A short independent documentary on the world of defectors and South Korean Intelligence (National Intelligence Service, formerly known as the KCIA). The film...
I didn’t know about Spy Nation yet, I will have to give it a watch. Thanks for the recommendation!
For me it is just wild though, that the South Korean government denies passports to its citizens. Like the things western governments accuse the DPRK of doing, SK does as well. Do you by any chance know about how things are handled in the DPRK? From what I gathered on the internet, North Korean citizens generally get visas for work and study abroad, but it depends on the circumstances.
This video from 2013 doesn’t have English subs but basically what happens is: Some south Koreans are on a road trip in Russia and their car has a ROK flag. A truck pulls over next to them and a north Korean guy comes out and basically says “Hey! We were driving past and our driver saw you were Korean so we decided to come see you!” They have a chat and the south Koreans ask if these guys are in Russia to work, and the north Korea guy is like “Yeah, we’ve got a guy who’s been working here for 1 year, someone for about 5 years, etc. Of course each year we go back home then come back here.”
I didn’t know about Spy Nation yet, I will have to give it a watch. Thanks for the recommendation!
For me it is just wild though, that the South Korean government denies passports to its citizens. Like the things western governments accuse the DPRK of doing, SK does as well. Do you by any chance know about how things are handled in the DPRK? From what I gathered on the internet, North Korean citizens generally get visas for work and study abroad, but it depends on the circumstances.
I don’t know much about the process of issuing of passports within DPRK.
I do know that upon an increase of international sanctions against DPRK in 2017, thousands of north Koreans who had been working abroad were forced to return home due to the sanctions.
There’s a few videos I have seen here and there where people randomly run into north Koreans travelling/working abroad in Russia. This video has English subs but not a lot of details about work/passports, but it’s a fun video.
This video from 2013 doesn’t have English subs but basically what happens is: Some south Koreans are on a road trip in Russia and their car has a ROK flag. A truck pulls over next to them and a north Korean guy comes out and basically says “Hey! We were driving past and our driver saw you were Korean so we decided to come see you!” They have a chat and the south Koreans ask if these guys are in Russia to work, and the north Korea guy is like “Yeah, we’ve got a guy who’s been working here for 1 year, someone for about 5 years, etc. Of course each year we go back home then come back here.”