Living in North Korea, you can imagine that you are living in architects without any information.

Until I was high school student, I wasn't aware any outside information.

Welcome back to Change Agents, an Ironclad original, presented by Firecracker Farm.

Today, we are going to be talking about the journey to escape North Korea with my guest,

Hyeongsung Li. Mr. Lee is a North Korean defector, a former military officer, and a human rights advocate. Born and raised

in North Korea, he served as a sergeant in the country's Army Special Forces and later worked

in the regime's international business sector, managing trade operations in industries such as mining

and shipping with China. Following his escape, Mr. Lee has dedicated his life to exposing the

inner workings of the North Korean regime and advocating for human rights. Let's dive into the episode.

God, where do you even begin? Tell me, what I mean, what was it like for you?

Obviously, you were born in North Korea.

I was born in the U.S.

And until a certain age, you're not even aware that the rest of the world exists.

Right?

When I was six years old, I didn't understand my place in the United States, let alone in the global architecture. What was it like for you

growing up in North Korea before you even realized what North Korea was? But then also, as you

grew into your formative years and you started understanding, and again, I would have to imagine

your understanding was based on the information that you were getting.

My understanding is that the information that you were getting or receiving was very tightly controlled by those in power in North Korea.

So I'm just curious what your experience was like growing up.

And then when you realized where North Korea was in the global architecture and what you thought of the world before you left North Korea.

That's great question.

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