Understand North Korea with Jang Jin-sung

Interested in learning in-depth the mysterious North Korea and its relationship with neighbouring countries? Engage Mr Jang Jin-sung, former propaganda poet for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and one of the North Korean defectors, to speak at your upcoming event.

jang-jin-sung

Jang Jin-sung

Jang Jin-sung 장진성, a former poet laureate for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and one of the North Korean defectors who currently live in South Korea, escaped in 2004 by crossing the Tumen River into China.

Following his arrival in South Korea, he worked in the National Security Research Institute and published his first book of poetry, I Am Selling My Daughter For 100 Won, which sold more than 80,000 copies. Jang’s account of the 35 days he spent in China on the run from Chinese and North Korean spies before his rescue by South Korean agents started out as a weekly series posted on his blog. It grew to become a viral sensation and was published as a book in Korean last year.

Since leaving the country he has become a bestselling author and widely solicited commentator on North Korea.  From 2005 to 2010 he served as a senior analyst at the National Security Research Institute in Seoul, which falls under the auspices of the National Intelligence Service.  He has been awarded the Rex Warner Literary Prize and read his poetry at London’s Cultural Olympiad in 2012.  He now lives in South Korea and is editor in chief of New Focus International, an authoritative website reporting on North Korea.

He is also a frequent contributor to, for example, The Guardian, New York Times, BBC News, CNN as well as South Korean networks and broadsheets.

Please contact us at Speakers Connect to have Jang Jin-sung as a speaker for your next event.