This video shows how bad it is in North Korea. Notice many of the kids looking for food and even smoking cigarettes! Also, notice the North Korean soldiers just hanging out. Can anyone translate what the South Korean reporter is saying?

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Almost everything said is describing exactly what you are seeing at that moment, i.e., "starving kid picks through garbage for food," "kids smoking cigarettes," etc.

There were a few scenes that would be hard to understand simply by watching though:

1. The scene of the seven young people standing on the roof of a building with a soldier is an "public court proceeding." The girls are getting busted for "sung-mae-mae" (성매매 性賣買) prostitution. The price they were selling for is 1,000 North Korean won, which is equivalent to 2,500 South Korean won. The camera zeroed in on the soldier's hand showing him carrying some handcuffs. It says they will soon be handcuffed and taken to a detention facility. The boys are getting busted for rape, robbery, and passing counterfeit money.

2. It said it's common for street kids "gote-jay-be" (꽃제비) to starve or freeze to death. The word 꽃제비 is rather interesting - it literally means "flower swallows."

3. It shows footage of the prison where those who attempt to escate North Korea are incarcerated - which is called a "sue-yong-so" (수용소). Someone who escapes from North Korea is called a "tal-buke-ja" (탈북자 脫北者).

4. This 90 minute tape was shot by an officer assigned to the North Korean border guard - hence the open manner in which the footage was filmed - unlike other footage that has made its way out of North Korea that was secretly shot with a videocamera inside a bag. It was provided to N-TV, a Japanese television station.

Once again, thanks for the excellent translation Willy!

Mike

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