OVERVIEW

A SHORT PIECE FOR THE WASHINGTON POST ABOUT NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR EUN-JEONG OH. IN AN INTERVIEW BY ANNA FIFIELD EUN-JEONG OH DESCRIBES HER SITUATION BACK IN NORTH KOREA AS THE FOLLOWING:

"MY DAD WAS A SAILOR, AND HE HAD ALCOHOL PROBLEMS, BUT STILL, I HAD A HAPPY CHILDHOOD. I USED TO SWIM IN THE SEA EVERY MORNING AND EVERY AFTERNOON AFTER SCHOOL. MY FOREHEAD WAS ALWAYS WHITE BECAUSE OF THE SALT FROM THE SEA. BUT THEN MY MOM LEFT AND MY FATHER WAS KILLED IN A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT, AND MY SISTER, WHO IS 11 YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME, WENT TO LIVE WITH OUR GRANDMA. I WAS LIVING BY MYSELF IN OUR FAMILY HOUSE. THEN IN 2009, I ESCAPED, TOO. IN NORTH KOREA, I HAD READ ONLY ONE NOVEL, WHICH I’D BORROWED FROM A NEIGHBOR. IT WAS ALL TORN AND THERE WERE PAGES MISSING, BUT IT WAS ALL I HAD. IN SOUTH KOREA, I WAS ALWAYS READING. AT COLLEGE, I DISCOVERED A WONDERFUL KOREAN LITERATURE PROFESSOR WHOSE WAY OF TEACHING WAS VERY EMOTIONAL, AND I ENDED UP TAKING THREE CLASSES WITH HIM. THE WHOLE TIME, I WAS WRITING DOWN LITTLE NOTES IN MY PHONE. I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THAT THE NOTES I WAS WRITING WERE POETRY. I WAS JUST SCRIBBLING SPONTANEOUSLY. MY FIRST BOOK CAME OUT IN 2015. IT’S CALLED “CALLING HOME.” I WAS INVITED ONTO A TV CHANNEL, AND I GAVE POETRY READINGS. THAT’S HOW I WAS SELECTED AS A RISING POET, AND I WAS ASKED TO CONTRIBUTE TO ANOTHER COLLECTION. A LOT OF MY WORKS ARE RELATED TO NORTH KOREA. I HAVE SUCH FOND MEMORIES OF THERE. EVEN THOUGH THERE IS OPPRESSION, THERE WERE ALSO MOMENTS OF HAPPINESS, AND I DON’T HAVE TO DENY THOSE TIMES. PEOPLE ARE HUNGRY AND LIFE IS HARD, BUT THE ESSENCE OF HUMANITY IS THE SAME."

THE WASHINGTON POST COMMISSIONED ME TO HANDLE THE PRODUCTION FOR THIS PROJECT VIA MY PRODUCTION COMPANY CONTENTED AND TO WORK AS A DIRECTOR AND CINEMATOGRAPHER ON THIS SHOOT, WHICH TOOK PLACE ON JEJU ISLAND, SOUTH KOREA.