Part 1/17:

Inside the Mind and Journey of a North Korean Defector: A Deep Dive

Living in Isolation and Ignorance in North Korea

Growing up in North Korea, Hung Lee describes life as living "in arats without any information." Until high school, he had no awareness of the outside world or what was happening beyond the borders of his country. For many North Koreans, such ignorance is not simply a matter of choice but a consequence of draconian control over information. Hung Lee recalls that, in North Korea, questioning the regime or the leadership was extremely dangerous, making curiosity about the outside world risky.