Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea

Sungju does his best to focus on schoolwork and not let Young-bum and Chulho’s comments get to him. But he wonders if what they said was true, even though it goes against what he was taught by Joseon’s regime.

After school, Sungju gathers firewood while eomeoni works at a government farm and abeoji works at a factory. They still eat nice dinners each night, and Sungju remains in denial about the state of his new city.

Spring arrives, and Young-bum announces to Sungju that their class will be attending an execution the next day. When Sungju reacts with surprise, Chulho reminds him he’s not in Pyongyang, implying that Sungju was brought up to be above these kinds of spectacles, and that people in Pyongyang are so distracted that they are unaware of what is really happening. Chulho also challenges Sungju to ask his father what it is really like to work as a laborer in a nearby factory.

The next day, Sungju, who has been appointed school captain, organizes 200 out of a total of 300 students in perfect straight lines for an assembly before the execution. When the school’s manager asks about the other hundred students, Young-bum responds that they are likely out begging for their families or have moved to another city in search of food.