North Korea invites parody. We laugh at the excesses of the propaganda and the gullibility of the people. But consider that their indoctrination began in infancy, during the fourteen-hour days spent in factory day-care centers; that for the subsequent fifty… — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
A North Korean soldier would later recall a buddy who had been given an American-made nail clipper and was showing it off to his… — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
“While the Chinese Red Guard also rooted out “capitalist roaders” during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, it resulted in a chaotic… — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
“Chang-bo took to his bed, or rather to the quilts on the floor that was all they had left. His legs swelled up like… — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
“He was polite, respectful, not daring even to hold Mi-ran’s hand until they’d been dating for three years.” — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
“As she sat alone in the apartment, the enormity of it all started to sink in. Any hope that the North Korean regime might… — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
“The more there was to complain about, the more important it was to ensure that nobody did.” — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
“It is axiomatic that one death is a tragedy, a thousand is a statistic. So it was for Mi-ran. What she didn't realize is… — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
“Kim Il-sung had promised North Koreans three bowls of rice every day. Rice, especially white rice, was a luxury in North Korea. It was… — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
“Chinese Red Guard also rooted out “capitalist roaders” during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, it resulted in a chaotic reign of… — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
“It is worth noting here how extraordinary it was for anyone to be homeless in North Korea. This was, after all, the country that… — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
“Supervisors routinely fabricated statistics on agricultural production and industrial output because they were so fearful of telling their own bosses the truth. Lies were… — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
“This is not the sort of thing that shows up in satellite photographs. Whether in CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, or in the East… — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
“If North Koreans paused to contemplate the obvious inconsistencies and lies in what they were told, they would find themselves in a dangerous place.… — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
North Korean defectors often find it hard to settle down. It is not easy for somebody who’s escaped a totalitarian country to live in… — Barbara Demick Copy Share Image
