--- product_id: 12783924 title: "Dear Leader: My Escape from North Korea" brand: "jang jin-sung" price: "S/.102" currency: PEN in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.pe/products/12783924-dear-leader-my-escape-from-north-korea store_origin: PE region: Peru --- # Dear Leader: My Escape from North Korea **Brand:** jang jin-sung **Price:** S/.102 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Dear Leader: My Escape from North Korea by jang jin-sung - **How much does it cost?** S/.102 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.pe](https://www.desertcart.pe/products/12783924-dear-leader-my-escape-from-north-korea) ## Best For - jang jin-sung enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted jang jin-sung brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description THE STORY THEY COULDN'T HACK: In this international bestseller, a high-ranking counterintelligence agent describes his life as a former poet laureate to Kim Jong-il and his breathtaking escape to freedom. 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 exposé told through the heart-stopping story of Jang Jin-sung’s escape to South Korea, Dear Leader is an “impossibly dramatic story…one of the best depictions yet of North Korea’s nightmare” ( Publishers Weekly ). ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Asin | 1476766568 | | Dimensions | 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.38 inches | | Edition | Reprint | | Isbn 10 | 9781476766560 | | Isbn 13 | 978-1476766560 | | Item Weight | 11.2 ounces | | Language | English | | Print Length | 368 pages | | Publication Date | January 27, 2015 | | Publisher | 37 Ink | ## Images ![Dear Leader: My Escape from North Korea - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71fe1i3pyPL.jpg) ![Dear Leader: My Escape from North Korea - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81ZvMwwDdlL.jpg) ![Dear Leader: My Escape from North Korea - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31Loh9hae9L.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mr. Jang scoops you up and takes you on his journey to freedom. A most beautifully written book. *by on Reviewed in the United States October 25, 2014* This was the most beautifully written and moving account I've ever read of an escape from N. Korea. It is an incredible story from a man who enjoyed a life of privilege compared to the privation that the majority of NK is suffering. One can see why Mr. Jang was such a well respected poet laureate (and at such a young age) from his home country. He is an incredible writer. This book moved me to tears so many times. So often, I visualized his pain and despair, his courage, and his indescribabe exhilaration when he finally succeeded in his hard fought quest for freedom.All Americans should read books about this country because while we complain about our own petty suffering, most of us have really no idea what true human suffering is all about. It's interesting because I was in the midst of a deep depression when I picked up another book (Nothing to Envy by Barbara Denick) about regular North Koreans and that book--plus the subsequent (perhaps 20) others I read, lifted me complete out of my depression.This is a fascinating read. Most people in his position would have never dreamed of escaping such a privileged existence--if only for the sake of loved ones.It was only *after* he had given a forbidden book to a trusted friend who had subsequently lost it, did he and his friend realize they had no other solution but to escape. For them to stay would have certainly meant their detention at one of the famous 'gulag' prisons of NK but it would have likely meant the persecution of his loved ones. I believe his primary motive for leaving NK was to spare his family--although I cannot imagine how he must suffer to this day wondering about their health and safety.The book really does read like a thriller--I couldn't put it down. My tears at the end of this book were for Mr. Jang's final successful escape into the South Korean embassy in Beijing, as well as the tears I shed for his friend who wasn't able to successfully complete the journey with him. My heart broke for his friend, while it rejoiced for Mr. Jang. Never has an account of escape, determination, a will to survive, and gratitude moved me to such an extent. I also can't stop wondering what might have happened to the lovely Cho-rin, who helped him in a way that all of us should help a fellow human being. I admired her so much from Mr. Jang's account of their fateful meeting.All of us have a duty to stop ignoring the suffering of so many. I want to do more--in what shape or form that comes, I am not yet certain but I believe in fighting for wonderful causes and I can't think of a cause more worthy than helping these oppressed and suffering people.Mr. Jang, congratulations on your wonderful, well-received book that deserves every accolade it has gotten. Congratulations on the personal happiness you have found with your wife and a new baby. I am so happy you made it to freedom so you could share your incredible, heroic story. Moreover, thank you for spreading the word of the plight of so many North Koreans. We in the west tend to forget how truly lucky we are. I am a better person for having read this book. Amazing. