How to Hack North Korea, the Darkest Network on Earth🎙Darknet Diaries Ep. 71: Information Monopoly

Introduction

The episode is a warning that it is dark and intended for mature audiences. Yeonmi Park's story of escaping North Korea is introduced.

Yeonmi's Escape from North Korea

• Yeonmi grew up in North Korea with her family.

• In 2007, Yeonmi and her mother decided to escape from North Korea by paying someone to smuggle them into China, leaving their father behind.

• They were captured by a sex trafficking ring in China where they had to stay hidden while relying on whoever was kind enough to help them.

• At some point, Yeonmi was sold into a sex trafficking ring for 300 US dollars and separated from her mother.

• Her father found Yeonmi in China but died shortly after due to his illness. She cremated him secretly at 3 am so she wouldn't be caught.

• She continued on her journey to escape both North Korea and her enslavers in China by finding a way to get all the way to Mongolia where they don't send North Koreans back.

Escaping Tyranny

• Yeonmi took the leap of faith and made it out of North Korea. The mystery of what it takes for people to escape tyranny and seek freedom is explored.

Life in North Korea

Yeonmi Park describes her experience growing up in North Korea, including the lack of basic necessities like running water and electricity. She also explains how the regime uses starvation as a tool to control the population.

Childhood by the Yalu River

• Yeonmi grew up playing by the Yalu River, which separates Hyesan, North Korea from China.

• She would see children on the Chinese side who seemed well-fed and they would ask if she was hungry.

• Yeonmi's family did not have access to running water or electricity. They washed their clothes and bathed in the river, even during freezing winters.

• The regime chooses not to provide basic necessities to control the population.

History of North Korea

• After Japan surrendered in 1945, US and Soviet troops were both present in Korea and agreed to split it into two countries: Republic of Korea (South) and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North).

• The Soviets established DPRK with Pyongyang as its capital. However, despite its name, it is not democratic or a republic.

Why There's No Food, Water or Electricity in Yeonmi’s Town

Jack Murphy provides a brief history lesson on why there is no food, water or electricity in Yeonmi’s town.

Splitting of Korea

• After Japan surrendered in 1945, US and Soviet troops were both present in Korea and agreed to split it into two countries: Republic of Korea (South) and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North).

• The Soviets established DPRK with Pyongyang as its capital. However, despite its name, it is not democratic or a republic.

North Korea and the Dark Parts of the Internet

Yeonmi Park explains how North Korea's oppressive regime relates to stories about the dark parts of the internet.

Life in North Korea

• Yeonmi describes North Korea as a dark place and recalls everything appearing grey.

• She grew up playing by the Yalu River, which separates Hyesan, North Korea from China.

• The regime chooses not to provide basic necessities to control the population.

The Darkest Place on Earth

• Yeonmi describes North Korea as literally being the darkest place on Earth.

• She explains that if you see Google satellite photos, it is literally the black hole of this universe.

Growing Up in Hyesan

Jack Murphy interviews Yeonmi Park about her childhood growing up in Hyesan, North Korea.

Childhood by the Yalu River

• Yeonmi grew up playing by the Yalu River, which separates Hyesan, North Korea from China.

• She would see children on the Chinese side who seemed well-fed and they would ask if she was hungry.

• Yeonmi's family did not have access to running water or electricity. They washed their clothes and bathed in the river, even during freezing winters.

Life in North Korea

• The regime chooses not to provide basic necessities to control the population.

• The regime uses starvation as a tool to control the population.

The Rise of North Korea's Dictatorship

This section discusses the rise of North Korea's dictatorship and how it was taken to the extreme.

Extreme Independence and Self-Reliance

• North Korea's whole idea was that they wouldn't need to rely on any other governments or global powers in order for a nation to thrive.

• The leader convinced everyone that he personally was feeding and giving clothes to the people of North Korea, and personally liberated North Korea from its oppressors by fighting in the wars.

• North Korea has a very harsh caste system. Those that show great loyalty to the country or leader will be given a higher class compared to those who don’t.

Loss of Aid and Famine

• The Soviet Union broke apart in the early 1990s, which had an immediate impact on North Korea. They lost their biggest ally, resulting in no more food or aid being sent.

• A great famine came over North Korea in the same decade. Only the people who were most loyal could eat while others starved to death.

• Hundreds of thousands of people died as a result of these events.

Three Generations of Dictators

• Kim Il Sung died in 1994, his son Kim Jong Il took over immediately after him. He was ruthless and cruel too, punishing people even more harshly if they broke even the smallest laws.

