Author Mike Kim on 'The Daily Show'

Sylvie Kim
July 1, 2009

Kim, a full-time Georgetown MBA student and founder of the Crossing Borders NGO, details his four years in China assisting the escape of North Koreans through a network similar to the Underground Railroad during American slavery.

As we've learned from the sentencing of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the risks for humanitarians and journalists stepping foot near North Korea are very real. Kim talks with Stewart about his run from Chinese federal agents and North Korean assassins while helping with escapes.

Check out the official website for the book, and definitely check out the insightful -- and still somehow funny -- interview which offers a glimpse into Kim Jong Il's anti-democracy propaganda, the plight of everyday North Koreans, and even a Jon Stewart joke about travel diarrhea to lighten the mood.

Categories: 
TV
Contributor: 

Sylvie Kim

contributing editor & blogger

Sylvie Kim is a contributing editor at Hyphen. She previously served as Hyphen's blog coeditor with erin Khue Ninh, film editor, and blog columnist.

She writes about gender, race, class and privilege in pop culture and media (fun fun fun!) at www.sylvie-kim.com and at SF Weekly's The Exhibitionist blog. Her work has also appeared on Racialicious and Salon.

Suggested Reads

Hyphen TV Special Edition: Richard Lui
Hit List
Hyphen TV: Family Restaurant, Project Runway Dyeing, George Takei

Comments

Comments

http://rachelk... wrote on Wed, 07/01/2009 - 8:55am
Thanks for the short article and the video. This was very interesting!
Irene Magurany wrote on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 6:12am
I have this book - it is a must read - I agree that "Escaping North Korea" is an "inspiring yet tragic study of the brave few in North Korea who have chosen to vote with their feet to leave the earth’s most repressive regime. An important and accessible piece of work, it should be read by generalists and specialists alike.” —Victor Cha, Georgetown University