Source: Wide Angle: "Crossing Heaven's Border" Heaven on Earth
Transcript (Document) Narration: Defectors started pouring out
of North Korea in the mid 1990s, when its economy collapsed and
its citizens endured a catastrophic food shortage known as the
great famine. Up to a million North Koreans died. Narration:
Hunger and poverty still drive some to defect… so too, do the
policies of North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Il. Narration: The
so-called “Dear Leader” rules with the aid and allegiance of an
all-pervasive secret-police force. Citizens are spied on. Those
deemed not loyal enough are sent to live in prison camps.
Narration: But the journalists would learn from North Korean
defectors that they aren’t just escaping from something… but
also to something. Lee Hark Joon: It’s not just because of
starvation or hatred toward Kim Jong Il. They escape for hope.
There is no hope there. We called our story “Crossing Heaven’s
Border.” People ask if that means they’re crossing out of
heaven, because North Korean propa