Interviews with Kim Seung-chul

That is a really tough question. I would say that North Korea is a place that does not respect human beings and treats them like robots.

It has no respect for individuality. Such practices strengthen the North Korean regime.

If someone were to explain North Korea to the outside world, they could do that by bringing up the human rights issue, but I think there should be other topics as well. Topics like literary works, films, and the arts.

It is unfortunate that not many defectors carry much influence when it comes to the arts.

Kim Seung-chul is the founder of North Korea Reform Radio and a passionate advocate for freedom of information. Kim grew up in North Korea where all media is completely controlled by the regime. Desperate for alternative sources of information, he would listen to illegal foreign radio broadcasts targeted at North Koreans. As a result of his exposure to independent media, Kim started questioning his country’s totalitarian system.

Trained as a civil engineer, Kim was selected to work on an international construction project in Siberia. He was amazed at how people in Russia’s most isolated region still had access to basic necessities that were unavailable to many in North Korea. Kim decided to escape and start a new life in South Korea. Once there, he launched shortwave radio programming that targets North Korea’s elite who Kim believes will lead the country’s liberalization. Remembering his own experiences with foreign radio, Kim made it his mission to deliver alternative sources of information to his people and inspire change. As such, North Korea Reform Radio delivers news and programming on leadership, reform, and liberalization that offers elites different perspectives on North Korean society and political philosophy.