A North Korean defector turned filmmaker is challenging the expectations placed on artists with his background, rejecting the idea that his work must center on escape, trauma or the DPRK — and instead pushing to tell stories driven by imagination, not identity.

Seok Beom-zin is no stranger to the label “North Korean defector,” but in an interview with NK News he made one thing very clear — he wouldn’t be defined by it. He views storytelling as a realm for creativity and imagination, where his background informs but does not limit his vision.

Born in 1994 in Musan in northeast