Interviews with Kang Chol-hwan

I was a very young man [19] at that time, and part of this group of people, my friends and I, that were against the regime. We had access to outside information and sang foreign songs, all of which was strictly prohibited in North Korea.

I knew that the things I involved myself in could really put my family at risk. Once you are arrested, you are labeled as a criminal and everybody is sent back to prison camp all over again.

So I thought to myself, this is not a matter to discuss with my family. I couldn’t discuss the matter. Even if I did talk about it, they would not agree with my escape.

The intelligence authorities were really after us. Everything was proceeding urgently, so I had to flee as soon as possible.

I think my chances of successfully crossing the border to South Korea were near zero percent, but a miracle happened for me. I escaped with a friend by the name of Ahn Hyuk. It was the two of us fleeing together. The steepest challenge to overcome in the escape process was getting into China, because I had to take a train into the border area.

All of North Korea’s trains were monitored by the authorities, which is why getting on a train and going through that process was the steepest challenge for me. I had to bribe the police, because I needed permission to travel.

After doing that, I went to the border city of Chanbai [China], near the city of Hyesan [North Korea]. That was where I stayed temporarily.

I had to make a lot of deals with the North Korean military. I had to bribe them with beer and other drinks.

They informed me that the shift change for the guards would come around 2 am, so around that time, we crossed the river and it went quite well.

After we reached China, the North Korean authorities came looking for us. They searched for us for about a week after we reached China.

We hid in China for about half a year, and then we went to Dalian where we were helped by ethnic Koreans living in China. [Dalian is a Chinese port city, situated across the Yellow Sea from Korea.]

They put us on an illegal boat going to South Korea, and that’s how I arrived here.

Kang Chol-Hwan escaped from North Korea in 1992 and has dedicated his life to bringing attention to the horrifying conditions in North Korea.

When Kang was 9 years old, the North Korean government accused his grandfather of treason and sent the family to one of its most notorious concentration camps, Yodok. Kang lived in the camp for 10 years, surviving on meager corn rations along with rats and earthworms. He and his family were forced to work in fields and mines and to witness public executions of their fellow prisoners.

Following his release from the camp, Kang bought an illegal radio receiver and began listening secretly to broadcasts from South Korea. These broadcasts allowed Kang to understand the differences between totalitarian societies, like North Korea, and free societies. Kang and a friend escaped North Korea by sneaking across the border to China and went from there to South Korea, where he lives today.

Kang described his experiences in his powerful memoir, “The Aquariums of Pyongyang.” President Bush welcomed Kang to the White House in 2005 .