Jang Jin-sung

Jang Jin-sung (ca.1970-1971) is the pseudonym of a prominent North Korean dissident and former propaganda poet of Kim Jong Il. He fled to South Korea and wrote the international best seller Dear Leader - My escape from North Korea (2014). In 2015 he was a guest lecturer at Leiden University.
(2018)Archive available for: Jang Jin-sung
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North Korea: daily life in a mental dictatorship - the story of the refugee
With: Hassnae Bouazza, Jang Jin-sung, Remco Breuker
Remco Breuker is a true expert on North Korea. While North and South negotiate peace and nuclear disarmament, with and without the US, Breuker warns against optimism, as he recognizes the strategizing of the North Korea's ruthless dictatorship. Despite the negotiations, the daily lives of North Koreans are not likely to improve, as we will hear from the former propaganda poet Jang Jin-sung, who fled to the South. Once he had to sing the praises of the supreme leader, but now he is free to write about whatever he wants. Through poetry and conversation, Breuker and Jang enlightend us on what it is like to live in North Korea's dictatorship of the mind. Moderated by Hassnae Bouazza.
Event curated by Ton van de Langkruis (Writers Unlimited)
Books for sale courtesy of Van Stockum Booksellers