"Imagine if a North Korean sent you a USB with a local movie and you watched it," said defector Kwang-il Park in Sydney. "Imagine, then, if the Australian government imprisoned you."

It may seem absurd, but the hypothetical was the best way Mr Park, 46, could help the dozens of UTS law students in front of him grasp the extent of human rights abuses in the isolated and impoverished country.

North Korean defectors Myung-Chul Ahn and Kwang-Il Park in Sydney. Credit:Brendan Esposito

Speaking at a lecture as part of the North Korean Human Rights Week, Mr Park said that in his 20s he had obtained contraband video tapes with South Korean TV shows and shared them with friends.They ended up being imprisoned and publicly executed.

In his attempt to escape the totalitarian state, he was interrogated and tortured. The guards knocked out his teeth to prevent him from biting off his tongue, as countless prisoners have done, and committing suicide.