Interviews with Han Nam-su

Under the North Korean system, if one person in your family does something wrong or commits a crime against the regime, then the entire family can be sent away to a prison camp.

The reason the regime has this kind of system in place is because it wants to instill fear in North Koreans. Kim Il-Sung once said that any person who has anti-government sentiments should be wiped out entirely and up to three generations of their family should be punished.

These words from Kim Il Sung actually became law in North Korea. This is why family members also have to be sacrificed.

So if you’re part of a family that committed an offense against the regime not only do you have to live with a bad social class or songbun, but you have a dismal future ahead of you.

[Kim Il Sung (1912 – 1994) was the founder and leader of the North Korean state from 1948 until his death in 1994. Songbun is a system used by the North Korean regime to classify citizens’ attitudes toward the regime as core, wavering, or hostile. An individual’s songbun status is influenced by his family’s status and helps determine career prospects, housing and even access to food.]

Han Nam-su was destined for a life among North Korea’s elite. The son of a military officer, Han and his family were afforded privileges that ordinary North Koreans didn’t have.

Things changed after Han’s father commented on the country’s need for economic reform; he was instantly branded a traitor, tried in a military court, and executed. Han was subsequently expelled from his university and exiled to a remote corner of the country with his family.

On Christmas Eve, 1998, Han decided to leave North Korea and pursue a better life elsewhere. He crossed the frozen Tumen River into China and remained there for the next six years working various odd jobs. In 2004, Han escaped to South Korea where he started a new life in a free society.

Attending Sogang University, Han majored in Diplomacy and Political Science. While there, he decided to raise awareness of the human rights abuses happening in North Korea and founded the Young Defectors’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights. As the organization’s leader, Han works to empower North Korean defectors through trainings, seminars, forums, and various campaigns on democratic governance.