Many North Koreans dream of escaping North Korea, but only 15000 have successfully made this dangerous trip to Seoul. Those who want to escape North Korea have to make an extremely dangerous 10,000km journey through China and South East Asia to join their brother country South Korea.
Only 200km separate Pyongyang in the north and Seoul in the south but this shorter distance is uncrossable as it is the most watched and heavily armed demilitarized zone in the world, the DMZ. To flee the north and maybe one day join the south, the self-exiled is forced to pass in secret via China to Thailand. At any time they fear to be arrested and sent back to North Korea and executed. For more than one year, we investigated in South Korea, China, Laos and Thailand about the life of North Korean refugees and for the first time journalists filmed secretly a group of North Koreans journey through South Asia.
Golden Nymph Award at Monte Carlo Film Festival in 2009
