Tourists clustered around digital telescopes on the deck of an observatory, peering across the Imjin River. On the monitors, they watched North Koreans going about their daily lives in a village on the other side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), a strip of land dividing the Korean peninsula since the 1950s.
A tour guide, who had lived in the village seven years earlier, shared his experiences with a Norwegian family visiting the border. Despite being a replica village created by Pyongyang, the guide recounted life in a real North Korean town, translating propaganda banners calling for a plentiful rice harvest.
The guide, a 28-year-old defector known as "Jun" on social media, is one of the 34,000 North Koreans living in South Korea. He chose the pseudonym to protect his father, who remains in North Korea, where escaping is considered a serious crime. Jun's tours aim to provide a non-political and nuanced perspective on North Korea, contrary to the typical military and political focus of DMZ tours.
Jun fondly recalls his childhood, with memories of special meals and playing sports with friends. However, he notes that some South Koreans view defectors only as "poor and sad people who’ve been brainwashed by the North Korean government," which is why he prefers guiding foreign tourists.
During his tours, Jun shares his personal journey, from discovering the outside world through illegal TV broadcasts to eventually defecting with his mother through China and Vietnam to South Korea. He admits to experiencing something akin to post-traumatic stress disorder but finds solace in guiding travelers to the DMZ, hoping to find meaning in his own journey.