Name: North Korean defector’s exhibit in Seoul blends freedom with ideology
Uploaded: 2025-12-01T18:13:19.602Z
Duration: 2 min 3 s
Description: Al Jazeera meets a mysterious artist whose works are controversial on both sides of the Korean divide.

Al Jazeera meets a mysterious artist whose works are controversial on both sides of the Korean divide.

Seoul

Sonmoo, a former North Korean propaganda artist who defected in 1998, has held a new exhibition in Seoul under an assumed name to protect his family still living in North Korea. His work centers on the theme of 'no lines,' symbolizing the absence of borders and preconditions for dialogue, and he advocates for exchange before discussions of unification between the Koreas.

Sonmoo's art, which would be considered criminal in North Korea, has sparked controversy in South Korea, including police questioning and the removal of some paintings. He criticizes the notion that North Korean art reveals the true life of its people, arguing it instead reflects the regime's intentions. His latest exhibition marks a shift away from his propaganda roots as he continues to adjust to the artistic freedom he has found in the South.

North Korean defector’s exhibit in Seoul blends freedom with ideology

Sonmoo, at his latest exhibition in Seoul. His assumed name means no lines, whether the lines be land borders or conditions for dialogue with Pyongyang, the main theme of his work. I think exchange should come before unification. We should talk about unification after that. You shouldn't talk about things like unification when you don't even know what the other is thinking. The former propaganda artist fled in 1998 and hides his identity to protect families still living in North Korea. Sonmoo has also courted controversy in South Korea. He's endured occasional questioning by the police and some of his paintings depicting North Korean leaders were removed from an exhibition. His work would be considered criminal in North Korea where propaganda art is central to national identity. In 2016, American tourist Otto Warmbier was detained for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster in Pyongyang. He fell into a coma while incarcerated and died in the US shortly after he returned. North Korea has also been staging exhibitions abroad, like this one in Russia, promoting growing military ties with Moscow and the war in Ukraine. The exhibition helps to understand the country not from the outside, but through the eyes of its people. Sonmoo says that couldn't be further from the truth. Saying that you can know North Korean life through their artwork, I think that's going a bit too far. I think you can know what the regime wants. This latest show pushes further away from the constraints of his earlier propaganda style, though he says after decades, he's still coming to terms with the artistic freedom he's found in the South. Jack Barton, Al Jazeera, Seoul.

The White House is standing by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after a Washington Post report raised concerns about the Pentagon's deadly military operations around Latin America.

Washington

Trump meets on Venezuela amid concerns over deadly strike

Monday is World AIDS Day. It has been recognized globally since 1988, but this year, the U.S. government is not commemorating it for the first time.

U.S. not recognizing World AIDS Day this year

Operation "Swamp Sweep," a monthslong immigration crackdown centered in New Orleans, is set to begin Monday. CBS News national reporter Kati Weis has the details.

New Orleans

Immigration enforcement operation set to begin in New Orleans

Luigi Mangione, the man charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was in a New York City courtroom on Monday for a pre-trial hearing focused on what evidence the jury will see. CBS News' Anna Schecter has the details.

New York

Luigi Mangione's lawyers seek to toss evidence in state murder case

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Monday that Andrew Wolfe, the second National Guardsman shot in Washington, D.C., last week, has woken up from an induced coma.

National Guardsman injured in shooting has woken up from coma

Lawmakers are questioning the massive mobilization in the Caribbean as President Trump announced airlines and pilots should consider "the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela to be closed in its entirety." It comes amid new controversy over the strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats that has some lawmakers raising questions over whether the Pentagon committed a war crime.

Caracas

Pentagon 'may have' committed war crime amid questions over drug boats

Steve Witkoff, one of President Trump's key envoys helping negotiate a peace proposal between Russia and Ukraine, is set to meet with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, the Kremlin says. CBS News' Ramy Inocencio reports.

Moscow

Trump envoy set to meet with Putin in Moscow, Russia confirms

Russian missiles and drones continue to hit Ukrainian cities even as U.S. negotiators try to broker a deal between the two countries. Some Ukrainians have expressed anger over President Trump's original peace plan put forward last month, saying it does not guarantee their safety.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Ukrainians express anger over Trump peace proposal as strikes continue

Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December, is set to appear in court for hearings on evidence for his upcoming trial. CBS News' Katrina Kaufman reports.

