Life inside North Korea Documentary 2024 | Is North Korea Really Dangerous?
See an exclusive documentary on life in north Korea, under rule of Kim Jong Un the ruler of North Korea, how is everyday life in north Korea and how different from other countries, see Pyongyang and North Korean culture and their army
Transcript
00:00Journalists are kept under close surveillance.
00:06To go to North Korea is to accept the presence 24 hours a day of guides who are guarantors
00:11of the country's good image.
00:19The law must be respected.
00:22We do not allow French journalists to go out alone.
00:26Our country, North Korea, does not like the French.
00:29Why?
00:30Because they took part in anti-North Korean operations.
00:34There never were any French operations against North Korea.
00:38But in Pyongyang's eyes, every foreigner is a potential enemy who has to be closely watched.
00:45It's the sworn duty of each guide to chaperone the visitor and regurgitate the regime's propaganda.
00:53Even these official North Korean guides may not be filmed.
01:00During our stay, we will be confined to our Pyongyang hotel, with absolutely no chance
01:05of being allowed to go out into the city unaccompanied.
01:08So, Mr. Han, what are we going to do?
01:15What now?
01:18Going for a stroll.
01:19Where?
01:20Here.
01:21In the hotel?
01:22Yes, in the hotel.
01:23Maybe we could go into town.
01:24No.
01:37Having spent several hours wandering around the hotel lobby, we finally get authorization
01:42to go out.
01:44Any trip is pre-programmed and serves the objectives of the propaganda machine.
01:50The house where the founder of the nation was born reminds foreigners of President Kim
01:54Il-sung's heroic deeds, and helps to affirm the family's legend.
01:58When she was 14 years old, the president left his native home, Mankyongdae, firmly determined
02:07not to return before Korea became independent.
02:11Since then, the president led the 20-year-long arduous anti-Japanese armed struggle to a
02:18shining victory, and finally liberated our country.
02:23Hundreds of North Korean soldiers are taking part in a mandatory pilgrimage to honor the
02:27eternal president's memory.
02:31From the grandfather, Kim Il-sung, to the present incumbent, his grandson, Kim Jong-un,
02:36the leaders are as one in official pronouncements.
02:38Well, we now have the respected comrade Kim Jong-un as our supreme commander.
02:44He is exactly like the president Kim Il-sung and the great general Kim Jong-il in his idea,
02:50leadership, and in his humanity.
02:53So our Korea will always emerge victorious in the future, too, under the wise leadership
02:58of the respected Marshal Kim Jong-un.
03:08We've been given authorization to visit Pyongyang to film the capital's latest infrastructures.
03:14The authorities are keen to airbrush the image usually associated with this country.
03:19A totalitarian regime, a family dynasty, and brutal repression.
03:25This shiny, brand-new hospital is exactly the sort of publicity the regime wants.
03:32On the 3rd of November last year, Marshal Kim Jong-un visited our hospital.
03:39He was very happy.
03:41He said he felt like he was walking into a palace.
03:45Look at that chandelier up there.
03:47That is our emblem.
03:48It represents a woman's bust.
03:53This is the room which our glorious leader, Kim Jong-un, visited on the 3rd of November.
04:01Come in.
04:03This is the bed the Marshal sat on when he came here.
04:09He asked how long the patients stay here.
04:15And Marshal Kim Jong-un sent us this 42-inch television the day after his visit.
04:23So you sleep here, is that right? You're a patient here?
04:26Yes.
04:27Do you speak French?
04:29A little.
04:31What a stroke of luck. The first patient we meet and she speaks French.
04:34How much longer are you going to be staying here?
04:36A week should be enough, I think.
04:43Wearing her hospital clothes, this patient is giving the performance of her life in this well-directed play.
04:51Is that a power cut?
04:54But reality soon kicks in again.
04:57Do you often have power cuts?
05:00No, very rarely.
05:07The hospital's employees do their best to remain unmoved by such events.
05:12Nothing can tarnish their reputation.
05:15As I said to you this morning, our country is at loggerheads with the USA, Japan and South Korea.
