Ask a North Korean: Do North Koreans go to the dentist?

Ask A North Korean

Ask a North Korean: Do North Koreans go to the dentist?

A defector explains why many must procure their own implants, the growing popularity of teeth whitening and more

Alek Sigley | Hyun-seung Lee June 1, 2022

Ask a North Korean: Do North Koreans go to the dentist?

A smiling Kim Il Sung mosaic fresco at a Kimilsungia and Kimjongilia exhibition in Pyongyang | Image: Eric Lafforgue (April 25, 2010)

“Ask a North Korean” is an NK News series featuring interviews with and columns by North Korean defectors, most of who left the DPRK within the last few years.

Readers may submit their questions for defectors by emailing [email protected] and including their first name and city of residence.

About the Authors

Alek Sigley

Alek Sigley is a PhD student at Stanford University's Modern Thought and Literature program, where he is writing a dissertation on North Korea. From 2018-2019 he studied for a master's degree in contemporary North Korean fiction at Kim Il Sung University's College of Literature. He speaks Mandarin, Korean and Japanese. Follow him on Twitter @AlekSigley.

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Hyun-seung Lee

Hyun-seung Lee is a former DPRK businessman and chair of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League branch in Dalian, China. A series of purges by Kim Jong Un forced him and his entire family to defect in late 2014, making their way first to South Korea then to the United States. Lee now works as a director for One Korea Network and a fellow of North Korean studies at the Global Peace Foundation, and he has interned with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He also runs the Pyonghattan YouTube channel with his sister.

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