Why North Korea is the Hardest Country to Escape

Select video clips courtesy of Getty Images

Special thanks to MapTiler / OpenStreetMap Contributors and GEOlayers 3

[TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

You can't help but feel terrible for the citizens in that place, literal hell on earth.

[adithyamenon]

The man who crashed into the NK border with a car was shot 5 times and yet he ran for his life. Imagine how bad the country must be for him to decide it's better to keep dodging bullets than go back.

[roodyg]

It’s crazy how a place like this exists in the modern world.

[CxsmicRxse]

My AP teacher, who worked in the military, stated that he was stationed in South Korea. He was right at the boarder to North Korea. He and a few others were able to tour around the South Korean side of the boarder, but were told they should never look through to windows, which led to North Korea. There were guards on the other side of the boarder, and he could feel one of them staring at him. He stayed like that for 3-4 minutes, avoiding eye contact with the man staring at him.

[tradeka]

One of my dad’s coworkers escaped with his sister as a child. Their parents basically just told him to take his sister and go. They never heard from their family again

[luan_o]

it's literally hell there. I can't believe something like this exists omg

[marcind-ecde]

Now that's a huge bunch of useful information to watch with interest. Thanks man!

[crucible]

the guy that did that one
escape or die trying attempt
was badass
and i was so glad to hear that the dad lived and successfully reached seoul

[vernbaa]

I cannot even begin to imagine the emotions that person must've felt after finally getting their freedom and then getting sent back to North Korea

[iwasfound]

My friends mom escaped from North Korea, she went threw China and into Vietnam. She flew to Seoul, then a few years later, she flew to United States where I live. She was so lucky, they almost got caught when in Laos. But they made it and survived!!!

[soapycleaningproduct]

Idk if it’s just me, but in between the border of North and South Korea in Google maps, I saw a hardcore concentration camp, and that gave me chills. I have no clue if it’s still in operation, but I saw it. This shows how strict North Korea is, and even the slightest disloyalty will get you to possibly one of these camps. This also shows that they aren’t messing around when they say there are many concentration camps. 😔

[patrickkaiser]

This video is absolutely fantastic, love it

[TheHorrorDevotee]

In my opinion, Hyeonseo Lee is the most interesting defector. She left NK alone and purely for curiosity about the outside world. She lived and worked in China for an entire decade, quickly learning to speak flawless Mandarin. She flew under the radar all this time and only decided to go to South Korea because she was in love with a guy from there.

[siddycosmos]

I have SO MUCH respect for the people who manage to leave this hellscape and the South Koreans who accept them with open arms.

[silentstriker]

Terrifying to think of the ones who tried and never made it

[jaymata]

For every succesful attempt, I can't even imagine how many unsuccesful attempts there were.

[savedata]

my respect to the guy who crashed his car into the border and escaped: 📈📈📈

Edit: Thanks for the likes

[Kyawthuite_Official]

imagine buying a tire, airpump, and some food, then going near shore then waiting for nighttime, then SWIMMING then being spotted by what could be a patrol boat out to catch you, then swimming to an island in the winter WITH BARELY ANY CLOTHES, then using LITERAL TRASH. Then paddling with your BARE HANDS just to get to another country.

[robokast]

at first glance i thought that was florida in the thumbnail and I was excited to learn how to escape

[billnye]

Making it out of North 5 times and lost half his blood.

Guy: Totally worth it.