RFA Insider #14: North Korean escapee interviews: Life after Pyonghattan

RFA Insider is stretching out the final days of summer with an extra-special two-parter episode!

How it's Made

The Insider studio becomes more cosmopolitan this week with the arrival of guests Hyunseung and Seohyun Lee, a brother and sister from North Korea. As the children of a senior North Korean economic official, the siblings were raised with a level of luxury and convenience unimaginable for the ordinary DPRK citizen. Despite living in Pyongyang, their comfortable lifestyle more closely resembled those of wealthy Manhattan residents, leading The Washington Post to dub their insular world “Pyonghattan.”

After escaping from North Korea, Hyunseung and Seohyun became true “Pyonghattanites” when they were both accepted and enrolled as graduate students at Columbia University. RFA’s Korean Service trailed the siblings around the city for the mini-documentary “Pyongyang to Manhattan,” capturing the two planning North Korean human rights awareness events at the U.N. headquarters, shopping for groceries at H-Mart and narrowly submitting their online homework assignments in time.

 Now freshly graduated, Hyunseung and Seohyun sit down with us to share their stories of their privileged upbringing in North Korea, their escape and eventual resettlement in America, student life in New York and hopes for the future.

During the course of the interview it was revealed that the duo have a youtube channel called Pyonghattan, and they have released videos on North Korea issues, so go check that out if you want to see more of them.

Podcast Free Asia

As RFA Insider’s interviews extend beyond the original concept of asking RFA journalists how certain stories were conceived (and the challenges and successes along the way), Eugene and Amy have decided that the segment has outgrown the “How It’s Made” moniker. Starting from next episode, the interview segment will have a new name, “Off Beat,” as a nod to the many nooks, crannies and planes the crew (plus guests!) will explore within a story, event or issue.

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