• Kim Jong Il died in 2011, his son Kim Jong Un took over immediately after him. In this short span since North Korea was created in 1948, there have been only three leaders all from the same family all whom ruled as dictators.

Cult of Personality

• Worshiping the dictator is woven into every aspect of life in North Korea. His picture is hung in every house and school, and everyone has meetings every week to discuss how they worshipped the dictator and how they can do better next week.

• In North Korea, you and your opinions, wants, desires, dreams don’t matter. Only the leader does.

Introduction to North Korea

In this section, Yeonmi Park talks about how love is not allowed in North Korea and how the country relies heavily on imports to keep its people alive.

Love in North Korea

• In North Korea, people are only allowed to love the Supreme Leader. Other forms of love do not exist.

• Yeonmi's friend's mother was publicly executed for distributing illegal foreign movies.

• Due to the lack of resources, many people resort to illegal activities such as importing goods from China.

Imports in North Korea

• The country relies heavily on imports for basic necessities such as food and clothing.

• Yeonmi's father was caught trading metals with China illegally and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

• People have to find extra work or resort to illegal activities just to survive.

Lack of Information Access in North Korea

This section discusses the lack of access to information and technology in North Korea.

Accessing Information

• There is no internet access in North Korea, which means no emails, YouTube, podcasts or news.

• There is only one TV channel that broadcasts pro-North Korean propaganda.

• Even schools do not have computers or access to the internet.

Elite Class Access

• The elite class in Pyongyang has intranet created by the regime that distributes propaganda materials but they cannot access Facebook or other websites.

Life in North Korea

In this section, Yeonmi Park talks about the restrictions on information and technology in North Korea. She also shares her experience of watching the movie Titanic and how it changed her perspective.

Restrictions on Information and Technology

• North Korean computers are severely restricted, with limited access to state-sponsored websites.

• All computer activity is monitored by the police, who can check usage history at any time.

• The government controls all information that citizens are allowed to consume, making it impossible to research or fact-check outside of official sources.

• Citizens are taught from birth to hate their enemies and be grateful for their Dear Leader's protection.

Watching Titanic

• Yeonmi's uncle got a copy of the movie Titanic, which she watched despite knowing it was dangerous.

• The movie introduced Yeonmi to the concept of love, which was not allowed in North Korean culture.

• Seeing the movie gave Yeonmi a taste of freedom and humanity that she had never experienced before.

Electricity in North Korea

In this section, Yeonmi talks about electricity in North Korea and how it was rationed by the government.

Rationing Electricity

• Electricity was only provided on special occasions like Dear Leader's birthday or New Year's Day.

• Sometimes electricity would be provided for free if there was a surplus of water.

• It could take months to finish watching a long movie like Titanic because electricity was so scarce.

• The whole town would celebrate when electricity was provided, as it was a rare and precious commodity.

Similarities between North Korea and Germany

In this section, Jack talks about the similarities between North Korea and Germany, particularly in terms of their post-World War II occupation.

Post-WWII Occupation

• Both North Korea and Germany were split apart after World War II.

• Half of each country was occupied by the Soviet Union.

• The borders of both countries are heavily guarded to prevent people from leaving or entering illegally.

99 Red Balloons: Smuggling Information into North Korea

This section discusses how balloons and radios are used to smuggle information into North Korea. It also introduces Alex Gladstein, the chief strategy officer for the Human Rights Foundation, who talks about his experience smuggling information into Cuba.

Balloons as a Means of Smuggling Information

• Balloons were used by both North and South Korea to send propaganda messages across the border. Military was instructed to shoot at balloons that floated over.

• Human rights groups began floating balloons into North Korea with information like sports scores, news, and pictures of sexy women.

• However, this had limited effect since there is only so much information that can be put on a leaflet.

Radios as a Means of Smuggling Information

• In North Korea, there is only one radio station and your radio is permanently set to that station.

• Human rights groups broadcast radio waves into North Korea but being caught with a hacked radio would result in punishment such as prison or torture.

• The challenge is trying to help the people of North Korea by injecting information into the darkest network on earth.

Alex Gladstein's Experience Smuggling Information

• Alex Gladstein worked for the Human Rights Foundation in 2007 where he put together backpacks of information which would be taken by his Latin American colleagues and smuggled into Cuba to the underground library movement.

• They sent in all kinds of movies dubbed into Spanish, eBooks, everything from Animal Farm to V for Vendetta.

• This program was successful which gave them confidence and expertise to try helping people in North Korea.

Injecting Information Into North Korea

• The challenge is finding an effective way of exchanging information between two people or places or machines or whatever.

