Listen free for 30 days

  • Dear Leader

  • Poet, Spy, Escapee - A Look inside North Korea
  • Written by: Jang Jin-sung
  • Narrated by: Daniel York
  • Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (23 ratings)

Try for $0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Dear Leader cover art

Dear Leader

Written by: Jang Jin-sung
Narrated by: Daniel York
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $23.30

Buy Now for $23.30

Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

In this rare insider's view into contemporary North Korea, a high-ranking counterintelligence agent describes his life as a former poet laureate to Kim Jong-il and his breathtaking escape to freedom.

"The General will now enter the room."

Everyone turns to stone. Not moving my head, I direct my eyes to a point halfway up the archway where Kim Jong-il’s face will soon appear.

As North Korea's State Poet Laureate, Jang Jin-sung led a charmed life. With food provisions (even as the country suffered through its great famine), a travel pass, access to strictly censored information, and audiences with Kim Jong-il himself, his life in Pyongyang seemed safe and secure. But this privileged existence was about to be shattered. When a strictly forbidden magazine he lent to a friend goes missing, Jang Jin-sung must flee for his life.

Never before has a member of the elite described the inner workings of this totalitarian state and its propaganda machine. An astonishing exposé told through the heart-stopping story of Jang Jin-sung's escape to South Korea, Dear Leader is a rare and unprecedented insight into the world’s most secretive and repressive regime.
©2014 Jang Jin-Sung. All rights reserved. (P)2014 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.
Political Science Politics & Government Art & Literature Biographies & Memoirs North Korea
Show more Show less

What listeners say about Dear Leader

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    18
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    15
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    17
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.ca reviews

Amazon Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Stan C.

An insider point of view

I knew some of the details shared in the book about the Kims and their despotism but hearing it shared first hand with all the details is a whole other story . Also the details of escaping North Korea are just as scary. I've briefly bumped into people from North Korea but I never even remotely suspected the painful memories that may linger in their past. Up to even today I'm still shaken thinking how such a place can have "democratic" and "Republic" in its official name when its in fact the exact opposite of those.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!