In 2005, Kim Joo Il realised that North Korea wasn’t the paradise it’s leaders had led him to believe it was. After serving eight years in the military, Kim Joo Il risked his life, fleeing the country.

He joined the army when he was 17, but he and the rest of North Korea had been brainwashed since birth. He was 10 when he saw his first public execution and at the time thought: “He committed this crime, he threatened our paradise, he should be punished.” Growing up he frequently saw people taken to prison because they said one wrong word. The severity of the brainwashing he endured for most of his life is clearly seen in his thoughts when he heard the news of Kim Il-sung’s death.

That’s bullshit—he’s not dead. How can the Great Leader be dead? He’s immortal.

He decided to defect from the country after his two-year-old niece died. Kim Joo Il now resides in London working as the vice president of the Association of Korean Residents in Europe, an organisation that endeavors to raise awareness about North Korea’s regime and human-rights violations.

To read more of Kim Joo Il’s amazing interview for VICE, click here. 

[ Source : VICE ]