One of the first things we learn about Hark Joon Lee in Crossing Heaven’s Border, his memoir of his time among North Korean defectors who have escaped into China (and elsewhere), is that he does not consider himself “a naturally talented writer.” He also repeatedly denigrates his own courage, and regularly references other reporters who put his own scoop-breaking abilities to shame.

Lee’s emphasis on his own personal failings seems more than a bit misdirected (it may be that humility is not just a North Korea cultural virtue): Lee has written a gripping account of his time among