Escaping North Korean and becoming a full-time Entertainer with Charles Ryu

Charles’ story has been featured in news media worldwide including The Daily Mail, The Mirror, South China Morning Post, PBS, A Plus, and John Stossel.

The venue has a cash-only bar.

Born in North Korea, Ryu has described a childhood marked by extreme hunger and homelessness. As a teenager, he fled North Korea for China, was captured and forcibly returned, and says he endured detention and forced labor before eventually escaping a second time. He later received refugee status and resettled in the United States, where he built a new life from scratch.

Today, Ryu has transformed those experiences into an unusual form of public education. Through YouTube and social media he goes to the streets with a segment called “Ask a North Korean” where he has conversations with strangers. He offers audiences a firsthand perspective on everyday life inside one of the world’s most closed societies. His online work has reached hundreds of millions of views, and he has spoken at universities including Harvard, UC Berkeley, UCLA and USC. In 2026, UC Berkeley’s Institute of International Studies invited him for an “open and honest conversation about life, escape, and starting again.”

His story has also attracted international media attention. PBS NewsHour interviewed Ryu about his childhood and his concerns for North Koreans following the 2018 US–North Korea summit, while Radio Free Asia profiled his journey from North Korean refugee to a prominent social-media voice in the United States.

All profits will go to Freedom Bridge Foundation, his non-profit to support North Korean Refugees.
@freedombridgefoundation
@charlesnorthkorea
https://www.youtube.com/@charlesnorthkorea/videos
https://charlesryu.com