0:00 Welcome to part two of Charles from North Korea. We were in the middle of you talking about I guess at this point you're first discovering that escape even is an option. >> And you were telling us that your dad who's Chinese actually >> uh North Koreanborn Chinese. >> North Korean born Chinese. >> Yeah. Half Chinese, half North Korean. >> And you said he bought crystal meth. >> No. No. He brought opium into North Korea. So he shoved opium up his ass. Sorry. Uh and then he crossed the border. Why was he bringing opium into North Korea? To sell >> to China. >> Oh, from North Korea to China. >> In 1998, he was traveling from North Korea to China >> to sell there. >> To sell opium cuz it was a quick cash, right? >> It was the good stuff. >> And that's why we went into this kind of like why why and North Korea like poppy seeds like they mass produce poppy seeds. Uh the government actually does.
0:51 Um and North Korea also produces uh crystal meth. Um, and uh, like the whole country is like Kim Jong-un himself is like a Walter White, you know. >> Wow, that's crazy. >> Say my name, you know. So, I'm not sure if that's kind of like a >> And they and they sell it to mainly Chinese. >> Uh, they sell it to uh, I mean many different countries, right? Uh, through the u this is something that I've heard. I don't know if if this is like like in fact the fact but >> like at the embassies like they distribute uh those kind of like weapons and also as well as like drugs as well. Um again like this is a >> embassies are weapons and drugs distributions on the back end >> embassies. Yeah, >> that's crazy. Yeah. So >> wait that makes so much sense. >> I mean that's like American gangster, right? >> The Denzel movie. You ever watch that? Yeah. >> So he was a soldier in the Vietnam War
1:43 and then he started to fight figure out Iraqi and he has friends in this in in the military. So through the military he was able to bring some of the drugs back over here. >> But then like so from the outside so from the inside you would know okay he's just a drug dealer. Uh but from the outside it looks like the mil the American military's will is knowingly bringing it in. Ah, >> so it gets muddy, you know, like it's like a lot of the hearsay things, it does get muddy, but these operations I do know also exist cuz I have buddies that were in Afghanistan and they were guarding poppy fields and and then the US government tell them they cannot burn them >> and they have to make sure that nothing happens to them. >> And those parts are conveniently left out of our news, >> you know, cuz we're there to get Osama bin Laden, but it's like why is he guarding Poppy Fields, too? >> So, it's Yeah, it's pretty crazy. So your dad was able to get over the border with the contraband. >> No his ass. Oh no.
2:34 >> Yeah. Yeah. He got caught. >> He got caught >> and he was thrown into prison for 4 years. >> It was just like >> and and in China during that time bringing an opium for four years like getting and then like getting a four years in prison. That's like a like >> that's a slap on the for China. For sure. >> Yeah. For for China. Yeah. So he did four years in China not not in North Korea. >> Not in North Korea. Yeah. So he uh he basically lost his uh Chinese citizenship. So he couldn't come out uh North Korean citizenship because North Korea revokes North Korean citizenship if you're out of the country for a little while. >> Okay. >> Yeah. So you can't come back in. Uh so I think like that's >> they know too much already. They're too exposed. >> But isn't your dad like, "Yeah, I didn't want that citizenship anyways." >> Yeah. Get rid of it. >> Oh yeah. I just leave my family. >> Yeah. I don't I don't know what kind of benefits I have. >> No, that I mean that's true. Uh, and I and I think that was his I don't know if g getting into like the prison was his original I don't think it was his
3:24 original plan, but he actually brought all of cuz I have four siblings including his five. All of them are half ch uh quarter Chinese and 75% North Korean, right? Including me. He brought all of those four, not just not me and my mom and he left to China and he didn't come back. >> Yeah. So either that's like uh because he went to the prison or because like he didn't, you know, want to come out. He didn't. Uh eventually uh when I was 14, my dad wanted to see me. So you know, because like if he were to actually go to an old Korean regime and said, "Hey, he couldn't have done that." Like it takes a lot of money and and whatever. So he didn't do that. Like, "Hey, this is my son and he's Chinese. He's like quarter Chinese. Therefore, give it