05:25So we need to do something about it.
05:29We need to do something about it.
05:33We need to do something about it.
05:37We need to do something about it.
05:41We need to do something about it.
05:45We need a strong military, many soldiers to defend the fatherland.
05:51There is always tension in the Korean peninsula.
06:01And Commander Kim Jong-un is very young.
06:06He has declared, if our enemies dare to light even the smallest fuse of a war,
06:13Korea will strike a lethal blow, which will definitively unite the country.
06:20Reunification of our nation is the most fervent wish of every Korean.
06:30This desire for reunification dates from the end of the Korean War in 1953,
06:35when the peninsula was split into two countries.
06:39But no peace treaty was ever signed.
06:43Officially, the two Koreas are still at war.
06:47North Korea was subsequently run by Kim Il-sung until 1994,
06:52and then by his son, General Kim Jong-il, who died on the 17th of December 2011.
07:09Kim Jong-un's son of the late Kim Jong-il has been in power for three years.
07:15In life or in death, the Kim dynasty's power over 24 million North Koreans endures.
07:39The Kim family is the first communist dynasty in history.
07:46A new incumbent was presented to the people as a natural successor.
07:51Barely 30 years old, Kim Jong-un was quickly awarded the titles of Supreme Commander and then Marshal
07:58and set about consolidating his power.
08:02Kim Jong-un's accession to power gave birth to a new hope in the hearts of the North Korean people.
08:08Kim Jong-un's father, Kim Il-sung, was the first North Korean leader to be elected.
08:16More of a modernist than his father, he built theme parks and was accompanied at public appearances by his wife.
08:27No North Korean leader had ever been seen to be so liberal before.
08:32Kim Jong-un cultivated his image right down to his posture, which was designed to be reminiscent of his grandfather's.
08:43Propaganda has now established him as the third strongman of the North Korean nation.
08:49The leader is the country's brain and the people are its body.
08:55Our guide is here to remind us of this.
08:58Marshal Kim Jong-un is exactly like General Kim Jong-il in his human virtues, his political leadership and his philosophy.
09:13Therefore, everybody respects and idolizes him.
09:20The guide's rhetoric is always the same.
09:22Under Kim Jong-un, devotion to the leaders remains almost religious.
09:27Like all transient foreigners, we are constrained by the regime's demands.
09:44Before, we thought of them as leaders or heads of state.
09:47Now, we think of them as our family's fathers.
09:51Be it children or old people, be it men or women, the entire Korean nation considers them to be our fathers.
10:01In his three years of absolute power, Marshal Kim Jong-un, like his father and grandfather before him,
10:07has become part of the intimate fabric of Korean families.
10:10This retired scientist and her granddaughter are typical of this devotion to the regime.
10:16What are your feelings towards the Marshal?
10:20Like everyone else, I feel that Marshal Kim Jong-un is the embodiment of our destiny.
10:26He is our future and a father to us all.
10:31He is our future and a father to us all.
10:34Marshal Kim Jong-un is the embodiment of our destiny.
10:37He is our future and a father to us all.
10:42You foreigners could never understand how much we venerate our Marshal.
10:46The whole Korean population places its future and destiny in his hands.
10:52It is thanks to Marshal Kim Jong-un that I am wealthy and can live like this.
10:58In fact, maybe you know the song which speaks of the rise of our young nation
11:02and tells how our country will be built by the people under the guidance of Comrade Kim Jong-un.
11:09Thanks to him, our future will be brilliant and socialism will triumph.
11:20How about a song?
11:32Don't cry.
11:35Don't be sad.
11:38Marshal Kim Jong-un is here.
11:43Our motherland, our happiness.
11:47Marshal Kim Jong-un is here.
11:52Morning and evening, we have one wish.
11:57Good bye to our Marshal.
12:04You see, even little children miss the Marshal, so they salute him in their songs.
12:12Your granddaughter who just sang, she's two years old.
12:16What kind of future do you want for her?
12:18What kind of country will she live in?
12:20I feel sure that she will live in a strong and prosperous country
12:25that will incarnate the might of Mount Baekdu.
