Is There Hope for Resistance in North Korea? Live Chat 1pm ET Wed. 1/15

Kim Jong-Un leads one of the world’s most oppressive regimes. One prison camp in North Korea is three times the size of Washington D.C. Filming everyday life or watching a foreign film could get you locked up, even executed.

But as FRONTLINE reveals in Secret State of North Korea, a growing number of North Koreans are risking their lives to challenge the regime — in ways large and small.

Not only are North Koreans illegally smuggling information from inside North Korea out, a growing cohort of defectors are risking their lives to get information about the outside world in.

“What surprised me the most wasn’t the poverty and poor conditions people live in—which are, undoubtedly, shocking,” says FRONTLINE director James Jones. “It was the ordinary North Koreans who were standing up to authority.”

What forms is the resistance taking? Is it organized? Do dissidents have a chance to challenge Kim Jong-Un’s authority? Are we on the brink of a “North Korean Spring” — or a major crackdown?

We’ve asked producer James Jones and Columbia University North Korea scholar — and former CIA analyst — Sue Mi Terry to join us in a live chat to answer those questions and take yours.

They’ll be joined by guest questioner Aaron Schachter from PRI’s The World.

You can leave a question in the chat window below, and come by at 1 p.m. ET on 1/14 to join the live discussion.

We’d like to thank PRI’s The World for partnering with us on today’s chat.