“I’ve communicated with some people inside of North Korea, and I heard from them that the recent famine is very similar to [the] 1990s famine. And, as we all know, almost 3 million people died of starvation during that time.”
Hyun-Seung Lee, otherwise known as “Arthur” Lee, is a former member of the North Korean ruling party. He and his family were fiercely loyal to the communist regime. But being on the side of economic reform and having witnessed several brutal internal purges by Kim Jong Un—including that of Kim’s uncle—the family made the decision to defect.
“Many people, especially top people, and even [the] general public in Pyongyang City, don’t know what’s happening outside Pyongyang because of the isolation of the information. The regime structure controls the information distribution,” says Mr. Lee….