12:29That she will live in a world where she will have no cause to envy others.
12:38She already goes to a good nursery and will go to the free high school and university.
12:44We hope she's going to be a scientist like her grandfather.
12:48We would like her to contribute to our nation's developments in science and technology
12:53under the guidance of Marshal Kim Jong-un.
13:14Under Kim Jong-un, the nation's future elite is being coached in Pyongyang's model schools.
13:22Here, the children of families close to the nucleus of power will one day become musical virtuosi.
13:32We teach the children piano.
13:35But out of 30 pupils, only a few will be selected for the National Academy of Music.
13:41Some will become pianists and others will just become composers or singers.
14:04Our junior school gives out these red stars as rewards to children for good work.
14:10And when they see these stars, it also makes them want to join the army.
14:25In this way, youth is moulded to the regime's ideology from an early age
14:30and plays a vital role in its propaganda.
14:35The children have to be adorable.
14:37They are corseted and well-fed.
14:42These are the regime's privileged few, the keepers of its eternal future.
15:08From infant school through to university, devotion to the leader seems unfailing.
15:14But all the parades, songs and smiles hide another reality.
15:19The images that we filmed in North Korea give no insight into how this enigmatic country really works.
15:26Only North Korean refugees who have fled their homeland can genuinely shed light on the country's everyday life.
15:38What your footage shows is children who are all at the same level.
15:43The ones who lead the parades on the streets of Pyongyang
15:47are psychologically groomed throughout their time at school.
15:51And usually, they have access to better facilities, owing to their parents' position,
15:57because it's a privilege to lead parades like this through the streets of the capital.
16:08The difference between the kids from Pyongyang and the kids from the countryside is their size.
16:16The children from the capital are much bigger than the country kids of the same age.
16:21This is due to lack of protein in their diet.
16:24Now, a whole host of new songs glorifying Kim Jong-un is being taught to the children.
16:30And they teach them to us, their parents.
16:33If children sing any song that is in any way critical of North Korean socialism,
16:38they are censured in front of their classmates.
16:41This is the reality of North Korea.
16:43This indoctrination of youth is an absolute priority.
16:48At the heart of this education program,
16:51the teachers of the school are the children of the future.
16:54The children of Pyongyang are the future students of North Korea.
16:58Learn from the children.
17:00Your future.
17:02You are a future student of Pyongyang.
17:05You are a future student of Pyongyang.
17:07This indoctrination of youth is an absolute priority.
17:12At the heart of this education lies a rabid patriotism.
17:26These children are the future of North Korea and have to be ready to defend their nation.
17:33These mass spectacles are designed for the North Korean nation to promote its sense of power.
17:43These 20,000 young participants are all members of families fiercely loyal to the regime.
18:03These Pyongyang citizens are an essential part of the regime's rhetoric at its very core.
18:13Students, teachers and high-ranking military officers whose loyalty is beyond question.
18:22These men and women from the capital's elite are the only people allowed to meet foreigners.
18:32Like the Park family, a couple of university professors hand-picked by our guides.
18:38The Park family's exemplary conduct has enabled them to move into this block of flats.
18:46I'm still emotional talking to you now.
18:48We used to live on Mansudong Hill over there, in a flat on the 15th floor of a building,
18:53where those two statues of our leaders are.
18:57We were given this apartment on the 2nd of July 2012.
19:03Marshal Kim Jong-un came to visit us on the 4th of September 2012.
19:08He looked at every room, even the bathroom.
19:11He turned on the tap and the water ran freely, so he was very pleased.
19:19I couldn't believe how lucky I was to be able to live in a flat like this.
19:25When our Marshal Kim Jong-un visited us, I even asked him,
19:29Dear leader, why is it that a family like ours is allowed to live in such a luxurious apartment?
19:36The Marshal said,
19:37In our society, teachers and their families are the people who are entitled to the greatest respect.
19:44If people like you can't benefit from living in a place like this, then who can?
19:48You deserve to live here.
19:51That's what the Marshal told me.
19:54A model flat for a model family.
19:56Happiness, North Korean style, is, like everything else, stage-managed.
20:02In order to ensure their loyalty and to disguise the iron rod hanging over the population,
20:07Kim Jong-un has transformed Pyongyang into a shop window for the regime's privileged few.
20:16Our Marshal Kim Jong-un is trying to ensure that all our people can enjoy a happy life.
20:22He wants the people to be able to live in a civilized country, a civilized and socialist country.
20:29It is his will and his intention that the people may one day enjoy a very modern lifestyle.
20:36This shows that we're trying to develop not just the leisure industry, but also sports, health care and culture.
20:44We're trying to live in a more civilized world, basically.
20:47The despot Kim Jong-un has decreed the North Koreans should have fun.
20:52The country has supposedly entered a new era with fun for everyone.
20:58At least, that's the image that the authorities want to display to foreign visitors.
21:03On the outskirts of Pyongyang, this equestrian center is Marshal Kim Jong-un's latest creation.
21:10This equestrian center is for the benefit of everybody.
21:14Workers, employees, old people, and even small children.
21:22Nothing is left to chance. There's no room for improvisation.
21:27I'm on my way.
21:29They want to see the merry-go-round. Get everything ready quickly and let the others know.
21:34We're on our way.
21:42The horse symbolizes North Korea's power.
21:46If you believe what the North Koreans say, we are not fools anymore.
21:50The horse symbolizes North Korea's power.
21:57If you believe what the North Koreans say, the Kim family comes from a long line of horsemen.
22:02The legend surrounding the supreme leader continues.
22:08Between 1990 and today, Marshal Kim Jong-un got on a horse 300 times, advised and coached
22:14by General Kim Jong-il.
22:18He worked very hard at it.
22:20In order to become a great horseman, he studied and read many books, which enabled him to
22:24master every aspect of horse riding.
22:27That's why he's such an expert now.
22:31The myth surrounding Kim Jong-un borders on the grotesque.
22:36Indoctrination seeps into every aspect of life.
22:39Our presence here serves to export this ultra-propaganda across the country's borders.
22:49The role journalists play is very important.
22:54That's why we're taking the documentary you are making of our country so seriously.
23:00We hope that you will take what we have told you and turn it into a fair and objective
23:04documentary.
23:10Part of the schedule for the day is a visit to Marshal Kim's latest folly, a ski resort
23:16200 kilometres from Pyongyang.
23:21His time studying in Switzerland gave him a taste for winter sports.
23:26The regime has spent $300 million on the construction of this complex.
23:34But Kim Jong-un has also achieved his objective of circumventing the embargo on leisure goods
23:39imposed by the international community.
23:46We have ten ski slopes here at the Masik resort, nine for professional skiers and one for beginners.
23:54We started building these slopes in May 2013, and we finished on the last day of December
23:592013.
24:02That's what the Marshal required, and we achieved it.
24:06The leader even promoted our resort all over the world.
24:16Skiing is part of our country's culture, and so Kim Jong-un wanted this resort built to
24:22develop our civilisation.
24:33But who in North Korea can afford the luxury of a holiday here?
24:38No one is willing to explain the circumstances of their stay here.
24:45The resort was designed with the people in mind, and the prices too have been set with
24:49the people in mind.
24:54In Marshal Kim Jong-un's socialist country, money remains a taboo subject.
24:59Only 5,000 North Koreans are estimated to have the means to use this resort.
25:11In the opinion of this North Korean refugee, these new facilities are unacceptable.
25:24It's all so ridiculous.
25:27People are starving to death, and these facilities are only for rich people from Pyongyang, and
25:31no good to anyone else.
25:34The reality is that people in North Korea are suffering.
25:46When I see all these leisure facilities being built, I think to myself that it's just to
25:51placate the people and show people abroad that the country is capable of achieving these
25:55things.
25:57All the money spent on building these things could have been redistributed throughout the
26:01population.
26:02This is just throwing money out of the window.
26:09North Korea's economic difficulties do not stop the regime from spending money hand over
26:13fist.
