Interviews with Ji Seong-ho

North Koreans are no longer giving their unconditional and blind loyalty to the regime. I think these days their main priority is to make a living for themselves.

Because of this, I think that broadcasting into North Korea is the most important tool we have. The media is strictly controlled and monitored in North Korea, nevertheless we have been able to transmit many programs talking about the democratization of South Korea and delivering the messages of South Korean youth to North Korea.

I think North Koreans perceive South Korea’s younger population as being very proactive and just. In our programs, we always emphasize the message of love.

Ji Seong-ho is a North Korean defector and freedom activist. Growing up in the midst of North Korea’s great famine in the mid-1990s, he helped support his family by stealing coal and selling it. While doing so, Ji Seong-ho fell off a train and crushed his left hand and foot; portions of his limbs were amputated forcing him to move around on crutches.

In 2006, Ji Seong-ho escaped North Korea with his brother. They crossed into China via the Tumen River where Ji Seong-ho nearly drowned. After crossing over, Ji Seong-ho urged his brother to leave him fearing his disability would get them both captured. With the help of brokers and religious groups, he trekked across China on his crutches and eventually reunited with his brother in South Korea.

Since escaping, Ji Seong-ho has raised awareness about North Korea and encouraged activism to improve his country’s human rights situation. He founded the organization Now, Action, Unity, Human Rights (NAUH) and initiated various projects geared towards helping North Koreans and preparing for the Korean peninsula’s unification. These efforts have included enhancing mutual understanding and social integration between North and South Koreans, broadcasting information to North Korean youth via Radio Free Asia and Far East Broadcasting, and helping defectors escape and resettle in South Korea.