candidates over 165cm tall are excluded because Kim Jong Il is short, says the defector [Read More]
Aiding North Korean defectors
“Aiding North Korea defectors: A high-stakes spy mission” an interesting and well written case study or two in the LA Times: http://bit.ly/8alWaQ # [Read More]
From Gulag to Getaway: North Korean refugees tell their story in Parliament
“In South Korea, we are taught English, Maths, things like that. We are taught nothing about North Korea.” I was talking to a young South Korean after a meeting of the North Korean All-Party Parliamentary Group. She was visibly shocked at what she had just heard. Two North Korean refugees – Jung Guang-il and Lee … [Read More]
Magnum photo essay: Escape from North Korea
Magnum photo essay: Escape From North Korea. Photos by Chien-Chi Chang in a 6 minute slide show, with a subtitled voiceover from an escapee. Well worth a quick look. http://bit.ly/2B8Ka4 # [Read More]