Kang Chol-hwan Quotes

South Korea, Writer
September 18, 1968

Kang Chol-hwan is a North Korean defector and author. As a child, he was imprisoned in the Yodok concentration camp for 10 years. After his release he fled the country, first to China and eventually to South Korea. He is the author, with Pierre Rigoulot, of The Aquariums of Pyongyang and worked as a staff writer specialized in North Korean affairs for The Chosun Ilbo. He is the founder and president of the North Korea Strategy Center.

We are people who lived in absence of freedom. We know how precious it is. I want to give all these people their freedom, and the opportunity to live has humans. These are my friends, my family, and my fellow North Koreans.

Kang Chol-hwan
- People
- Live
- Family
All North Koreans know the risk of all their actions. Yeonmi Park grew up in North Korea and says watching outside videos changed her perspective of the world. She says, as a child, all she learned from watching state-run media was love for the Kim regime and North Korea.

Kang Chol-hwan
- Up
- World
- She

After listening to the radio, I learned what the North Korean government had been telling us about the war was not true. This myth allowed the North to hold the South responsible for the war.

Kang Chol-hwan
- War
- True
- Listening