An astonishing expose told through the heart-stopping story of Jang Jin-sung's escape to South Korea, Dear Leader is a rare and unprecedented insight into the world's most secretive and repressive regime. Never before has a member of the elite described the inner workings of this totalitarian state and its propaganda machine.

When a strictly forbidden magazine he lent to a friend goes missing, Jang Jin-sung must flee for his life. But this privileged existence was about to be shattered. With food provisions (even as the country suffered through its great famine), a travel pass, access to strictly censored information, and audiences with Kim Jong-il himself, his life in Pyongyang seemed safe and secure.

Not moving my head, I direct my eyes to a point halfway up the archway where Kim Jong-il's face will soon appear.Īs North Korea's State Poet Laureate, Jang Jin-sung led a charmed life. In this rare insider's view into contemporary North Korea, a high-ranking counterintelligence agent describes his life as a former poet laureate to Kim Jong-il and his breathtaking escape to freedom.Įveryone turns to stone.

Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden