As international leaders fear what Pyongyang may do beyond its borders, perhaps the biggest issue is what happens within. North Korea operates a growing network of prison camps containing up to 200,000 prisoners in conditions like how they were in the Nazi camps. This atrocity gains little international attention, though the United Nations Human Rights Council is considering a formal inquiry for possible crimes against humanity.
SHIN DONG-HYUK'S STORY
When 13-year-old Shin Dong-hyuk overheard his mother planning an escape from their North Korean death camp, he knew exactly what he had to do. He told the guards everything and watched as his mom and brother were dragged away. And in an even more shocking confession, Shin has revealed that after he was forced to see his mum being hanged and his brother being shot dead, he was convinced he had done the right thing. He thought they deserved to die for their treachery. Shin was born in notorious Camp 14. The grim battle to survive in the gulag 50 miles north of capital Pyongyang was the only life he knew. It is only now – as the sole inmate known to have escaped the prison camp – that he can recognise the true horror of what he did. As the world watches the deluded posturing of North Korea’s young dictator Kim Jong-un, Shin’s harrowing story shines a rare light on the most secretive country on Earth.
SHIN DONG-HYUK'S STORY
When 13-year-old Shin Dong-hyuk overheard his mother planning an escape from their North Korean death camp, he knew exactly what he had to do. He told the guards everything and watched as his mom and brother were dragged away. And in an even more shocking confession, Shin has revealed that after he was forced to see his mum being hanged and his brother being shot dead, he was convinced he had done the right thing. He thought they deserved to die for their treachery. Shin was born in notorious Camp 14. The grim battle to survive in the gulag 50 miles north of capital Pyongyang was the only life he knew. It is only now – as the sole inmate known to have escaped the prison camp – that he can recognise the true horror of what he did. As the world watches the deluded posturing of North Korea’s young dictator Kim Jong-un, Shin’s harrowing story shines a rare light on the most secretive country on Earth.