• DVDs were smuggled into North Korea last decade with foreign movies and shows on them which was eye-opening to a lot of North Koreans.

• The question is what would be the perfect elixir of truth that would be the most impactful to the people there to get them to either leave or overthrow their regime.

Smuggling DVDs and USB Drives into North Korea

Yeonmi Park discusses how the North Korean government controls what information its citizens have access to, including foreign movies and shows. She explains that people still risk their lives to watch this content, which is often smuggled in from China on DVDs. However, the government tries to prevent this by cutting off electricity and punishing those caught with foreign DVDs. Alex Gladstein then describes his project, Flash Drives for Freedom, which aims to get USB drives filled with banned information into North Korea.

Smuggling Foreign Information

• The North Korean government wants to control what its citizens think and limits access to foreign movies and shows.

• People still risk their lives to watch this content, which is often smuggled in from China on DVDs.

• The government tries to prevent this by cutting off electricity and punishing those caught with foreign DVDs.

• Punishments can range from being sent to a prison camp or even execution.

Flash Drives for Freedom

• Alex Gladstein's project aims to get USB drives filled with banned information into North Korea.

• The project was named "Flash Drives for Freedom" by Jim Warnock.

• Over 70,000 flash drives have been sent into North Korea through the project so far.

• Each flash drive gets shared at least ten times, potentially reaching close to a million people directly influenced by the work of the project.

Hacking the Network

• Getting data into North Korea is like hacking a super secure network; nothing gets in or out easily.

• The goal is to get data into the network, not to poison or corrupt it.

• Flash Drives for Freedom aims to correct the data that's already in North Korea by providing an antidote on USB drives.

Smuggling USB Drives into North Korea

In this section, Alex and Jack discuss the process of smuggling USB drives filled with outside content into North Korea. They talk about how the content is selected, packaged, and transported across the border.

Selecting Content

• Focus groups are conducted to determine what kind of content is popular in North Korea.

• A mix of interviews with defectors, dramas, soap operas, movies, news clippings, and even religious texts like the Bible are included on the drives.

Packaging and Transporting

• The drives are uploaded using a surge protector-like machine that can do twenty at a time.

• A couple hundred drives are usually sent at once.

• Chinese markets near the border are used as a way to get the drives into North Korea. People will pay for them or smuggle them across themselves.

• Sometimes people will send in a giant terabyte drive packed with content along with empty ones so that someone can act as a disseminator.

• Trust networks are used to smuggle the drives into North Korea. Defectors who have paid someone to take them out of North Korea may be asked to help smuggle in the drives.

Risks Involved

• There is a high level of risk involved in smuggling these drives into North Korea.

• Details about how they are smuggled cannot be shared due to safety concerns.

Networks of Smuggling Flash Drives into North Korea

In this section, the speakers discuss the various ways that flash drives are smuggled into North Korea and the risks associated with doing so.

Unique Escape Routes

• Each North Korean defector has a unique escape route that they took.

• There are thousands of human networks that help people get from North Korea into China and eventually into freedom or subjugation.

Risky Business

• Smuggling flash drives into North Korea is extremely risky.

• If caught, it can result in being sent to one of North Korea's concentration camps where torture is common.

• Despite the risks, people still try to smuggle these USB drives over the border.

Bribing Officials

• Many officials guarding the border can be bribed to let people through.

• A lot of these officials end up getting sucked into these information rings.

Grey Market in North Korea

In this section, the speakers discuss how once flash drives get into North Korea, they become part of their grey market.

Communist State Turned Grey Market

• The government has realized that they can't provide for the people and as a result, there is a lot of arbitrage and buying/selling happening throughout North Korea.

• The average annual income is way higher than the national wage.

• When someone gets caught smuggling flash drives, a large percentage of those people are able to bribe their way out of it.

Punishments for Getting Caught

• People who are not able to bribe their way out may be put in prison for counter-revolutionary activities or even tortured but not killed or put in a prison camp.

• Depending on what kind of example they want to make out of you, your whole family may be rounded up and taken away.

The Importance of Information Monopoly

In this section, the speakers discuss how the North Korean government relies on having an information monopoly and how that affects their actions.

Architecture of Power

• The entire architecture of power in North Korea relies on having an information monopoly.

• If a certain percentage of the North Korean people realize that what they're told is not true, things will change very quickly.

The Future of North Korea

In this section, the speakers discuss the possibility of a revolution in North Korea and what it would take to achieve it.

Possibility of a Coup

• A coup at the top could lead to a military dictatorship that is willing to negotiate.

• If the Kim family moves out of the equation, there is an opportunity for constructive dialogue with North Korea.