4:15 because my grandfather fought in the Korean War and North Korea does honor like those kind of friendship treaties, right? So, back then like, hey, um if uh if you don't have to go back, you can live in North Korea because North Korea is richer than China, so we will give you a North Korean citizenship. It it made sense back then because, you know, North Korea is richer, believe it or not. >> That's funny, right? >> Exactly. I was like, wow. So, time times like that existed, you know. Um, I could have been the same case, but he didn't. So, my my my dad abandoned me and my mom left uh North Korea. I grew up with my mom and you know, kind of like getting into So, I didn't really keep in touch with the Chinese side of myself back in North Korea. And then my dad was like, you know what? Why don't you just like come to uh, you know, China? You can swim across the the river
5:06 and, you know, just pretend that you're taking a bath. Uh, we'll arrange everything for you. we'll we'll get you a like a train for like a so we lived in Shunan so we needed to buy a train ticket right to come to the border town and my dad supposedly uh bribed the guard right it's like hey at this time a little kid is going to swim across but he's just going to come back um so just don't look uh supposedly I'm not sure if if that really happened but um so yeah so my dad was like hey so why don't you come to the you know hisan and then I'll help you escape so he he did found a broker and the broker told me it's like oh so if you go that way the the river is a little shallow uh so you can like swim or walk. Yeah. So that's how I first escaped North Korea. >> So it wasn't really like you wanting to escape. It was more so your dad go hey I want to see you come see.
5:56 >> Exactly. So I escaped North Korea even without realizing that I was escaping North Korea. >> Cuz you're just seeing your dad. >> Yeah. I was like yeah I'm going to go I'm going to go to China. I'm going to go live with my dad. >> What's the role of the broker? Who's that? >> Smugglers basically like coyotes, you know. Think about like coyotes. >> How long is that swim? >> Uh 3 to 5 minutes. >> Oh, so it's short. >> It is. I mean some parts of like the river and and it's like you can literally step and then you're in China. >> Yeah. So Yellow River is like all like all different signs of like uh width, right? >> So the the width that I chose was, you know, decently, you know, far, but 3 to 5 minutes is very quick. >> And there's guards all along that whole river. uh not the whole river but uh mainly where the uh the population lives right every 100 meters of that there are
6:48 guards you know with with guns um you know and the big lights on both sides >> just North Korea side >> that's North Korea side >> yeah China side has cameras and occasion I mean like nobody nobody needs to like like no Chinese people would like escape you know from China into North Korea you know what I mean it's like it's only North Koreans that you know trying to get into. But like when North Korean North Korean people goes to China, like I mean what what are they going to do? They don't speak the language. They don't know where they're going. They're dressed poorly and they start digging into trash cuz they're hungry. They get c they get caught like right away. So they'd be like send them send them back, you know. >> Were you able to see your dad? >> I was. Yeah. So my dad was waiting on the other side with a taxi cab. Uh and then you know like I I would have imagined like so we've not seen each other for almost 10 years, right? cuz uh he he he left it when I was like five
7:39 >> and you just swam across the river. >> Exactly. Yeah. Right. Underwear. He's like, "You wet your bed again." >> What? But but you know, he's like he throws a clothes down at me and threw a shoe like I you know I thought of like you know warm hug you know it's like hey you know it's like all those kind of stuff. >> Hey you made it. >> Yeah you made it. You know it's like >> hell of a swim bud. >> Yeah. No, get in the, you know, like cussing and I was like, we got to get out of here. They're calling cops, you know. >> So, I was like, whoa. Okay. It's like the gravity of of like me being here. Like, that's when I questioned like, why would they be calling cops? >> Like, why? >> You didn't know you're doing something illegal or Yeah. >> Right. And then, and then my Yeah. And then, you know, like I thought my dad would protect me, right? But, uh, he