26:15Every two years Pyongyang puts on a film festival open to foreigners.
26:24This is a way for the authorities to present an image of cultural and material prosperity
26:28to the world.
26:38We declare the 13th Pyongyang International Film Festival open.
26:44The films and cartoons shown all follow the party line, of course.
26:48This amenability towards the world outside North Korea is limited, and tributes to the
26:52leader are never far away.
26:56This event is all the more important because it only takes place thanks to the interest
27:00and the love that Marshal Kim Jong-un has for the cinema.
27:05You're about to watch films which are completely innovative in both form and content.
27:13North Korean cinema has a central role in the propaganda machine.
27:17It educates even before it entertains.
27:47The film festival also allows the regime to present itself in a good light, a message
27:55relentlessly driven home by the Ministry of Culture.
28:02We want independence, friendship and peace between peoples.
28:09All over the world?
28:12Yes, all over the world.
28:18A select group of dignitaries and a few foreigners are being treated to a soiree orchestrated
28:23by the great and good of the regime.
28:41But behind this façade of a smiling, prosperous North Korea, the regime maintains control
28:56over every citizen's life.
29:11The regime is building a new era in the world of propaganda and propaganda.
29:17The construction industry is flourishing.
29:22It's been 10 years since Pyongyang was conquered.
29:25It's been 10 years since Pyongyang was conquered.
29:34In this country of supreme leaders, even the smallest event is an opportunity to pay tribute
29:40to the leadership.
29:42Under North Korea's totalitarian system, there is no other choice.
29:46To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, the population of Pyongyang
30:10is requisitioned to pay tribute to its army.
30:15General Kim Jong-il said,
30:19To safeguard our country, one can live without candy, but one cannot live without bullets.
30:28Our guide's words are directly influenced by the Songun doctrine,
30:32devised by the former leader Kim Jong-il,
30:35which gives the army the dominant role in building North Korea's socialism.
30:45Like his father, Kim Jong-un perpetuates the tradition of large public parades.
30:51In this way, he sets the scene for his own power and that of North Korea.
31:15The army is the keystone of the regime,
31:19with a million North Koreans enlisted and a third of the population reservists.
31:39These parades are quite remarkable.
31:43I think they used to do something similar in the former USSR.
31:47What leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il taught us
31:51was a style of military marching called the Hell March,
31:55which dated from the end of the war with Japan.
31:58It's a style that Kim Il-sung was already using when he fought the Japanese.
32:05The idea is to intimidate the enemy.
32:10When you do a hopping goose step like that, it's rough on the stomach.
32:17When we trained, we were told to wear two leather belts
32:21done up very tightly under our belly.
32:25This pushed up your stomach, which you can imagine is very painful.
32:40I took part in training for these parades
32:44while I was a student at military college.
32:48But a few days before the parade,
32:52I contracted paralysis in my legs because of the hopping.
32:56So I was unable to take part and had to go back to college.
33:00The training is extremely hard.
33:04It felt like being a prisoner in a prison.
33:08It felt like being a prisoner in a labor camp.
33:12And in North Korea, not to be able to take part in the parades is very shameful.
33:38Kim Jong-un, the dictator
33:55In order to establish his authority over the army and the party,
33:59Kim Jong-un took his inspiration from the darkest days of Stalinism.
34:03In December 2013, the young dictator began a violent purge
34:08of the state's apparatus.
34:12Any officials who could have got in his way were brutally eliminated,
34:16beginning with his own uncle, Jang Song-thaek,
34:20who was very influential at the heart of the regime.
34:26The Special Military Tribunal of the Ministry of State Security
34:30of the Republic of Korea has found the accused, Jang Song-thaek,
34:35guilty of acts of subversion against the state.
34:39His goal was to overthrow the power of the proletariat
34:43by aligning himself with our ideological enemies.
34:47This crime carries the severest penalty under Article 60 of our Penal Code.
34:53This upstart, this traitor to the revolution,
34:57is condemned to death.
35:02The decision is to be implemented with immediate effect.
35:06Jang Song-thaek was shot, according to the party line,
35:10for fermenting a coup d'etat.
