Interviews with Kang Chol-hwan

We use balloons to distribute leaflets, which is the most common method that we use to send information into North Korea. But there are other methods that we use such as distributing radios in the North Korean-China border. We are receiving more help with the use of electric devices for information. We distribute a lot of mp3’s and we can store a lot of information there. Also we use radios so both of them are very useful. Nowadays we are using more of mp4’s because we can store video clips and audio files. We can send more information using more visual information.

We are now circulating a lot of Western videos in North Korea. And because of cell phones we can share information by sending and receiving information. And these are the types of methods that we use to help us change the way North Korea is. The North Korean regime is making threats against us.

I am a target of these North Korean threats and of course there is anxiety that I experience. But we know that the North Korean people are watching us and cheering us on and by knowing this we can overcome these fears of intimidation. We know that what we are doing and how we do it with the North Korean society, they will experience change from within. So the harder we push, the harder we will try.

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 .