Ahn Chol (born 1971 or 1972) is the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of a North Korean freelance journalist who shot the footage for the film ''

Children of the Secret State ''Children of the Secret State'' is a documentary film about homeless North Korean orphans, released in 2000. It was shot by a UK film duo in conjunction with underground North Korean cameramen. Synopsis The movie opens with a clip of orphan child ...

'', a movie about the condition of orphans in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

. He won the

Rory Peck Award The Rory Peck Award is an award given to freelance camera operators who have risked their lives to report on newsworthy events.Jangmadang Jangmadang (), , are North Korean local markets, farmers' markets, black markets and bazaars. Since the North Korean famine in the 1990s, they have formed a large informal economy, and the government has become more lenient towards them. Howeve ...

in Hoeryeong in September 1998. Ahn Chol first spoke with the Korean press in September 1998, to the newspaper Hankyoreh. In the interview he spoke about the footage he leaked of

Kotjebi Kotjebi, kotchebi, or ggotjebi () is a Korean term denoting North Korean homesless people. The term was originally used to describe homeless children. The term literally means "flowering swallows (꽃 제비)", given because of the kotjebi's const ...

s, which was included in

Korean Broadcasting System The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, a ...

's 1998 documentary. He smuggled the videotape out of North Korea by hiding it inside a pack of cigarettes. Ahn Chol revealed he was a worker in a factory while living in North Korea and defected from North Korea in 1997 (he had lost his parents and relatives during the famine). He risked going back to capture the aforementioned footage.

References

1970s births Living people North Korean journalists 20th-century North Korean writers 21st-century North Korean writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers {{Korea-journalist-stub

See also

References