SBS Dateline | Learning Liberty

There are 20,000 defectors from North Korea in South Korea, but escape from the repressive communist regime in the North is only the start of their battle for a better life.

As video journalist Amos Roberts discovers, defectors arrive without the skills they need to survive in one of the world’s most technologically advanced and competitive societies.

Amos was given unique access to a special school set up for young defectors to help them adjust. They talk about their old lives in North Korea - stories of famine, public executions and dramatic escapes; and the challenges of their new lives - relentless study and an uncertain future.

We also revisit one of Dateline's most celebrated stories, a report 10 years ago about defectors living in hiding in China, and catch up with a woman who has now made it to South Korea.

Her family is reunited and she feels safe for the first time - but is life in the South all she hoped it would be?

WATCH - Click to see Amos's report.

VIDEO EXTRA - Dateline reported in 2000 on the North Korean defectors forced to give up their children in order to survive. The story won a Walkley Award, and prompted a follow-up in 2001. Click here to replay both stories.

Photo (Kim Jong-Il): AAP