NGO smuggles USB’s with foreign TV shows into North Korea to incite dissent

MEET the North Korean defector who wants to start a revolution in the hermit kingdom by flooding them with episodes of The Real Housewives.

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il, applauds while watching the Arirang mass games performance staged to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea, in Pyongyang.

AS A nine-year-old child, he was imprisoned in the Yodok concentration camp by the government of Kim Il Sung after his grandfather was accused of treason.

During his time in the concentration camp, Kang Chol-hwan had to eat rats, cockroaches and snakes to survive.

Now he wants to inflict a special kind of pain on the oppressive regime that incarcerated his entire family — flooding them with episodes of The Real Housewives.

The 46-year-old is the founder of an NGO called the North Korean Strategy Centre (NKSC) and one of their hallmark campaigns is smuggling “free media” into the tightly controlled country.

The organisation has sent thousands of USB flashdrives, DVDs, portable radios and even laptops into the heavily guarded country containing everything from South Korean TV shows to episodes of Friends and TheReal Housewives.

News_Image_File: After being released from prison at the age of 19, Kang eventfully escaped North Korea and is now dedicated to the cause of liberating its people.

The intended outcome of Kang’s plan is nothing short of heroic: Revolution.

To bring down the regimen from the inside.

The organisation says that “human rights can only be achieved in North Korea when North Korean people become aware of their country’s problems and take action to push for change.”

They believe that by increasing their exposure to the outside world through these forms entertainment, the North Korean people will get a greater understanding of the “freedoms they are entitled to.”

Theoretically, seeing Chandler and Joey build a cubbyhouse out of cardboard boxes will begin to chip away at the government’s propaganda that all Americans are evil imperialists.

News_Image_File: South Korean protesters shout slogans during a rally denouncing North Korea's rocket launch, in Seoul, South Korea.

The strategy employed by the NGO is rather genius as it relies on the burgeoning black market trade inside the country that is perpetrated by people who are motivated by money as much as politics.

However despite the seemingly innocuous nature of their contraband, there exists real danger to those involved with carrying out the strategy of NKSC.

Accessing foreign entertainment is a serious crime in North Korea and is punishable by exile, jail and even death.

Needless to say, they take drastic measures to conceal their efforts which typically involve sneaking over the Chinese border in the dead of night.

A remarkable article published in Wired Magazine this week details a scene from one of their daring smuggling missions.

News_Image_File: This picture was taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 16, 2015 shows North Korean women offering flower bouquets to the statue of late leader Kim Jong-il.

Kang’s organisation is not the only one engaging in this kind of behaviour, but they’re the largest group smuggling data into the country.

The Fighters for a Free North Korea float balloons tied with pamphlets, information and money across the border to rain down on the sheltered population.

And a group called the North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity smuggle USBs into the country in a myriad of ways.

The tactic is obviously working as a growing number of stories from defectors detail how they secretly watched movies such as Titanic and James Bond while living under the draconian government.

However the success has resulted in greater resistance from North Korea. Just last year Kim Jong Un reportedly executed 80 people for watching foreign films.

But with advancements in data storage and encryption software, North Korean authorities have their work cut out for them if they want to continue to insulate their population from outside media.

News_Image_File: Cover of The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in North Korean Gulag by Kang Chol-Hwan and Pierre Rigoulot. President George W. Bush was so moved by the account that in 2005 he invited Kang to the White House to hear his story first hand.

As for Kang and the North Korean Strategy Centre, they are committed to the cause — and they’ve got a lot of backing.

According to Wired, Kang says that they receive donations and funding from private partners as well as governments.

The fact that heads of state are willing to help NKSC isn’t a shock, as Kang has been courted by governments before. Former US President George W. Bush invited him to the White House in 2005 after reading his book.

The book (pictured above) detailed his time spent in a North Korean prison camp and received international attention.

Kang has even reached out to the public to help fund the group’s USB smuggling activities, allowing people to donate via their Indiegogo page.

100 USBs down, 400 more to go! Donate now to make a difference in the lives of North Koreans! http://t.co/9PRRP24KeV pic.twitter.com/J9W3ucxacL

— N.K. Strategy Center (@NKSC13) December 11, 2014

American philosopher, Erik Hoffer once wrote that “it is not actual suffering but the taste of better things which excites people to revolt.”

If Kang has his way, that’s exactly what will happen.