impressive reporting on an even more impressive person. a lot went wrong and was certainly done sloppily, but how well does any plan ever go in war? when having to evade recognition by rouge regimes? while trying to change the world? this is the story of how one man has more wherewithal than the world at large and all it’s grossly-rich, virtue-signaling governments and NGOs to fearlessly take on and attempt to overthrow the Kim regime of North Korea to liberate a nation of people with nothing more than fragmented, bootstrapped funding and undying determination. imagine the bravery.

what a story — that’s yet to see its end! calling adrian hong! long live the cheollima civil defense!

Just not enough here for a book. A condensed New Yorker article wouldve been more appropriate.

This story was a fascinating retelling of Adrian Hong's attempts to relocate North Korean refugees to safe places to start their lives over.

I have read several books written by former North Koreans but I hadn't read any about the people who were trying to help free them. Hong's history was a fascinating read. I found myself rooting for him throughout most of the book, despite knowing the end results of his last public mission. Hong was a compelling mix of boldness mixed with innocence and naivety. He truly believed in his cause but it seemed that his optimism had no basis in reality. If dreams could be willed into existence, he would have achieved them long ago.

It was hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that an ivy league graduate who could have achieved material success beyond his greatest imaginings could believe in North Korea's imminent demise. It was equally amazing that his charisma and beliefs inspired so many others to embrace his beliefs. I have to admit how angry I was to read about

Spoiler

how he roped his followers into following him without knowing his whole plan, jeopardizing their freedom and futures for potential extradition and jail time while he has disappeared into the ether and doesn't have to account for being the mastermind of the whole plan. I find that unforgivable.

Excellent narration

I have a massive problem with books that fail to deliver on their title. In my opinion, the title of this book is the equivalent of clickbait headline.

Let's be very clear -- what happened at the embassy was not an overthrow attempt. It was a failed attempt to rescue a diplomat that involved staging a kidnapping to protect the family members of some of the diplomatic staff in Madrid. That's it.

That is not a "Secret Mission to Overthrow the North Korean Regime" any more than operations by groups that send USB drives over the North Korean border via balloons, smugglers who bring in copies of banned media, or the black markets that have been popping up throughout the country selling goods outside of the eye of the regime -- all of which, in my opinion, have a greater impact on challenging Juche and chipping away at the power of the regime.

This book makes the argument that if you can prove the infallibility of the North Korean regime, then that is a way of overthrowing the regime, because it highlights that they are capable of making mistakes (Juche ideology states that the Kims' are incapable of making mistakes).

While this book reads fine and gives a good overview of the people involved and the Cheollima Civil Defense, but in my opinion, you can get just as much information reading the Wikipedia page about the incident.