(Mirror) - Our reporter at the border uncovers the true story of North Korea that warmongering Kim Jong-un does not want the outside world to see
A child of around 10 sits dying of starvation by the side of the road while just yards away soldiers load enough rice on to trucks to feed families for weeks.
As the young boy slumps on the grimy kerb in his filthy, oversized army jacket, locals stroll past zombie-style without even glancing in his direction or displaying an ounce of pity for his wretched plight.
Nearby his friends scavenge in disease-ridden rubbish tips for scraps of what might pass for food in a land where people are so poor they are forced to eat tree bark or even corpses, according to those on the inside.
And not far away, prisoners are herded from their harsh labour camps to frantically dig out crops from frozen ground while trigger-happy troops hover over them waiting for the one wrong move that could end with death.
This is the real North Korea. The one its warmongering leader Kim Jong-un does not want the outside world to see.
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| Wretched: Child on the street is ignored |
The images, taken by brave campaigners desperate to reveal the truth of Kim’s brutal regime, were handed to the Mirror as William Hague warned Pyongyang it faces harsher sanctions if it goes ahead with a fourth missile test.
Speaking at a G8 summit in London, the Foreign Secretary said: “If the DPRK conducts another missile launch or nuclear test we have committed ourselves to take further significant measures.
"We don’t specify what those further significant measures are but clearly what we’re talking about is in the field of sanctions.”
Mr Hague spoke as North Korea moved a missile launcher into position with a range of 2,180 miles amid fears it was training weapons on the US, Japan or Guam.
Dictator Kim continued to ignore the plight of his starving people, while making sure the army was well stocked with food as he sends them to the front line in preparation for war with South Korea.
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| Dying in the Gutter: Food is put in truck while boy lies starving |
Among them were well-dressed young women in high heel boots.
We watched the shocking footage of the misery Kim’s regime is inflicting with Pastor Kim Seung-Eun, a cleric who has helped more than 1,000 North Koreans flee.
Speaking at his home in the South, he said: “There are people in North Korea who are so hungry they have turned to cannibalism.
"One man was shot dead, executed because he ate half of another human being and sold the rest as meat. People are living like animals in that country.
"I do what I can to get as many out as possible but it is very, very dangerous, especially for the people on the inside who help me.
“The person who filmed the footage of the boy focused on him for a reason.
"Someone had told him this boy was dying by the side of the road and he went looking for him.
“It is very distressing. Very upsetting, but I hope the world will be shocked by this footage and help more refugees and defectors to escape that dreadful place.”
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| Toiling the Fields: Digging in frozen soil |
It can cost him £5,000 in planning, rations, bribes for border guards, train and boat tickets. He has also helped bring out video images like the ones above.
They are filmed by critics of the regime who face certain death if caught.
Pastor Kim said: “I cannot tell you if I have been inside, to go to North Korea for South Koreans would be a huge crime.
"But I have friends who take the camera back inside and film the real truth of North Korea. It is important people realise how bad it really is in there.”
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| Forced March: Prisoners going to pick up stones |
Human beings who can walk past children starving to death because they themselves do not have a scrap of food to help has seemingly become the norm.
They are used to a daily diet of death and it has clearly hardened their senses.
One piece of footage shows a border guard pointing his machine gun down the lens of the cameraman after he has been spotted.
The man had been filming from across the Chinese border.
As the guard raises his weapon and takes aim, the snapper flees for his life, screaming in alarm.
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| In Gaurd's Gunsight: Cameraman is spotted |
In another of the films the near-tree-less countryside comes into view and the camera zooms in on a male and female gulag – a desolate prison in Haesan.
Men and women are seen clawing at the solid ground to get at the crops, no doubt destined for the army and Kim Jong-un’s cronies.
The prisoners are marched out of a labour camp – by soldiers wearing North Korean army uniforms.
A painted sign on the entrance supports Kim and a red star emblem flies above.
They are forced to carry logs to rebuild a small footbridge and are also seen smashing up rocks.
Pastor Kim said: “Many years ago I went to the border between China and North Korea and I will never forget the poverty, so I decided to do something about it.
"This was some of the most dangerous footage ever taken inside North Korea.
“It is impossible to make North Korea look attractive except in Pyongyang. This is the horror truth of the countryside.”
Cruelty and lack of food are typical: Analysis by Rajiv Narayan of Amnesty International
The sight of people doing forced labour echoes what many people have told me. We have also been told of children being left to die in the street.
They are often orphans whose parents have been killed. During the years of severe food shortages this happened a lot.
The guards tell them they are not allowed to do anything to help out.
The labour camp we can see here is a police facility.
It is quite likely that the people we can see have not been convicted of serious crimes; it might be simply a case of going into China to make some money or find some food.
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| Slave camp: Inmates carrying food |
What happens at this place, Hyesan, is that men and women are strip-searched when they are back inside North Korea.
There is very limited food here and they use food as a punishment.
If one team of labourers does not fulfil its quota of work they do not get that day’s food ration.
We know of people starving to death and others suffering from severe malnutrition.
There are many horrific stories emerging from here which this film would appear to back up.
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| Killer Heels: Female soldiers on the border |
If you make a mistake you are brutally punished. There are arbitrary executions. Sometimes people are tortured for a perceived mistake.
You can see people in this film involved in mining and breaking rocks under the supervision of an armed guard. They are in chain gangs, as shown here.
This is very typical of the reports we receive.
As can be clearly seen, control is exercised by the guards and the people have no rights, no money and often no food.
At the end of the day they are then returned to huge prison detention centres, in horrific conditions.
North and South Korea tensions in photos
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| View the photo gallery |
Source: Mirror
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