Hyunseung Lee and his family defected from North Korea in 2014 after a series of violent executions by North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un. Despite living a privileged life in the elite class of Pyongyang and serving in the North Korean special forces, he feared for his safety.
He tells Business Insider how he escaped to the United States. He also discusses brutal conditions inside the hermit kingdom, how law and order are maintained, and the social hierarchy. He covers public attitudes toward Kim Jong Un and the past dictators, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. He also explains what North Korean propaganda is like, what Hollywood movies and TV shows are shown to the public, and why he believes the North Korean Storm Corps troops sent to help Russia will fail in Ukraine.
He now works as a consultant for the Global Peace Foundation in Washington, DC.
For more, visit:
Global Peace Foundation
https://globalpeace.org/
00:00 – Intro
00:53 – The Control
07:00 – The Hierarchy
10:04 – The Military
15:22 – The Storm Corps
18:54 – Time To Leave
22:58 – The Escape
26:28 – Prison Camps
31:06 – The Great Leader
35:57 – The Future
38:41 – Life In America
43:40 – Credits
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eeIMVrwjLY
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How North Korea Actually Works | Authorized Account | Insider
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According to my quick calculations, the US spends around 400 times as much money on its military annually, so that more or less explains why the N-Korean government doesn't exactly want their people to have any comparison between the two.
What if Kim jung il is a prisoners caught in the system as well
Even if he did return to N-Korea, what are the chances that not only he but all his relatives would still end up on a concentration camp?
What remains unknown is exactly how many elites have to commit anti-government crimes in order for the entire support group for the regime to be jailed, collapsing the entire regime. Hopefully not that many.
Dude escapes and then says “this is what I’m authorized to tell you” 🙄
No 1 way to earn dollars by NK defector is to become a propaganda puppet of the USA.
Most probably this guy was involved with corruption in NK. When he thought he gonna get caught, he fled. 😂
And most of his stories sound phony. The toilet paper, underwear-bullshit.
Still waiting for a Palestine video on this channel 😂😂 no but north korea video sure.U biased hypocrites
North Korea and China is trash. Theres no way ppl in america aspire to be communist.
Hello from Bucharest, Romania – a huge underrated city in Europe:)
I wonder if NK has any horror movies, like ghosts and stuff. South Korea is known for it I think, I'll bet if given the chance some NK filmmakers could spin up some terrifying and entertaining stuff.
Authorized… Yeah man just say only what we are allowed to hear…
1:15 its true though
Not propaganda
What an horrific life experience.
YouTube needs a “haha” button for this kind of comedy, don’t know how is people out there believing this fake *ss thing 😂 make a “best propaganda moments” compilation
look at north korean power, 1 asian person tell story and you either believe it or not
I feel like 30% of what he said was NK propaganda or at least very spun
The audio level in this video is very quiet, Insider.
Dude had a chromed out heavy machine gun
Wait a minute…he defected but this is "What he is AUTHORIZED to tell…"
…there is something wrong with this…
I lived for two years in South Korea as a westerner. My personal opinion is that both koreas are happy with the status quo of the last 75 years. North gets to continue to exist and get backing by China/Russia, and South gets to continue to live this lovely high tech futuristic lifestyle with tech, military and financial support from the west. If they ever united all that would go away and nobody would care about a united korea.
Fake
NK soldiers probably shot more lead in a single day on a Russian base than they had ever shot in their entire careers shortly before being deployed into Ukraine.
Obviously I want Ukraine to win, but I cannot help but feel sorry for these poor boys. They never stood stand a chance.
Great video thank you
More proof communism sucks and anything related to it including socialism because it always leads to the same conclusion.
Equal suffering instead of equal prosperity.
It has never worked.
There is a reason why countries like the US are so successful and democratic and thats free market capitalism.
It isnt perfect but compared to the alternatives its the only way that gives its citizens a fair chance of success.
Obviously there are shortcomings but compared to communism and related ideologies there is nothing better and thats why countries like the US and some European countries succeed where places like NK or cuba or even china fail to keep up.
Singapore works with North Korea? 7:40
It amazes me that humans can become so brainwashed that they work entire lives supporting evil dictators.
I think it's awesome that he's still proud to be North Korean. It exudes his positive thoughts for his country's future. God bless you, my guy …
North Korea should be liberated by an international agreement as a humanitarian mission. These people should be free of this hideous regime.
Never give up you guns
As an American, I wanna say: welcome home, you’re one of us now.
It's a shame North Korea doesn't have any valuable natural resources, America would have 'liberated' its poor citizens decades ago
I live in Canada 🇨🇦 and still doesn't know what freedom is tbh
Hearing that their military still uses WWII era equipment and Morse code just makes me laugh so hard. "It's old so it can't be hacked." That's because it doesn't NEED to be. None of it is encrypted in the first place so all we do is intercept it and you lose. The idea that we here in the US have anything to worry about from this country is insane…
North Korea reinforces the illusion that, in the west, we are free. I guess, relatively speaking, we might be but just try to fully exercise that 'freedom' and see where it gets you.
Of course the cities are clean. No one lives in them.
How do we know he is not lying?
I just want to warn people, if you are interested in learning about North Korean defectors stories PLEASE DO NOT USE ACCOUNTS BY YEONMI PARK. She has been found a tedious amount of times to have fabricated some of or entire stories about North Korean life as since defecting she had become an extreme republican pundit, so lies about experiences in North Korea to villanise left learning politics as North Korea calls themselves a socialist/communist country. Regardless of your political beliefs, her accounts are fabrications and are therefore not helpful in regards to understanding North Korean people.
Any balanced study of modern NK should be cognizant of the relentless hellfire the US rained on NK villagers and innocents during the war. The Kim regime has their own crimes to answer to, but history is complex and the moral high ground is rarely deserved.
A ton of quality information from a man who lived it. Thank you sir for the enlightenment
look how easy to create propaganda content without any authorized credibility these days
Thank you for sharing
Who would be surprised that the higher class people would be bigger than the starving poor? Nobody. But I was definitely surprised when I heard the wealthy class is serving in the special forces. But when you paint yourself into a corner—this is what happens
This is the first North Koreans experience I have heard from someone who was in an elite class. Its crazy how even the chosen few were still living miserable lives. At least they didnt spend every second of every day thinking about how they can get something edible so they wont die. They still had to worry about being killed though. So much fear and uncertainty at all times. Having to worry that some distant relative is going to do something "wrong" that will land you in trouble or dead. Its so heartbreaking that so many people live like this.
If you havent heard what its like for people in rural communities, I'd recommend Shawn Ryans' interview with Yeonomi Park. Very different experience. Yeonomi said she was considered middle class basically because none of her immediate family starved to death. Also, the things she had to get through after getting out of North Korea and was in China….. Its a tough listen just to warn people.