- Joined
- Apr 29, 2021
I've been thinking about this after watching a North Korean escapee discuss her hardships after escaping twice.
It also made me think of Escape from Camp 14.
So with all that in mind, I've been thinking of escape routes from North Korea.
North Korea shares a border with three countries: South Korea (DMZ, which is the hardest to escape through), Russia (small, so it's easily patrolled by guards), and China (where people are sold into slavery, sexual or otherwise if they're not caught by spies and the Chinese authorities and shipped back to NK).
I was thinking of escaping by sea, which would be dangerous, but I don't know if it's impossible. I've been looking at maps, and if someone with a seafaring background could either support my idea, or refute it, I'd appreciate it.
Here is a map of North Korea and its neighbors.
I've chosen to focus on some small islands right off of the North Korean coast as well as some islands near Russia. The reason I wouldn't go immediately on to the Russian mainland is because I feel the Russian border is heavily patrolled, and would be for some distance. I'd like to get as deep as I can into Russian territory without being around other people and risk having them turn me over.
Here is the first sea route.
Here is the second sea route.
One of my questions is, what kind of watercraft would you need to skirt the coast? Could you build a raft to get you from one island to the other, or would you need a particular size of boat? I'm reminded of the escape made by Australian convicts by commandeering a six-oared cutter. They too skirted the coast for as long as they could, but that was also to resupply with fresh game.
The two Russian islands I'm seeing appear to be deserted.
The first one pictured is closer to the coast and looks more habitable. The second and larger one looks like a very large sandbar, is farther away, and appears to be surrounded by deeper water.
The island off of the coast of North Korea is called Alsom. It appears that there are buildings and other manmade structures on this island, and apparently, it's even more dangerous because of missile tests that North Korea had been launching near its waters.
To complicate issues, there are two more problems with this route: the area that borders Russia and where we'd need to launch from, the Rason Special Economic Zone, is highly restricted due to the international trade conducted there. It would be helpful to have an "in" with someone who is party to international trade within North Korea. The second problem is that Russia tends to extradite fleeing North Koreans - apparently asylum seekers are sent back (while being hooked up behind a train). I would try to mitigate this second problem by sailing along the coast for as long as I could, and then escape into the Russian mainland near an incredibly rural or forested area. There is a Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve along the coast, but it's 139.86 km away if we were to travel along the coast.
If we were to escape from North Korea to Russia by land alone, we would need a very prominent distraction to draw away patrolling guards along the border, since the border is small. I'm thinking explosives, and if we're to get explosives, we'd probably need a plan with someone in the military who could get their hands on some explosives. I wonder if there are any structures like a power plant where a "malfunction" could occur to take peoples' attention off the border, however momentarily. This of course still requires escaping North Koreans to gain access to Rason without arousing suspicion or attention. The distraction would likely arouse suspicions of patrolling guards, and they might alert Russian authorities to potential defectors in Russia, which would further complicate issues.
If I were forced to come to a choice, I might choose to escape by sea to Russia. It seems that the land border between Russia and North Korea is carefully patrolled, and I believe that the locals of the border area in Russia are like the locals of China - they would spy and turn in escapees for money.
So, how would you escape?
Here's a video discussing different escape routes:
It also made me think of Escape from Camp 14.
So with all that in mind, I've been thinking of escape routes from North Korea.
North Korea shares a border with three countries: South Korea (DMZ, which is the hardest to escape through), Russia (small, so it's easily patrolled by guards), and China (where people are sold into slavery, sexual or otherwise if they're not caught by spies and the Chinese authorities and shipped back to NK).
I was thinking of escaping by sea, which would be dangerous, but I don't know if it's impossible. I've been looking at maps, and if someone with a seafaring background could either support my idea, or refute it, I'd appreciate it.
Here is a map of North Korea and its neighbors.
I've chosen to focus on some small islands right off of the North Korean coast as well as some islands near Russia. The reason I wouldn't go immediately on to the Russian mainland is because I feel the Russian border is heavily patrolled, and would be for some distance. I'd like to get as deep as I can into Russian territory without being around other people and risk having them turn me over.
Here is the first sea route.
Here is the second sea route.
One of my questions is, what kind of watercraft would you need to skirt the coast? Could you build a raft to get you from one island to the other, or would you need a particular size of boat? I'm reminded of the escape made by Australian convicts by commandeering a six-oared cutter. They too skirted the coast for as long as they could, but that was also to resupply with fresh game.
The two Russian islands I'm seeing appear to be deserted.
The first one pictured is closer to the coast and looks more habitable. The second and larger one looks like a very large sandbar, is farther away, and appears to be surrounded by deeper water.
The island off of the coast of North Korea is called Alsom. It appears that there are buildings and other manmade structures on this island, and apparently, it's even more dangerous because of missile tests that North Korea had been launching near its waters.
To complicate issues, there are two more problems with this route: the area that borders Russia and where we'd need to launch from, the Rason Special Economic Zone, is highly restricted due to the international trade conducted there. It would be helpful to have an "in" with someone who is party to international trade within North Korea. The second problem is that Russia tends to extradite fleeing North Koreans - apparently asylum seekers are sent back (while being hooked up behind a train). I would try to mitigate this second problem by sailing along the coast for as long as I could, and then escape into the Russian mainland near an incredibly rural or forested area. There is a Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve along the coast, but it's 139.86 km away if we were to travel along the coast.
If we were to escape from North Korea to Russia by land alone, we would need a very prominent distraction to draw away patrolling guards along the border, since the border is small. I'm thinking explosives, and if we're to get explosives, we'd probably need a plan with someone in the military who could get their hands on some explosives. I wonder if there are any structures like a power plant where a "malfunction" could occur to take peoples' attention off the border, however momentarily. This of course still requires escaping North Koreans to gain access to Rason without arousing suspicion or attention. The distraction would likely arouse suspicions of patrolling guards, and they might alert Russian authorities to potential defectors in Russia, which would further complicate issues.
If I were forced to come to a choice, I might choose to escape by sea to Russia. It seems that the land border between Russia and North Korea is carefully patrolled, and I believe that the locals of the border area in Russia are like the locals of China - they would spy and turn in escapees for money.
So, how would you escape?
Here's a video discussing different escape routes:
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