Participatory exhibit teaches visitors about hardships of life in North Korea

“Denbaram Maparam,” a participatory exhibition illustrating North Korean lifestyles and defectors’ escape routes, opened at Cheonggye Plaza in Jung District, central Seoul on Tuesday.

A family home in the border region between North Korea and China is recreated at the "Denbaram Maparam" exhibition in central Seoul. [YONHAP]

“Denbaram Maparam,” a participatory exhibition illustrating North Korean lifestyles and defectors’ escape routes, opened at Cheonggye Plaza in Jung District, central Seoul on Tuesday.

Denbaram and Maparam mean northerly and southerly winds, respectively. The exhibition title calls for the South and North to unite and send “winds” of freedom and human rights.

The Ministry of Unification sponsored the exhibition to raise awareness of the human rights situation in North Korea.

The exhibition is based on testimony from North Korean defectors. It features a participatory escape room game where visitors can learn about the arduous journey of defectors.

A studying area of a family home in North Korea is recreated at the ″Denbaram Maparam″ exhibition in central Seoul. [YONHAP]

It recreates North Korea's prisons and detention camps, as well as ordinary homes along the Sino-North Korean border.

By solving missions and quizzes, participants can escape the locked spaces.

The exhibition also has literature and art pieces depicting how North Koreans are dying in dire poverty and how their regime controls their lives through forced labor.

The exhibition has toured the country, beginning from Incheon in September. Daegu and Busan hosted it in October and November, respectively.

The exhibit began in its final stop, Seoul, on Tuesday and will continue until Nov. 19.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]