Ahn Chol (born 1971 or 1972) is the pseudonym of a North Korean freelance journalist who shot the footage for the film Children of the Secret State, a movie about the condition of orphans in North Korea.
[2] Ahn Chol initially released a VHS of the Jangmadang in Hoeryeong in September 1998.
[3] Ahn Chol first spoke with the Korean press in September 1998, to the newspaper Hankyoreh.
In the interview he spoke about the footage he leaked of Kotjebis, which was included in Korean Broadcasting System's 1998 documentary.
He smuggled the videotape out of North Korea by hiding it inside a pack of cigarettes.