Song Byeok

Dissident Artist | Documented 2018

Song Byeok was invited to Ventura, CA as a Global Artist of Distinction in 2018, and his story is one of stony resilience in the face of oppression, and art as a form of political protest. Born into a working-class family in a town outside of Pyongyang, North Korea, Song once worked as an official state propaganda artist. His patriotism turned to disillusionment, when the famine of the 1990s hit.

Widespread starvation claimed the lives of an estimated 3 million people, including Song’s mother and younger sister. Shortly thereafter, in 2000, Song and his father attempted to cross the Tumen River into China. Tragically, his father was swept away in the river and died, and Song was captured and imprisoned. For six months he endured torture and slave labor, and even injured a finger so badly that it had to be amputated.

His resolution to defect remained undaunted, and in June 2001, he finally made it safely to China, and later South Korea. Today he resides in Seoul, where his satirical acrylic paintings which ridicule North Korea and other oppressive regimes, have gained him international acclaim as both an artist and a creative advocate for human rights and freedom.

“Most of my work is a satire on the North Korean regime but North Korea is not the only subject country I satirize, says Byeok. “I will satirize any place that threatens human dignity and strips away the basic freedom and peace of people.”