8:30 didn't. But but you know the life that I spent about nine months for the like the first nine months it was like heaven you know it's like all the food that I can eat you know all the like South Korean dramas that I can watch. >> Oh ████ Yeah. >> Bad Boys 2. >> Bad Boys 2. I watched it. I was like >> the first one it was bigger and better. >> Bigger and better. >> Gabriel Union is fine. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This Michael Ba guy is pretty cool. >> Yeah. You know, it's um >> Gabriel Yun is fine though. >> Still is too. She's like 50, man. Good for her. >> You know, um like North Korea, like if you were to look at like the satellite image of North Korea and South Korea and some of the some parts of China, like at night, like South Korea is like littered with like this lights, right? >> North Korea is really dark. For me, like
9:21 growing up, like during the winter, it would get dark at like 6:00 p.m. And for us, like that's it. There's nothing else. >> No activities. You can't see. >> Yeah. You just like, you know, make babies. You know, the the adults are making babies. And that's why when I back then when I was a kid like you know we didn't have like the like society collapse like now they do like but um um but when I like my point is that like coming to China at 6:00 in the winter it's dark but not really dark cuz lights like street lights you know signs like neon signs like >> everywhere you know it's like literally felt like getting into a time machine and Just fast forwarding like 50 years into the future. >> Jeez. >> Right. And like all the food like fruits that you can eat. Like I ate bananas
10:12 with the peels on the first time. Oh wow. My dad I was like no no no no. I was like I was like it's it's bitter, you know. It's like why would people eat this, you know? And my my dad was like what are you doing? Like it was supposed to be cuz I I thought it was like a radish, you know? It's like a radish like you can eat it with the peels on. He's like you can eat it with it with it or without it. Doesn't matter. But banana I did. >> What was your favorite food in China when you ate there? >> Oh, so uh there was a >> saying apple. >> Uh maratang. So there's a a dish >> soup. >> Yeah. A soup. >> A sour sour spicy soup. >> Yeah. Yeah. Malatang. Yeah. Sa is very like a numb >> ning numbing. Spicy. Yeah. Mala. >> Yeah. Yeah. Spicy sour. >> That was my favorite dish um while I was uh there. And I feel like that I remember like that was the only dish
11:03 that I could eat because when you're malnourished for a while and then when you're introduced to this like greasy, you know, all this kind of >> so rich. Yeah. >> Your your body just like rejects it. Like whenever you see it, you want to throw up. >> Oh >> yeah. It was it was weird. It was really really weird. >> What's typical food like on the North Korean side? >> I mean like there's a seasons, right? Um during harvest seasons we can eat corn, right? Like we we uh crush the corns like so first of all like it's different corn than we have it here. It's very watery here, right? But they're very starchy, very starchy corn. So we dry the starchy corn and then we uh we uh crush it and then we um we separate the as you call it like the starch like the powder uh from the crushed corns um and
11:56 uh uh crushed corns and starch and then we use a starch for something else and then we use uh the crushed corn like a rice >> uh that's kind of like a middle class and then we eat that and then whatever vegetables we can find. Meat is a luxury. Tofu is a luxury. Egg is a luxury. Uh you can only eat meat uh in a certain um occasions. Yeah. Um and there is a a season in our lives uh season called bor. So it's a barley hill. So that is when we just finished the winter and then we're coming into spring. But we ate all of this, you know, the things that we saved over the winter. And again, like our I guess, you know, in a way, my halfb brother's, you know, wife's family, they're they're doing
12:48 somewhat okay because we while I was there, like I really didn't, you know, like starve starve, you know. Sure, we we skipped, you know, like, you know, one to two meals, you know, every other day, but we had something to eat. But in the in the neighborhood, I mean, there were kids who were starving. >> Wow. Like they haven't ate in a few days. >> Yeah. They haven't ate in a few days. And and um it's like a porridge, right? So we eat like a typical meal. Typical meal um it changes throughout like a seasons, but harvest seasons like sure you can um eat um like corns or potatoes or sweet potatoes. Um but during the barley heels like it's mainly porridge. >> Yeah. It's like a it's not because of health like healthy reasons, right? Yeah. >> Um like that's the thing that I didn't
