The animated film True North raises awareness about North Korean political prison camps and offers insight in a very sincere way. This is a topic that is not discussed about often in the media, as the North Korean government still denies its existence to this day, so what was portrayed on the screen was purely based on testimonial evidence. True North is told through the eyes of Yohan, a young boy who was imprisoned in a camp with his mother and younger sister because of his father’s crime. Over the years, as he grows up in the camp, Yohan learns about the meaning of family, friendship, sacrifice, solidarity and even love. The film raises various human rights issues that prisoners suffer from at the camps. The audience also gets to witness the lifestyle of prisoners.
True North opens up from a first person’s perspective of a young man who is about to give a Ted Talk in Vancouver. Although he speaks very eloquently and looks like your average Asian-born-Canadian, he soon reveals that he is a North Korean defector, and he wants to share the stories of his people to the world. It’s particularly interesting that he still holds onto his North Korean identity considering what he has gone through as a prisoner. The rest of the story is told through a flashback. Elementary school student Yohan is comfortably living with his family in Pyongyang when one day, officials suddenly barge into his apartment and arrest him, his mother and sister, with his father already in custody. Without knowing why, the rest of the family has to suffer under the harsh conditions of the prison camp. There, they are ordered to do manual labor, engage in self-criticism sessions, consume all kinds of propaganda and serve the supreme leader under all circumstances. Yohan, his sister and his friend later prepare to make their great escape out of the camp.
Initially, Yohan finds it hard to adjust to this brand-new lifestyle as he is bullied because of rumors about his father and for not doing his work efficiently. Because one of the main goals under this regime is maximized productivity, meeting the daily quota becomes a challenge, especially when there are new prisoners who are not yet familiar with the work. Furthermore, Yohan is not fed enough (none of the prisoners are) and he must live in an extremely small one-room house with his mother and sister. However, as he spends more time at the prison, he realizes that there is more to life than the regime. Surrounded by his family and new friends, he displays major character development by learning from his mistakes and changing himself for the better. Unfortunately, this involves making a lot of sacrifices. For example, Yohan indirectly causes his loved one’s death by purposely inflicting harm on another person, whose loved one takes revenge. Yohan must learn how to deal with this, mature and move on with his life. He and the rest of the prisoners experience a lot of psychological stress because of their circumstances.
The way that the prison camps and characters are depicted in True North tells us a lot about the reality of such North Koreans in camps. It’s a fact that for those who commit a crime, their family members must pay the price. And not just their immediate family – in some cases, up to three generations of the prisoner’s family members can be jailed by guilt-by-association. Prisoners don’t have access to any judicial process and serve life sentences, in most cases. They are given such small food rations in camps that many of them starve to death, as evidenced in the film. Hard labor is also a common fact of life at prison camps, with every single person contributing to the productivity of their country, no matter their appearance or age. Not surprisingly, it is also a high contributor to the death rate at camps. Additionally, female prisoners are prone to sexual assault by the guards, many cases of which result in pregnancy.
True North also effectively conveys the reasons why people are convicted. Any form of going against the regime is enough reason to be thrown into a prison camp, such as criticizing the regime or having any sort of interactions with outside powers. For example, an old woman who is imprisoned with the protagonist and his family states that her son-in-law listened to South Korean radio, so she was convicted because of guilt-by-association. Another issue that was brought up in the film was the repatriation of prisoners who attempt to escape to nearby places like China. Such prisoners are severely tortured and then executed by guards.
The characterization in True North displayed the nature of the two groups of people at prison camps: guards/officials and prisoners. In True North, the guards have no mercy when it comes to the prisoners. Not only do they seem to find pleasure in seeing the prisoners suffer, but they are also extremely corrupt. The only way to negotiate with them is using bribery, and they frequently consume South Korean media in their free time, even though so many are imprisoned for this very reason. There is only one instance where a guard shows a humane side, which is towards the end, when the main characters are preparing to escape. Meanwhile, the prisoners have to fend for themselves and do everything that they can to survive, including betraying people in some cases and reporting others for crimes they did not commit so that they could have bigger rations at meals. However, the prisoners find small forms of happiness at the camps. There is an overall community feeling among the prisoners and they help each other most of the time. The prisoners make it very clear in the film that they create for the love of the country and solidarity among the people instead of for the supreme leader, which is what the propaganda propagates.
While True North depicts North Korean prison camps and the lifestyle of prisoners in a very realistic manner using details in the animation, the film is heartwarming in its portrayal of the relationships between the main characters. True North did a great job in showing both the positive and negative aspects of prison camps, giving the audience a more holistic view overall. It offers a different perspective to what people may think of North Koreans and shows that their people are just like us, despite their different circumstances.