The provenance of the original Korean manuscript for this book is detailed in the two afterwords to this edition. As noted, in order to protect the identity of the author, some biographical details have been changed. To attempt to verify the authenticity of the work, Grove Atlantic has communicated with Mr. Cho Gab-je (the Korean publisher), North Korean refugee activist Mr. Do Hee-Yun, the French publisher Mr. Philippe Picquier of Éditions Philippe Picquier, which published the first non-Korean edition, and has reached out to a number of experts for their thoughts on the book’s provenance. The afterword to the French edition, by The Aquariums of Pyongyang coauthor Pierre Rigoulot, also gave further context for the publication, as did a press conference held in Paris around the book’s French publication. Our conclusion is that, while the book’s provenance and the identity of its author cannot be proven, the accounts are accurate. We welcome any additional information and if any substantive new facts are uncovered we will include them in future editions.