13:39 get when I came to America too. Like people doing dieting like what is like diet, you know? It's like >> fasting intermittently. >> Intermittent fasting, you know, and it's like >> throwing food in the trash. >> You don't eat like a school in North Korea. >> Uh you don't eat like um uh like carbs. Uh what do you call that? That's like a >> Oh, low carb. Yeah. Low carb. >> Whole 30. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> I was like, "What? >> Wait to hear about veganism." >> Yeah. I was like, "Huh, that's really interesting." But yeah, I mean, um, it's not cuz like when you think about North Korea, right, it's like people starving to death, you know, and like all this like government's propagandas, you know, and it's like a worse like people dying on the streets. like 1990 like from early 1990s to like early 2000s um about like anywhere
14:29 between 300,000 to like 3 million people were starved to death in that time again like North Korea have right now they have 26 million people right and if you kind of like get the numbers like that's like almost like 10% of the population starve to death >> and and North Korea went through the largest march right and That's when um North Korea, the Soviet Union collapsed. There was no support. Uh North Korea had two massive floods that that just like wiped out everything. Um and that's why the arduous marches started. And I mean it's still going on in North Korea. Like certain parts of North Korea, they face severe food insecurities, but not as bad as back then, right? cuz that's what I'm hearing from people um like recent
15:20 defectors uh and um but like the inflation is keeps happening in North Korea which is like back then one one kilogram of white rice cuz white rice is like the luxury in North Korea. Uh 1 kilogram of white rice was 5,000 North Korean one. Um, I would probably say that's like that's worth like like 50 cents I would say. But now it cost 90,000 North Korean one to buy a per kilogram of rice. Yeah. In 2025 or 20 it it said that that was 2025. So 2026 it might have increased. I don't know. >> And the North Korean uh work because everybody has to have a job, right? Well, given the context of
16:11 like the the North Korean socialism, right, North Korea specific. So, North Korean people are assigned jobs and North Korean regime would give them the food, right? So, everything from like rice, uh corns and and whatever it is like even salt, uh soybean paste, like everything should be provided to North Korean people and that's how they uh survive. That's how they get meals. So they issue it to you like you're going to be a construction worker. Here's oh here's your rations. >> Here's a rations for you cuz you don't need money because we provide free housing, free healthcare, uh free education, free everything. >> Uh so you don't need money, >> right? Um but North Korean regime struggles to actually give out the rations. >> So they failed at doing what they said they would do. >> Exactly. Yeah. So that's why when um
17:01 like like that's why people who are working in the factories, they don't have food to eat and they're starving, right? Whereas people who are working in farming cuz like North Korea has like a big farm like North Korea like tries to farm everything. And I think I'm I'm getting a little bit sidetrack here, but I think the main reason why North Korea like two massive floods that wiped out everything is like and then like I wiped out a lot of like crops was Kiml Song started cutting down all of the trees, right? like trees and then convert that into a farmland and when there is like a rain >> like there is nothing to hold that ground you know and it's like whenever it rained muslides you know it's like everything just like um yeah so I mean
17:51 it's kind of like it's just so difficult for me to like explain like what like a daytoday life like in North Korea because it's like 10 times 20 times 100 times worse than what you think. >> Jeez. >> You know, it's just kind of like >> Have you traveled America a bunch? >> Um, I'm I'm I'm beginning to. Yeah, I'm beginning to >> cuz I was going to ask like what city in America is the closest to North Korea? >> We'll come back to that. I come back to that. >> That's a good one. We're going to come back to that. >> All right. Thank you guys for watching this video. Uh stay tuned for part three uh with Charles from North Korea.
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