A North Korean defector who reportedly shot footage of a nascent anti-government movement in his Stalinist homeland is seeking asylum in the U-S or Korea.

According to the LA Times on Tuesday, the thirty-something North Korean who shot the video on behalf of a group called the Freedom Youth League is currently in hiding in Thailand under the assumed name, Park Dae-heung.

He reportedly said that all dissent activities had to be done with the utmost secrecy, to the point that he and his associates communicated by means of notes passed in sacks of potatoes. He added that they believed that if they were caught, "everybody would be dead."

The paper reported the interview in Thailand was his first-ever contact with Western press, arranged by Do Hee-yun, secretary-general of the Seoul-based Citizens Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees.

Park's 33-minute taped interview was released by the group in January via the Internet news site "Daily NK", creating a sensation in South Korea and Japan, where it has been aired repeatedly by major media.