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Dear Leader
Dear Leader | Jin-sung Jang
12 posts | 16 read | 17 to read
"In this rare insider's view into contemporary North Korea, a high-ranking counterintelligence agent describes his life as a former poet laureate to Kim Jong-il and his breathtaking escape to freedom. "The General will now enter the room." Everyone turns to stone. Not moving my head, I direct my eyes to a point halfway up the archway where Kim Jong-il's face will soon appear... As North Korea's State Poet Laureate, Jang Jin-sung led a charmed life. With food provisions (even as the country suffered through its great famine), a travel pass, access to strictly censored information, and audiences with Kim Jong-il himself, his life in Pyongyang seemed safe and secure. But this privileged existence was about to be shattered. When a strictly forbidden magazine he lent to a friend goes missing, Jang Jin-sung must flee for his life. Never before has a member of the elite described the inner workings of this totalitarian state and its propaganda machine. An astonishing expose; told through the heart-stopping story of Jang Jin-sung's escape to South Korea, Dear Leader is a rare and unprecedented insight into the world's most secretive and repressive regime".
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Jess861
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Pickpick

Jang Jin-sung is a poet and cadre in Kim Jong-il‘s regime before making his escape. It is a well written book that almost seems like a fictional one through most of it. Was quite eye opening to see how much North Korea uses psychological warfare on it's own people as well as the rest of the world. Everything is so carefully planned out. Really enjoyed this book!

#bookspin #ReadingAsia2021 #NorthKorea @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @TheAromaofBooks

Librarybelle Great review! 3y
Milara I saw a tedtalk (i think) and the woman talking said that she thought that the leader could read their minds. Now, I do not have any idea it that is actually something they tell them and how much of the population believes that, but it's so horrible. Thinking that one thought, 2 seconds is all it takes to get all your family executed 😳 3y
BarbaraBB Sounds very interesting! 3y
TheAromaofBooks Great review!! 3y
52 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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Lexeegee
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Pickpick

A real eye opener! It is mind boggling how much brainwashing and indoctrination that is going on in North Korea. True human right atrocities!

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Lexeegee
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This ...if you tell a lie one hundred times, even the person who made up the lie will eventually come to believe it.

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Lexeegee
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The wind chill is 12 in central oklahoma. Good day to read.

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BookishRedhead
Dear Leader | Jin-sung Jang
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Pickpick

Another powerful story to come out of North Korea.

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ShayLRoss03
Pickpick

I found the book to be a rather quick read, but don't let that fool you into downplaying the intensity of the situations. Jang Jin-Sung takes careful consideration to explain aspects of North Korea through his ordeal, whether in conversation with another or to provide comparative imagery. It is hard to imagine this kind of life, which is why we have people living to tell their tales.

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BookishRedhead
Dear Leader | Jin-sung Jang
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Finally gotten round to picking one up

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rachelk
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Pickpick

Jang Jin-sung was a poet and spy in the upper ranks of Kim Jong-il‘s regime before making his harrowing escape to freedom. This book reads more like a sci-fi dystopian nightmare than the nonfiction that it is, but I do believe the author to be credible. I finished this one year ago today and still think about it regularly and certainly every time North Korea is in the news. #nonfiction #tbt ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Maria514626 Oh my. This sounds a must read! 6y
rachelk @Maria514626 In my opinion it is! 6y
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LouLouLane
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I've read so many books about North Korea that the crazy and horror doesn't register the same way anymore. This is a great book though and a perspective I haven't heard from as much. I hope as North Korea moves into focus again, the world will remember that this is a nation of good people in terrible circumstances. Fear is a powerful weapon.

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AndreasReads
Dear Leader | Jin-sung Jang
Pickpick

I found this to be a really interesting book overall. The "escape" part of the story was perhaps not the most interesting I've read, but as the author previously worked within the North Korean government, he was able to provide more information about the history and politics of the regime than what you get from most books on NK. Well worth the read

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catatonic1242
Dear Leader | Jin-sung Jang
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Panpan

How do you make escape from North Korea dull? Jang Jin-Sung manages it. Maybe it was the structure (history and journey combined) or maybe something got lost in the translation, but I found myself skimming whole chapters. It's a shame, as there's an interesting story here somewhere, I'm sure.