\u201cThese places were not for the people,\u201d he says. \u201cThey existed only for the Kim family. Even Kim Jong-il\u2019s own sons couldn\u2019t always enter. It was all about exclusivity, all about power.\u201d<\/p>\n
The compounds, known as teukgak, are dotted across the country\u2019s most pristine landscapes. They are off-limits to ordinary North Koreans and are heavily guarded by troops who are recruited on the basis of their family background, looks and loyalty.<\/p>\n
An aerial view of where the palace is situated, just short of the Chinese border. Photo \/ Google Earth<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you go in at 17, you cannot leave for 13 years,\u201d Kang said. \u201cWe were told to live and die for the Supreme Leader. If he dies, we die.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kang says nights at the compounds often followed the same pattern. After dark, luxury cars would glide through the gates and by 8 or 10pm, a celebration of sorts would begin.<\/p>\n
\u201cCars came in, music started, and the parties went until two or three in the morning,\u201d he claims. \u201cThe most beautiful girls, 17 to 20 years old, were brought in. They weren\u2019t even adults yet. They belonged to the pleasure squads. They danced, they sang, they entertained.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside, tables were laid with the finest imported foods, alcohol and cigarettes.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything was the best, the best meat, the best drinks, the best women,\u201d Kang says. \u201cMeanwhile, outside, people were starving to death.\u201d<\/p>\n
He claims guards like him were never invited inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stood watch. We could hear the music, but we never entered. Our role was to keep the secret. We were told even our lives belonged to him,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
Kang claims the bodyguard corps was just one cog in a wider system designed to choke off information and enforce loyalty.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were chosen based on three things: your family background, your appearance, and your loyalty,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you lacked one, you were out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those rules mirror the songbun system that classifies all 25 million North Koreans by their ancestry and loyalty to the regime. Radios and televisions are locked to state channels, foreign media is forbidden, and children are indoctrinated from the earliest age.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe grew up believing the Kims were like gods,\u201d Kang says. \u201cYou don\u2019t question. You just obey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kang even claimed he and his peers were given authority to shoot civilians on sight, should they stray too close to the compound.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone appeared at the fence, we opened fire,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was how you earned reward. The rule was clear: only the dead keep secrets.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Kang demobilised from his post at 31, he says he found himself living in a country he barely recognised. The contrast between the excess he had guarded and the misery he witnessed outside the walls shocked him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw bodies on the street, families selling anything to survive,\u201d he says. \u201cI lost my wife to tuberculosis. I couldn\u2019t even protect my family. Meanwhile the leader was feasting every night. That broke me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond the luxury compounds and exclusive banquets, Kang described a completely different country, full of hunger and poverty. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
He says his faith in the regime collapsed quickly after seeing the full picture. He claims he was also denied career advancement because distant relatives of his were found to be traitors.<\/p>\n
Faced with constant hunger, Kang says he realised he had no future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave 13 years of loyalty,\u201d he says. \u201cI got nothing back.\u201d<\/p>\n
He eventually realised there was only one way forward, however deadly. He claims he crossed the Amnok River into China in broad daylight for a shot at living life outside the totalitarian regime.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was winter. I thought I would die,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I chose to risk death rather than keep living like that. I carried only a tiny bit of hope \u2013 and all my anger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kang\u2019s allegations join a long list of defectors\u2019 stories that have claimed how North Korea\u2019s ruling dynasty operates, relying on secrecy, propaganda, and punishment.<\/p>\n
The nation\u2019s modern history has been defined by the iron grip of three leaders, all from the same family.<\/p>\n
It began with Kim Il-sung, who founded the state in 1948 and built the cult of personality. His son, Kim Jong-il, who deepened the police state. And then his son, Kim Jong Un, who now employs modern-day digital surveillance with nuclear expansion.<\/p>\n
The system is pedantic in its controls \u2013 travel permits, workplace \u201ccriticism sessions\u201d, surveillance units in every neighbourhood. Dissent, or even the hint of it, is systematically erased with the fear of putting even a toe out of line instilled from birth.<\/p>\n
Kang, just like several other public defectors, understands that even now after escaping, speaking out puts him in danger.<\/p>\n
Pyongyang is known to target defectors abroad, and families left behind often face brutal punishment.<\/p>\n
But he says he must tell his story to show the world exactly how life is on the inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was brainwashed to believe he was a god,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what I saw was debauchery, cruelty, hunger. People should know. They should know the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor\u2019s Picks<\/a>, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week\u2019s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThese places were not for the people,\u201d he says. \u201cThey existed only for the Kim family. Even Kim…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[12124,12131,12126,12123,2740,42,12130,12125,3643,424,206,43,529,1517,12128,12127,12129,2122,40,38,41,39,377],"class_list":["post-9656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-bodyguard","tag-dynasty","tag-dynastys","tag-exnorth","tag-former","tag-headlines","tag-inner","tag-kim","tag-korean","tag-life","tag-luxury","tag-news","tag-north","tag-reveals","tag-risked","tag-secretive","tag-shadowy","tag-share","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}