When the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading rapidly around the world, the North Korean government claimed the virus had not affected the country. For nearly two years, the regime insisted it had zero cases. That was a lie with deadly consequences.
A groundbreaking new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in collaboration with the George W. Bush Institute, Behind Shuttered Borders: A View into North Korea’s COVID-19 Experiences, reveals the truth about the pandemic’s impact on the Hermit Kingdom from the perspective of 100 ordinary citizens across all nine provinces of North Korea.
Based on micro-surveys, the report offers a rare, uncensored glimpse into life during the pandemic, not from the regime’s false narrative, but from the voices of its people, with no hidden political agenda. This is especially compelling to me because I once lived under that system. I only escaped North Korea when I was a teenager.
The report’s findings are disturbing, though sadly not surprising. During my years living under the North Korean regime, I regularly experienced the government lying to its people and promoting a warped view of the world. I hope that exposing Kim Jong Un’s atrocities, calling out his lies, and holding him accountable – both to North Koreans and the rest of the world – will help move the country one step closer to truth and freedom.
The COVID-19 virus had already begun to spread widely by early 2020, despite the regime’s denials, according to the report. The North Korean government not only failed to respond effectively, but it actively misinformed both its own citizens and international organizations, including the World Health Organization. This came with a high cost: the unnecessary deaths of innocent North Koreans.
There were virtually no tests. No vaccines. No proper public health warnings. Ordinary North Koreans were left to fend for themselves. Markets, which were lifelines for daily survival, shut down. There was a complete border closure. Internal travel was banned. Starvation began to spread. And as with so many crises in North Korea, the suffering was silent, hidden behind propaganda and fear.
During the COVID-19 lockdowns, the government attempted to reassert its dominance, and it did, but ultimately, the regime was not able to suppress the public’s desire and curiosity about life outside of North Korea. Foreign media smuggled in via USB drives and underground networks spread. More and more North Koreans secretly watched South Korean dramas and foreign films and even read outside news, something they continue to do today.
Why does this matter now – and why should anyone care?
Authoritarian regimes don’t just rely on fear and violence; their survival also depends on control of the minds and hearts of their citizens, often through carefully crafted messages and state propaganda. Understanding how these systems operate and how they maintain control even when failing their people is essential for those committed to advancing freedom and human dignity.
At the Bush Institute, our mission to advance free societies around the world includes exposing the weaknesses of these autocrats. In North Korea, the pandemic has revealed one of the government’s deepest vulnerabilities: the regime has lost its faith, credibility, and legitimacy in the eyes of its people.
Unfortunately, the regime’s playbook is not new. During the 1990s famine, when as many as 3 million North Koreans died, it also refused to acknowledge the crisis. North Korean leaders rejected international aid and doubled down on ideological purity, letting people starve to protect the image of socialism. The cost of protecting the regime’s pride was paid in human lives.
Over the past two decades, North Korea has undergone a quiet but profound transformation. Out of necessity, the North Korean people developed markets, jangmadang, to survive the famine. These markets, tacitly permitted by the regime, have weakened leaders’ ability to control information, movement, and ideology.
The regime will invest in its surveillance systems, but it cannot fully suppress human curiosity. That desire, to know, to question, to hope is human nature. And with it, the cracks in the regime’s narrative are widening.
Today’s younger generation – or the “jangmadan generation” – who were raised in and around the markets, is more pragmatic and less ideological than their parents. They are not protesting in public, but they are asking questions. And in a dictatorship built on absolute information blockade, the quiet questioning is a powerful act of defiance and potential force for change.
That’s where the opportunity lies. The international community, governments, nongovernmental organizations, and tech innovators can help accelerate this change by expanding access to reliable information within North Korea. Support trusted networks. Develop secure communications tools.
We don’t need to tell North Koreans what to believe. We just need to help them realize they have the freedom to choose. The life I have now, the freedom to speak and pursue intellectual curiosity, was once unimaginable to me. And this is why I decided to dedicate my life to fight for freedom and democracy — because I truly believe that the best way to protect my freedom is to share it with people who are not yet free. I know there will be a day when North Korea becomes a free country, where every man, woman, and child is free to live with dignity, to learn about the world, and to shape their own identity — one that is not given or defined by the government — as long as we don’t give up on this conviction and hope.
This new report reminds us of two things: the cruelty of authoritarian regimes and the quiet resilience of the North Korean people. As people living in freedom, we have a responsibility to North Koreans not to look away but to find opportunities to empower them, weaken the regime by exploiting its vulnerabilities, and hold the North Korean government and its cruel dictator accountable.
