Before Kim Jong-Il Died: Inside North Korea

Kim Jong-il waves to North Korean troops.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il waves to soldiers earlier this year.

Photograph from North Korean Central News Agency via YONHAP/EPA

Published December 19, 2011

With the news that dictator Kim Jong-II is dead at 69, "we are in oblivion on what's next" for North Korea, in the words of one National Geographic explorer. But change generally comes slowly in the world's most isolated country, where all public life can seem as staged as the synchronized stadium performances celebrating the birthday of Kim Jong-Il's father (picture).

To pull back the curtain on North Korea as it was in Kim Jong-Il's time, National Geographic is offering free streaming video of Inside North Korea, in which an undercover Lisa Ling exposes "unimaginable horrors" and "absolute conformity." And in China and South Korea, National Geographic magazine offers rare access to Kim Jong-Il's diaspora: escapees struggling to cope on the other side of the DMZ. Plus, facts, maps, and more.

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Streaming Video: Inside Kim Jong-Il's North Korea

Watch the full episode online >>

ON TV: Watch a special airing of Inside North Korea Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on the
National Geographic Channel.

National Geographic Magazine on Kim Jong-Il and North Korea

Around the Web: Kim Jong-Il

The Land of Kim Jong-Il

North Korea Facts

Get North Korea facts and information and see the North Korean flag in this country profile from National Geographic.

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