Ahn Chol - One of the Very Brave

Ahn Chol is a guy who regularly commits horrible crimes demanding immediate execution. He secretly videotapes the ordinary lives of the people who have the misfortune to live in North Korea, and gets that video into the hands of Japanese and Western journalists. To do this he crosses the border between the DPRK and China.

A Child in North Korea

He lives under constant threat of death from the Dear Murderer-Freak Himself, yet continues to inform the world of the horror that is North Korea.

Ahn Chol's most recent video coverage of North Korea!

　This August, I saw Ahn Chol several times at a city located by the China-North Korea border. This was in preparation for Ahn Chol's operation to secretly enter and film the reality of North Korea. We decided on filming the same black market that Ahn Chol filmed 2 years ago.

　There were two reasons why we decided on filming the same location. One was to measure the amount of "change" that has occurred to North Korea ever since it began receiving a great amount of foreign aid, and after Kim Jong Il began to show enthusiasm in foreign policy. We wanted to reveal the reality of what went on inside North Korea.

　The other reason was purely strategic. After the revealing of the shocking footage Ahn Chol filmed two years ago, the furious Kim Jong Il ordered the secret police the arrest of Ahn Chol. Kim Jong Il showed the footage to the head staff of all different sections of the secret police, and upon doing so, ordered the arrest and execution of Ahn Chol. "The man most wanted by Kim Jong Il". Ever since, Ahn Chol has been the target of a heated investigation by North Korean agents. Returning to North Korea under these circumstances would be incredibly dangerous. So, in order to fool the enemy, we decided to film the exact same location as last time.

We get to see the effect of all of the food aid that is entering the country (the United States,Kim's most hated enemy, provides large amounts of food to North Korea) and how it helps the "worker's paradise".

　This has been filmed in a large city that is a major distribution station of foreign aid. Still, one can see starving orphans weakly wondering the streets of the black market in search for crumbs of food. The food that was calculated to be enough for all the North Koreans has somehow found it's way into the black markets, and are now sold at expensive prices. The film shows a sign that prices wheat for 80-60 won. The average income of a North Korean per month is said to be about 80 won, so an average citizen wouldn't even be able to buy a bag of wheat.

Wheat that only the upper class can afford.

Read about the re-establishment of the distribution system. A system that distributes grain mean't for cattle with 10% rice mixed in to avoid foreign criticism. Why only 10%? Most aid goes into the hands of the upper class in this, the classless society and dream state of the Left™.

But, at least there is some benefit to the people of North Korea, right?

This is who can afford to buy food in North Korea.

　The other change is the complete revival of the secret police. When the food shortage became critical during 97-98, the threat from the secret police towards citizens weakened, and they almost lost faith in their strength. But the food aid completely revived them. Some of them even boast that the reason why North Korea doesn't change isn't because of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il or the Juche (self-reliance) philosophy, but because of them, the secret police.

Read it all.