Luigi Mangione headed to court on what evidence should be allowed

Thousands rallied outside President Isaac Herzog’s residence in Tel Aviv, urging him to reject a pardon request from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces fraud charges. Demonstrators held signs demanding accountability and warned that approval could undermine justice in Israel.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Protests in Tel Aviv after Netanyahu seeks pardon in fraud cases

The Ukrainian delegation met with U.S. officials in Miami on Sunday ahead of scheduled talks between the U.S. and Russian officials, including Vladimir Putin, later this week.

Miami

Rubio calls U.S.-Ukraine talks productive but says more work ahead

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu submitted a formal pardon request in his long-running corruption cases to the Israeli president. Herzog says he will "sincerely consider the request."

Netanyahu asks president to grant him pardon from corruption charges

Two men and two women from the Paris region have been taken into custody in connection with the theft at the Louvre last month, prosecutors said.

Paris

Four more suspects arrested over Louvre jewelery heist

Entire areas of Sri Lanka's capital were flooded on Sunday after a powerful cyclone triggered heavy rains and mudslides across the island, with authorities reporting nearly 200 dead and dozens more missing.

Colombo

Sri Lanka reels from Cyclone Ditwah as death toll nears 200

Top Trump administration officials are meeting Ukrainian negotiators in Florida this weekend, pushing to broker an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Florida

Rubio and Witkoff to meet with Ukraine's negotiators in Florida

President Trump intensified his pressure campaign on Venezuela on Saturday. He posted that the airspace around the country is "closed in its entirety." It comes amid growing pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to step down.

Trump declares Venezuela's airspace closed

Negotiators for Ukraine are headed to Florida for further peace talks with Trump administration officials. The visit comes amid new deadly air assaults across Ukraine.

Deadly Russian air assaults hit Ukraine amid peace talks

Approximately 24 million people across the U.S. are under winter storm alerts. Dave Malkoff and Andrew Kozak have the details on this holiday weekend's forecast and the impact.

Chicago

Major storm blasts Midwest, impacting holiday travel

Ukraine’s security services say that domestically made naval drones struck two Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea, involving vessels described as part of Russia’s “shadow fleet.”

Ukraine strikes Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea

From Rome to Berlin, from São Paulo to Istanbul: the demonstration in the Italian capital, led by Global Movement to Gaza, reflects a global protest for Gaza, with thousands of people united in solidarity and justice

Rome

Thunberg joins pro-Palestine march in Rome

US President Donald Trump has said the airspace above Venezuela is to be closed. With a US task force already in the Caribbean, land operations against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers could soon begin.

US military threat fuels fear and uncertainty in Venezuela

More than 150 people have been killed as Cyclone Ditwah has been battering Sri Lanka with torrential rains that triggered flooding and landslides. Authorities declared a state of emergency.

Cyclone Ditwah pounds Sri Lanka with deadly force

Investigators in Hong Kong are gathering evidence at the site of the apartment block fire that killed at least 128 people. At least 150 are missing, and 11 people involved in the renovation of the complex have been arrested.

Tsim Sha Tsui

Hong Kong apartment fire survivors share how they escaped

United States President Donald Trump has said the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed “in its entirety”, as tensions between the countries escalate. There was no immediate response by Venezuela to Trump’s social media post on Saturday.

Trump says Venezuela airspace to be shut as tensions rise

Pope Leo XIV visited Istanbul's historic Blue Mosque, officially known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, as part of his trip to Turkey.

Istanbul

Pope Leo XIV visits Istanbul's iconic Blue Mosque on Turkey trip

The Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard members will face first-degree murder charges for an attack that prompted President Donald Trump to declare he would freeze migration from "Third World Countries" to the U.S.

National Guard shooting suspect to face murder charges

President Trump announced Thursday that he would "permanently pause" immigration from "Third-World Countries." The declaration comes as the Trump administration takes aim at U.S. immigration policies in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.

Trump says he plans to end immigration from "Third-World Countries"

Europe's Airbus says it is ordering immediate repairs to 6,000 of its widely-used A320 family of jets in a sweeping recall affecting more than half the global fleet, threatening upheaval during the busiest travel weekend of the year in the United States.

Leiden

Airbus issues major A320 recall, threatening holiday travel

Hong Kong firefighters found dozens more bodies in an intensive search of a high-rise complex where a massive fire engulfed seven buildings, bringing the death toll to 128 with many more unaccounted for. Authorities arrested another eight people involved in the towers' renovation.

Hong Kong Island

More arrests made in Hong Kong as fire's death toll rises to 128

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's powerful chief of staff, a close ally of the president who has headed Ukraine's negotiation team at fraught U.S.-backed peace talks, quit on Friday (November 28), after anti-corruption agents searched his home.

Breakdown