By Ju Il-Lyong (North Korean Defector & Chair of Tong-il Majoong (TIMJ), a non-profit organisation dedicated to North Korean human rights and evangelisation).
Have you ever considered how a fragile chick comes into the world? When a fertilised egg is kept at the right temperature, it begins to develop quietly under the hen’s warmth. After about three weeks, the moment of hatching arrives. From inside the shell, the tiny creature starts to gently tap with its beak. But for the chick to break free and be born into life, something more is needed: the mother hen must hear that subtle sound and respond from the outside, pecking the shell in unison. Only through this simultaneous action—inside and out—can life emerge.
In many ways, this mirrors the journey of the North Korean people in their pursuit of freedom—freedom that is their inherent right. For nearly 80 years, they have lived under the iron grip of the Kim dynasty, isolated from the world by a regime-built shell of fear, deception and control. To the outside world, their voices have been muted, heard only faintly through the distorted lens of state propaganda.
And yet, while the world has not always seen it, something remarkable has been happening within. The North Korean people, through their own quiet resilience, have created spaces of resistance—building grassroots markets within a planned economy, shifting the economic balance from state to citizen. In some instances, the state has even been forced to apologise for failing these very people.
Continue reading “Crucial Response: The Significance of Information Inflow into North Korea”