Tipping Point for Change

• As knowledge of the outside world increases and lack of humanity goes lower, there will be a tipping point for North Korea.

• De-brainwashing people with truth can gradually shift their mindsets towards change.

Demand for Change

• Change in North Korea should happen when people demand their rights and freedom, not by military invasion.

• Showing information about freedom and human rights through flash drives can help shift people's mindsets towards demanding change.

The Power of Truth in North Korea

In this section, the speakers discuss how exposing North Koreans to truth can lead to change.

Impact of Truth

• Exposing North Koreans to truth can result in them realizing that they have been purposely starved by their dictator just to maintain his power.

• Even though we might not see a revolution right now, exposing people to truth accumulates and gradually shifts people’s mindsets towards change.

Importance of Information Sharing

• Flash drives containing information about freedom and human rights can help de-brainwash North Koreans.

• People can be tortured or executed for having these drives, but it is important to continue sharing information to shift people's mindsets towards demanding change.

Yeonmi Park's Escape from North Korea

In this section, Yeonmi Park talks about how she and her family watched Titanic to learn about the world. She also discusses how North Korean people are hungry for truth and how they pay for information in the black market. Yeonmi shares her experience of surviving a harsh winter with no food or heat, and how she escaped to China.

Watching Titanic and Hunger for Truth

• Yeonmi and her family watched Titanic to learn about the world.

• North Korean people are hungry for truth and pay for information in the black market.

Surviving a Harsh Winter

• Yeonmi experienced a horrible winter with no heat, food, water other than frozen Yalu River, or electricity.

• Yeonmi's father developed cancer while in prison, so he bribed someone to go home so he can be treated. But even though the family was together, it was still a massive struggle to survive.

Escaping to China

• Yeonmi escaped because she was very hungry and wanted to find something to eat.

• Yeonmi paid someone to smuggle her and her mother into China leaving her father behind.

• If Chinese police had caught them, they would have sent them back to North Korea which would have put them right into a prison camp.

Repatriation: The Cruel Practice of Sending People Back to North Korea

In this section, Alex explains repatriation - sending people back from China to North Korea - as one of the cruelest things that the Chinese government does. He also talks about the consequences of repatriation, including execution without trial or imprisonment in a gulag where they're going to starve to death.

• Repatriation is sending people back from China to North Korea.

• If caught, they would face either execution without trial or imprisonment in a gulag where they're going to starve to death.

Yeonmi's Journey of Self-discovery

In this section, Yeonmi talks about how she discovered her own self after escaping from North Korea. She shares her experience of being asked what her favorite color was for the first time ever and how she learned English by watching Friends.

• Yeonmi didn't know she was allowed to have a favorite color until someone asked her.

• Yeonmi learned English by watching Friends and watched it thirty times from Season 1 to 10.

• Yeonmi established herself in the world and feels incredibly happy to have escaped.

Flash Drives for Freedom

In this section, Yeonmi Park and Jack discuss the Flash Drives for Freedom project, which aims to get more information into North Korea through flash drives. They also talk about how this project can help topple the regime in North Korea.

The Power of Flash Drives

• The Flash Drive for Freedom project is a way to get more information into North Korea through flash drives.

• These flash drives contain truth about humanity, the world, freedom, and the potential of North Korean people.

• With a big enough campaign, we can see the regime get toppled by its own people.

• People can create a USB or SD card donation drive at their school or work and send them to Flash Drives for Freedom.

Hacking in North Korea

In this section, Yeonmi Park and Jack discuss hacking in North Korea. They talk about how some schools in Pyongyang teach people how to hack and how hacking is a source of revenue for the country.

Hacking in North Korea

• Some schools in Pyongyang teach people how to hack.

• Many hackers are based in China and use code to hack from other countries.

• While internet access is restricted in North Korea, certain very restricted officers have access to it.

• Hacking creates revenue for North Korea. They attack banks and other entities outside of their country.

Threatening Humanity with Hackers

• Even water supplies and electric supplies are controlled by internet systems that could be hacked.

• North Korea is threatening humanity with their army of hackers. They do not respect international law or human dignity and are capable of anything.

Flash Drives for Freedom

In this section, Jack Rhysider thanks Alex Gladstein from the Human Rights Foundation for forming Flash Drives for Freedom and helping North Koreans. He encourages listeners to donate USB drives, SD cards or money to the organization.

Donating to Flash Drives for Freedom

• Alex Gladstein formed Flash Drives for Freedom

• The organization helps North Koreans

• Listeners can donate USB drives, SD cards or money to the organization

• The website is flashdrivesforfreedom.org