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thug State *by on Reviewed in the United States January 24, 2016* At times, North Korea seems like an indecipherable enigma, impervious to attempts by outsiders to understand or to find rationales for its actions. At other times, the Kim family state seems straightforward: a land ruled by a gang of thugs who regard the state’s resources (including its people) as its personal possession and plaything, and who cynically deploy crude and simplistic anti-colonial and anti-Western ideological slogans as a substitute for policy. Jang Jin-Sung’s book tends to support the latter view, depicting a regime run by a paranoid and power-hungry leader who cares little for what happens to anyone but himself.Jang’s book is part memoir, part exposé. The core of the book is an account of Jang’s decision to escape North Korea, along with a friend. Jang, a poet personally honored by “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-il, had been working in a department of the Workers’ Party responsible for relations between the two Koreas—which really meant anti-South Korean espionage and propaganda. Part of his job was to write poems in a South Korean “voice” praising North Korea and the leadership of Kim Jong-il. In order to do his job, he was part of a select group of Party members allowed access to South Korean newspapers, books, and magazines, as well as Western consumer products sent in as foreign aid. Though he was not part of the true power elite, he was in many ways a regime insider. His observations, therefore, have an aura of both credibility and disillusionment.Beyond the dramatic story of Jang’s escape, survival in China, and eventual relocation in South Korea, the book contains valuable and damning observations on North Korean history and politics. Jang had access to party insiders, as well as to historical documents unavailable to most people. So while his account is that of a very young man, it carries the conviction of the disillusioned and recently-enlightened, which one can see in his wide-eyed outrage when the shackles fall from his eyes and he sees the Kim regime for what it is. Jang offers valuable insights on a variety of topics, including Kim Jong-il’s rise to power and the ruthless competition with his father and the elder Kim’s allies that accompanied it, leading in turn to further ruthlessness and the rise to dominance of the Organization and Guidance Department within the Korean Workers’ Party. Jang also discusses the kidnapping of Japanese citizens to train North Korean spies, and the North Korean view of diplomacy as essentially a counterintelligence operation, which partly explains why Western governments find diplomacy with North Korea such a frustrating undertaking.Jang is a romantic, and naïve in many ways. He says that reading a book of poetry by Lord Byron was one of the key factors in his disillusionment/enlightenment, as Byron’s openness in expressing emotions stood in stark contrast to the bottled-up North Korean society in which the only acceptable object of devotion was the state as embodied in the person of the leader. The heart of the book is Jang’s account of his decision to leave North Korea after some contraband materials to which he had access but which he allowed to pass out of his hands were discovered. He had to leave quickly, without much preparation, accompanied by the friend to whom he had loaned the materials. They carried little with them other than the clothes they were wearing, a notebook full of Jang’s poems, and some cash, which would come in handy later. They were lucky to escape the scrutiny, and the guns, of North Korean border guards, but their story of escape and survival is not simply a tale of crossing the Tumen River that forms North Korea’s northeastern border with China. Jang chronicles just how difficult it can be for an escapee even after crossing the river. The South Korean consulate in the Chinese city of Shenyang and many Korean churches were no help. Jang spent a month on the run, during which time he had to rely on luck and the kindness of individuals to survive and eventually make his way to freedom. That he did make it is a testament to how deeply motivating the desire for freedom can be. This is perhaps a useful reminder for any of us who accept our liberties too casually. Jang’s epilogue is both a moving conclusion to the story and a sober reflection on what the presence of thousands of North Korean escapees means.On occasion the book reads a bit too much like a translation, or maybe the translator is just rendering too literally in English Jang’s way of expressing things in Korean. But that’s a small thing. This book is well worth reading for anyone interested in the inner workings of North Korea, and how one North Korean of a sensitive frame of mind found the desire, then the need, and ultimately the courage to leave in the hope of liberating body, mind, and heart. In addition to Jang’s own story, the book reinforces the conclusion that North Korea is not just a failed state, but what might be called a diminished state. The friend who urged me to read this book said that it convinced him of what he already thought—that North Korea is really run by just a very small number of people. It’s hard to argue with that. For Kim Jong-il, as for his son after him (the current ruler), it appears that being “leader” is an ego trip for which his whole country of roughly 25 million people pays a horrible price. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Must Read *by on Reviewed in the United States January 23, 2018* I would give this book 10 stars if that were possible. This book stands out far above all other "North Korea escapee" books due to the amazing North Korean intelligence background of the author and the fact that he is a talented writer and poet. This book should be required reading for everyone in our State Department, our Congress, and our Executive Branch. It reads like a novel yet is the fascinating real-life story of the (utterly amazing) experiences of the author as the trusted Poet Laureate to the Dear Leader who at the same time served in said Leader's Intelligence apparatus, playing the most amazing mind games on the population of North Korea. He had moral scruples, however, and, in his intelligence role, uncovered information that ultimately led to his needing to escape the country for his life. Importantly, there is also a historical perspective here about the many times the Dear Leader has lost most of his power and is at risk of being ousted yet uses negotiations with South Korea and the U.S. to play for time and strengthen his position and thus stays in power, continuing his repression of the North Korean people. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.pe/products/12783924-dear-leader-my-escape-from-north-korea](https://www.desertcart.pe/products/12783924-dear-leader-my-escape-from-north-korea) --- *Product available on Desertcart Peru* *Store origin: PE* *Last updated: 2026-10-21*