Inside one of the most daring escapes from North Korea | CNN

Inside one of the most daring escapes from North Korea

By Mike Valerio, Yoonjung Seo, Gawon Bae, Connie Chen and Yukari Schrickel, CNN

Updated 9:57 PM EDT, Sun April 19, 2026

Screenshot 2026-04-17 at 14.51.16.png

Inside one of the most daring escapes from North Korea

On the night of May 6, 2023, as a treacherous storm raged, a North Korean family of nine boarded a small fishing boat hoping to escape to a new life in South Korea. CNN's Mike Valerio speaks to one of the two brothers who planned this daring journey for more than a decade.

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Inside one of the most daring escapes from North Korea

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