They are objectively correct that Radio Free Asia has propagated false narratives about North Korea. That’s a big part of what the organization exists to do.

Yes, because if we discount every first-hand account because of some people who don’t say the exact same thing- then we wouldn’t have almost any evidence that what went down in concentration camps during WWII actually happened.

That’s completely different. The Nazis kept records that corroborate the first-hand accounts. There’s photographic evidence of how the camps were laid out, the conditions their prisoners were kept in, bodies, experiments, and more. Honestly I find this line to be bordering on Holocaust denial because it’s so absurd: you think the Holocaust could have been carried out in such a way that only first-hand accounts provide evidence of it?

Also I’m not talking about getting slight details wrong, I’m talking about different defectors telling stories that directly contradict each other, or things that are simply impossible. Have you ever seen an interview with Yeonmi Park?

South Korean media reports of North Korean defectors are notoriously not trustworthy. North Korean defectors suffer from a lot of stigma if they go to the South and usually struggle to find a job. Tabloids pay them for their stories. Obviously, the taller the tale, the more likely they get a paycheck.

The fact that NK is so closed off means it’s hard to disprove a lot of the claims, but we can still know that they’re false when they’re contradictory. For example, some NK defectors have claimed having KJU’s haircut is illegal, others claim it’s the only haircut men are allowed to wear. Some claim that abortion is totally banned, others claim that the state forces women to get abortions.

Probably the epitome of this phenomenon is Yeonmi Park. Are you really gonna die on the hill that NK defectors like her are trustworthy sources?