DC/DOX Review: “School for Defectors”

School for Defectors (Jeremy Workman, 2026) 5 out of 5 stars

After its occupation by Japan from 1910 to 1945, the Korean peninsula was divided between its northern and southern halves, the former under Soviet rule and the latter under the United States. Over the ensuing 5 years, each half pursued different forms of government, until in 1950, Kim Il Sung—leader of North Korea—decided to invade South Korea, beginning a war that would last 3 years and end in a formal agreement separating the two countries. Today, South Korea is an economic and cultural powerhouse, punching way above its weight class (in terms of geographic size), while North Korea is what it has always been, an authoritarian nightmare.

In his latest documentary, School for Defectors, director Jeremy Workman (Secret Mall Apartment) explores what happens to the people who decide to leave the hermit kingdom now controlled by Kim Il Sung’s grandson, Kim Jong Un. North Korea is one of the most isolated countries in the world, with some of the poorest citizens, and though the incentives to flee are great, the obstacles in the way of such an escape are many. Making matters worse, the surrounding nations are often less than welcoming, forcing defectors to lead lives of enormous risk as undocumented workers.

It would be easier if they could just head south, but there’s a big stretch of heavily guarded land known as the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) between the north and south. And so folks have to go through China and then—evading authorities as they go—find ways through other states like Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, working their way back north to their home peninsula (only now to its southern half). South Korea’s official policy is to welcome them with open arms, though that doesn’t prevent the prejudice and social stigma that clings to these refugees like a second skin.

School for Defectors is set primarily in Busan’s Jangdaehyun School (JDH), a boarding school that is part of a network of such places designed to acclimate the children of North Korean defectors to South Korea’s vastly different culture. Run by principal Changho Lim—a remarkably compassionate soul—JDH has only 20 students, allowing for a very personal and individualized touch from the educators. We follow about a quarter of the student body over the course of a year as they struggle with the usual teenage angst plus the additional challenges posed by their outsider status.

Through interviews with the students and their parents, we learn the harrowing details of life up north and the difficult journeys all undertook to get free. They all faced the possibility of capture or death along the way. When we hear about the bigotry shown them by some South Koreans, the context of what they went through makes it all worse. Fortunately, people like the school’s teachers make it better.

One of the projects the students decide to take on is a book of interviews to help explain what it is to be a defector and refugee from North Korea, precisely to help dispel the prejudice. It’s a beautiful thing to see this come to fruition by the end. The movie is lovely, too, showing that resilience and kindness take a variety of forms and that there is yet hope for humanity. In the increasingly scary 21^st-century world, this is the kind of message we all need, and a lesson that School of Defectors delivers in all its cinematic glory.