I Was Kim Jong Il’s Poet Laureate (Until I Wasn’t And Had To Escape)

“As a state-appointed poet laureate, Jang Jin Sung reached the pinnacle of elite life in North Korea. He spent his days writing epic poems for dictator Kim Jong Il – and overseeing inter-Korean espionage. … In 2004, having committed a minor transgression deemed treasonous by the state, he fled, becoming one of North Korea’s highest-ranking defectors.”