Many North Korean defectors are so appalled by a lifetime of lies they've been fed that they have dedicated their lives to toppling the Stalinist regime, SBS Senior Correspondent Brian Thomson reports.
Shouting "Death to the dictator!" and "Down with Kim Jong Il", protestors gather near the North Korean border to voice their contempt for the regime.
Some are veterans of the Korean war, others defectors who have risked their lives to escape from the North.
Their hatred of Kim Jong Il's regime is visceral.
After burning the North Korean flag, they attempt to send balloons filled with money and messages over the border, but they hadn't factored in the wind direction.
The balloons are heading south to Seoul, not north to Pyongyang. It would be comical if it weren't so serious.
Protest leader Park Sang-hak is a defector. He lived under the North Korean regime for 30 years and has now dedicated his life to overthrowing it.
"Just as a wolf will not turn into a sheep, as long as Kim Jong Il is alive, he will not change. Just as Hitler was toppled, Kim Jong Il's dictatorship should be toppled," Park Sang-hak told SBS.
There are around 20, 000 North Korean defectors living in the South.
Broadcaster Kim Sung-min is one of the most high-profile: a former propagandist for the North Korean regime, he now runs a radio station sending anti-North Korean messages to the very country-men whose minds he once tried to manipulate.
"After we arrived in South Korea we realised there were a lot of things that we were brainwashed about and now we want to alert the North Korean citizens about that," he told SBS.
Mr Kim's status makes him a prime target for North Korean agents, which is why he is protected by two South Korean policemen everywhere he goes.
For many North Korean defectors the bright lights of the big city are a major culture shock after a lifetime spent in a hermit kingdom renowned for its lack of food and poverty of opportunity.
The reality of life here in the south is a far cry from the propaganda they've been fed day in and day out.
Adjusting to life here in South Korea, with all its choices, is not easy
Many defectors are poorly educated, and while the government here helps them settle, finding a job and carving a new life for themselves can take many years.
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