35:14He was said to be overly immersed in commercial activities with China.
35:18Any hope of the regime relaxing its approach was definitively snuffed out.
35:24Kim Jong-un has asserted himself as a warlord.
35:29Kim Jong-un's directives are followed to the letter by North Korea's soldiers.
35:35After the Kim Jong-un regime took power,
35:39training became more and more intense.
35:43He was determined to crush South Korea by force.
35:47He was very insistent on the weapons we had to use
35:51and ordered us to use all our ammunition on every training drill.
35:55We had to go up into the mountains more and more often
35:59for training sessions two or three times a week.
36:03And everything changed from a military equipment point of view.
36:07We got new and better munitions, like armour-piercing bullets.
36:15I think Kim Jong-un wants to prove to Koreans
36:19that he is capable of preparing the country for a war against South Korea.
36:25Kill Kim Jong-un!
36:28Kill him! Kill him!
36:32Marshal Kim Jong-un regularly challenges his southern neighbour and enemy.
36:39The regime's belligerent rhetoric goes hand in hand with provocative acts
36:43such as nuclear trials or military manoeuvres.
36:47The state needs an enemy to justify the economic priority given to the military.
36:52This policy operates with no regard for the population
36:56which outside Pyongyang is still vulnerable.
37:00Between 1994 and 1998 the country suffered its worst ever famine
37:04which caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.
37:12At that time I was a soldier and I had some serious health issues.
37:16I'd lost a lot of weight.
37:21I remember that opposite my barracks there was a woman
37:25who used to deliver food to the Labour Party cells.
37:29I went to see the farm manager and pleaded with him to give me some apples.
37:33I said, give me an apple before I starve to death.
37:37So he said, you can eat what you like when you're here
37:41but you can't take anything with you, otherwise all the other soldiers
37:45will end up coming here and your superiors will confiscate your food.
37:50The state relied on an apple in the morning and an apple in the evening for several months.
37:56Nowadays there are no great famines
38:00but lack of food is still the main thorn in the regime's side.
38:04A third of the country's population suffers from malnutrition
38:08and is dependent on a public food distribution system.
38:12The state buys cereals and other foodstuffs
38:16from the farmers at a low price
38:20and then redistributes them among the population.
38:24Depending on the number of people in the family
38:28they get more or less food.
38:32More is given to families where there are adults.
38:37The regime is still incapable of feeding its people
38:41but is keen to convince us that the opposite is true.
38:45Our journey now takes us on a visit to a naturally exemplary farm.
38:49These are the details commemorating our visits
38:53from General Kim Jong Il
38:57who came 15 times to give us new instructions.
39:01His advice when he was here enabled us to improve production
39:06He was very pleased.
39:10The General said at first the soil here was bad
39:14but the good work of our farmers has allowed us to increase productivity.
39:18General Kim Jong Il himself said that our farm should become a model to the rest of the country.
39:22This model farm looks more like a ghost farm.
39:26According to the manager, 850 farmers work here.
39:30We do not see a single one.
39:34The newly created greenhouse is the regime's attempt to convince us
39:38of how modern its agricultural system is.
39:42In fact, what we produce here is mainly for the local population.
39:46We don't get involved in how many people we distribute vegetables to.
39:50There is an organisation above us that calculates this
39:54and then gives us production targets for the year.
40:05But the targets set by the authorities are unattainable.
40:09In order to help the farmers,
40:13the regime takes its inspiration from the Maoist model
40:17and sends the army into the fields.
40:21As soon as our training is over, we go into the country to work with the farmers.
40:25We usually help with pricking out rice or planting corn.
40:29Every regiment is billeted to a farm near its barracks.
40:33The commanding officer might say,
40:37this barracks, you go to this farm or whatever.
40:41After the corn harvest at the end of October or beginning of November,
40:45we return to barracks to start our winter training.
40:49In March 2012, Kim Jong-un introduced a reform
40:53which allowed farmers to keep half of what they grew.
