Bestselling author and journalist Bradley Hope discusses his latest jaw-dropping project.
GM: Hi Bradley. First of all, what an incredible book ‘The Rebel and the Kingdom’ is. For our BlueSkyFriday readers, it is an exhilarating account of one brave man’s attempt to take down the North Korean regime. I’m blown away by the courage of Adrian Hong and his cohorts to liberate so many North Koreans at immense personal sacrifice. And also by the amount of research that must have gone into producing such a detailed and impressive piece of work. I’m surprised Adrian was so forthcoming with you, was he not scared for his safety?
BH: In a sense I was lucky for this project because I’ve known Adrian for many years, not as a close friend but as more of a journalistic source. During that time, I gained his trust and that was the starting point for me on this project. In the very least, Adrian knew I was a person with honest and clear intentions and that I knew he wasn’t a bad person, like he was being described in some media.
But Adrian is also in a very tense situation – he’s on the run from the U.S. Marshal’s service, who are trying to execute a warrant for his arrest from the nation of Spain. On top of that, he is now a target for assassination of the North Korean government, who have proven they have very long arms for carrying out attacks. So anything he does is very risky.
GM: Have you ever been worried for your own safety in the reporting of these stories?
BH: There have been times when I was a reporter during the Arab Spring that situations felt genuinely physically risky, but since then I’ve focused more on white collar crime and international intrigue. Those carry a different set of risks, including legal (they always hire ferocious law firms to come after you) and cybersecurity (hackers for hire are my number one fear). I don’t tend to worry about physical safety very much these days, except when I’m riding a bike around London.
GM: Adrian is still in hiding. Have you heard from him since the book came out? And what is the latest with his contemporary, Christopher Ahn? Please could you explain to the reader a bit about what happened to them?
BH: Adrian is really off the grid and hasn’t popped up to make any statements of any kind in years. I’m hoping we hear more from him soon.
Christopher’s situation is heart-breaking. He was just a volunteer on missions to help North Koreans, but he’s the only one to be arrested and go through the extradition process. He still has a long fight ahead of him in the courts, possibly all the way to the Supreme Court. In the meantime, he and his wife had been hit hard by the consequences of the legal proceedings. He has had a lot of trouble getting jobs and staying upbeat under the pressure of this living nightmare.
GM: I was also deeply troubled to hear of the daughter Jo Song-gil left behind during his rescue from Italy. You must have found so many stories completely traumatising. Do you have strategies to cope with this?
BH: Yes, and then she was sent back to North Korea, where your “ranking” is calculated based on a number of factors, including the loyalty of your family members. Her parents running away has surely had a devastating impact on her emotionally, but also for all we know she could have been placed in a prison camp (something commonly done to members of families of people who defect or escape).
I feel pain reporting stories, but I’ve also grown a bit used to it over all these years and so I’m able to compartmentalize pretty well.
GM: For an investigative journalist like yourself, how do you go about obtaining your sources? You mention the Signal app in the book. Security must be of the utmost importance.
For all journalism, having curiosity and the belief that all questions are ultimately answerable through the right combination of tactics and persistence are critical. The thing you really learn over time is how to talk to people and stay with them until they help you. For every person, there’s a different way to success. One person might be egotistical, so you can play to that in your conversations. Another might be disaffected or seeking to fight an injustice. Some of them have bad intentions and some good. All of them are valuable, so long as you understand those motivations. Security is important and cybersecurity is so difficult these days that the only thing that feels safe is meeting in a dark pub somewhere.
GM: You talk about an International Justice League. Have you found yourself wanting to get involved with the North Korean liberation movement, or indeed with any other story you’ve become embroiled in?
BH: I think I’m drawn to this story because I love the sense of mission of these volunteers of the Free Joseon group. Everyone wants meaning in their lives, to fight for something. My job ultimately is to elevate stories and not so much to be actively involved in a particular cause or mission, but I sometimes fantasize about a life where I was more directly involved in things.
GM: When it comes to putting a book together, how do you go about collating your notes? Your research is vast.
BH: The most important thing is appropriately log and categorize everything. But when it comes to the writing, I really rely a lot on on a detailed timeline. Most readers like to follow things in the order in which they happened or they feel lost. I try to think like a reader as I’m writing, keeping the action present but adding in just enough background and context that you feel like you’re learning something along the way.
GM: Please can you tell us a bit about Project Brazen? ‘Truth is stranger than fiction’ is the perfect tagline; that can definitely be said of ‘Rebel And The Kingdom’.
BH: Project Brazen is an initiative I started with my long-term friend and colleague, Tom Wright. We worked together at the Wall Street Journal, where we covered the scandal of our careers about a Malaysian sovereign fund looted of vast sums of money. We wrote a book together called Billion Dollar Whale that was very successful and led us to start our own company. Our mission is to tell big, amazing stories in whatever format that makes sense and to be involved in any further versions of the story, especially in film, TV and documentaries. You can listen to our podcasts here (or anywhere you search for them on your podcast app) and we also have a fun newsletter about the “hidden world of wealth and power” called Whale Hunting.
GM: Your podcast ‘The Closer’ shines a light on the deals that change the world. It’s fantastic and so insightful. Do you ever feel a little small and hopeless in the wake of these giant global events that we have no control over? I definitely do! What do you do to wind down?!
BH: Over the last year, I started practicing a form of martial arts called Aikido. I really love it because it has a philosophical core, but the physical side of it is so intense and new to me that I don’t think about a single thing other than Aikido for the full 1.5 hour session. Otherwise, I love to spend time with my family – we’re an adventurous bunch and love to wander all over the place.
GM: And finally, what’s next?
BH: We’re preparing a big slate of new podcasts and projects at Brazen – more to come very soon!
GM: Thanks so much for your time. Everyone, read Bradley’s book.
If you’d like to get in touch with Bradley about Project Brazen email him on
October, 2023
