Defectors from North Korea aim to share the true picture of their country to a global audience.

Welcome to VOA Asia Weekly. I'm Chris Casquejo in Washington. That story is coming up, but first, making headlines:

India’s Supreme Court has ordered new guidelines to ensure the safety and protection of healthcare workers across the country. It comes after the rape and murder of a trainee doctor on August 9th. Thousands of people held protests across India, while doctors nationwide have turned away non-emergency patients.

More than 200,000 people have been forced to evacuate parts of Bangladesh. More than 28 centimeters of rainfall has caused flooding in eight districts in eastern Bangladesh. Government officials said on Wednesday that more districts are likely to be affected. Thousands of people are stranded in Feni, a city in southeastern Bangladesh, the worst-hit district.

Taiwan’s military conducted a live-fire missile drill on Tuesday to counter potential military pressure from China. The self-governing island carried out the exercises at the Jiupeng Military Base. The drill was open to the media for the first time in 12 years. Beijing did not immediately react to Taiwan’s drill. In an Indo-Pacific forum, Taiwan President William Lai criticized China.

“We have also seen China’s military expansionism in the East and South China Seas, not only through military exercises in the Taiwan Strait, but also in joint sea and air drills with Russia in the South China Sea.”

Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships collided Monday in the disputed South China Sea. Both nations blamed each other for the incident. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson accused the Philippines of 'illegally' entering the area.

South Korea and the United States launched large-scale military exercises on Monday. The annual summer drill is designed to enhance combined defense capabilities against North Korea. The exercises come after North Korea’s Foreign Ministry labeled the drills as quote “provocative war exercises for aggression.”

A group of North Korean defectors in Seoul has started a news website aimed at exposing North Korean human rights abuses. They also want to provide a more nuanced perspective about their homeland, as VOA's Bill Gallo reports from the South Korean capital.

When North Korea appears in global newscasts, it's usually scenes like this that dominate. The country's leader, Kim Jong Un, overseeing a weapons test.

But those kinds of martial images obscure much of what's really going on in the country, says North Korean defector Lee Seong-min.

“North Korea is more than nuclear weapons and Kim Jong Un. There are a lot of people with different perspectives and hopes and goals for the future of their country.”

Lee fled North Korea in 2012. He now helps run a website called NK Insider, whose goal is to elevate North Korean voices.

“A lot of people are talking about North Korea, scholars and experts, but there are subtle differences when you hear the voices of North Koreans who lived there in that system.”

About eight North Korean defectors write for the website, launched earlier this year. They communicate secretly with sources inside North Korea for their reporting. Some don’t want to appear on camera.

Zane Han, a former Pyongyang resident, fled North Korea just two years ago.

“Nobody can imagine what the situation is (like) inside North Korea, what the people experience inside North Korea – really as a slave inside North Korea. [But] I was there. I know.”

Han is one of very few North Koreans to recently make it to the South.

That’s because North Korea has tightened border security since the pandemic.

“It’s getting more and more difficult to see new defections from North Korea. That’s a new trend. Ordinary North Korean people’s chances, I think, are almost zero.”

Lee says one of his goals is to speak for North Koreans who have no voice and cannot leave.

“To give a platform to North Korean defectors and by extension to those still living in North Korea.”

Doing what he can to provide a more nuanced perspective of his homeland.

Bill Gallo, VOA News, Seoul, South Korea.

Visit voanews.com for the most up-to-date stories.

I’m Chris Casquejo.

Finally, a first in Indonesia’s planned new capital city.

Indonesia celebrated its 79th Independence Day in the new capital of Nusantara on Saturday. The ceremony featured hundreds of officials and invited guests wearing traditional clothing in the unfinished presidential palace.

Thanks for watching VOA Asia Weekly.