40:57But a lack of fertiliser and farm tools prevents the country from being self-sufficient
41:01and the agricultural principle remains out of reach.
41:13The regime seems to continue supporting a systematic economic path.
41:17But today it no longer has any choice
41:21but to tolerate private commercial ventures.
41:26We still struggle economically.
41:30There are still obstacles to overcome,
41:34but under our Marshal's leadership, everyone can enjoy a stable lifestyle.
41:44The regime has succeeded in maintaining this stability
41:48by cutting off its population from the outside world.
41:53Only a handful of North Koreans managed to get around this isolation via the black market.
42:03There are smugglers who regularly cross the Tumen River on the Chinese border
42:07and bring back contraband.
42:11I went into business with a bunch of friends
42:15and I remember everyone copying and burning South Korean DVDs brought in from China
42:20In North Korea, buying DVDs like this is expressly forbidden
42:24and goes against the regime and the law.
42:28It is actually dangerous to even own them.
42:32But there are fewer controls in the evening,
42:36so people get together around 10 or 11 and stay up until dawn
42:40watching recordings of popular TV series.
42:44I remember a very popular South Korean series
42:48about the capitalist country.
42:52You saw money changing hands, which we'd never seen before
42:56because all you see on North Korean television is documentaries about Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il
43:00and it's still the same today.
43:04But in those South Korean series,
43:08I saw apartments and wardrobes full of clothes and shoes.
43:12The North Korean regime keeps on telling us that South Koreans are very poor
43:16but the North Korean series were really fashionably dressed and I loved it.
43:28According to these refugees, this new merchant elite
43:32could be the catalyst for change within the country.
43:36This may explain why control over the population has increased
43:40since Kim Jong-un's accession to power.
43:44South Koreans have absolutely no chance of leaving the country legitimately.
43:48So despite the risk,
43:52many try clandestinely to cross the border into China.
44:00The first time I fled North Korea,
44:04I met a middleman when I arrived in China and was sold to a Chinese farmer.
44:08When you're on Chinese soil,
44:12you're treated like an immigrant and not a refugee.
44:16I ended up getting caught
44:20and the Chinese authorities sent me back to North Korea.
44:24I was sent to a labor camp for a year.
44:28I was beaten for three days.
44:32The first few days are meant to frighten you and make you confess your crimes.
44:36Once you've confessed, you're sent to a labor camp or to prison.
44:40When they were torturing me,
44:44they prevented me from sleeping
44:48and they hit me here in the eye.
44:56When I was a border guard on the Tumen River,
45:00it was my job to catch fugitives.
45:04We were posted along the Chinese border in groups of three.
45:08When we caught a fugitive, we took them to our guard post
45:12where we recorded the time and date at which we'd captured them.
45:16Then the fugitive was interrogated by our boss
45:20and transferred to the Department of Security.
45:24If the prisoner was starving, we could be lenient.
45:28Otherwise, they were sent straight to prison or the labor camp.
45:32All I did was hand them over to my superiors.
45:36We were rewarded for each fugitive we caught.
45:44I stopped about eight people from escaping across the Tumen River into China.
45:48If you catch one fugitive, you get a medal.
45:52If you catch five in the same year,
45:56the labor party awards you prizes and even holidays
46:00so that you can go home and see your family.
46:06Once I left prison,
46:10I wondered how I was going to carry on living
46:14with no identity.
46:18I was considered a traitor to the nation,
46:22so I had no future in North Korea.
46:26I tried to flee a second time.
46:30I had obtained contact details for a people tracker
46:34while I was in prison.
46:38Thanks to him, I managed to cross the Tumen River
46:42between China and North Korea.
46:46With the fake passport he made me,
46:50I got on a boat to South Korea the following day.
46:54The ruthlessness of the regime
46:58and the disastrous economic situation
47:02have forced over 200,000 North Koreans to flee their country.
47:0625,000 have made it to South Korea.
47:10Despite some early hope,
47:14Kim Jong-un's accession to power
47:18has not changed the nature of the regime.
47:22Never before has the contrast between the reality of this country
47:26and the image it tries to portray been so glaringly obvious.