Authors@Google: Mike Kim

Mike Kim visits Google's Mountain View, CA headquarters to discuss his book "Escaping North Korea: Defiance and Hope in the Worlds Most Repressive Country." This event took place on June 26, 2009, as part of the Authors@Google series.

The first of its kind, this book provides a rare and unique inside look into the hidden world of ordinary North Koreans. Mike Kim, who worked with refugees on the Chinese border for four years, recounts their experiences of enduring famine, sex-trafficking, and torture, as well as the inspirational stories of those who overcame tremendous adversity to escape the repressive regime of their homeland and make new lives. One of the few Americans granted entry into the secretive Hermit Kingdom, Kim came to know the isolated country and its people intimately. His North Korean friends entrusted their secrets to him as they revealed the governments brainwashing tactics and confessed their true thoughts about the repressive regime that so rigidly controls their lives. Civilians and soldiers alike spoke of what North Koreans think of Americans and war with America. Children remembered the suffering they endured through the famine. Women and girls recalled their horrific sex-trafficking experiences. Former political prisoners shared their memories of beatings, torture, and executions in the gulags. With the permission of these courageous individuals, Kim now shares their stories and recounts his dramatic experiences leading North Koreans to asylum through the 6,000-mile modern-day underground railway through Asia. His unflinching narrative exposes the truth about North Korea, stripping away the last veils that still shroud this brutal dictatorship.


Mike Kim is the author of Escaping North Korea: Defiance and Hope in the Worlds Most Repressive Country. Mike is a Korean-American who, in 2003, moved to the China-North Korea border and founded Crossing Borders, a nonprofit dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance to North Korean refugees. While living near the North Korean border, he operated undercover as a student of North Korean taekwondo, training under North Korean masters from Pyongyang. During his time in China, he learned of the hundreds of thousands of North Koreans fleeing to China through a 6,000-mile modern-day underground railroad in search of food and freedom. He has interviewed hundreds of North Koreans and in his book he recounts their experiences of famine, defection, sex-trafficking, and torture in gulags. Mike frequently appears in the media: He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and has appeared on Larry Kane: Voice of Reason.

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