Escape from Camp 14

Acknowledgements

This book, of course, could not have been written without the courage, intelligence and patience of Shin Dong-hyuk. For two years and on two continents, he took the time and endured the pain of telling his story in all its awful detail.

I also want to thank Lisa Colacurcio, a member of the board of the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, who first told me about Shin. Kenneth Cukier, a correspondent at The Economist, told me that Shin’s story needed a book in English and offered useful suggestions about how to write it.

Since I do not speak Korean, I depended on translators. I would like to thank Stella Kim and Jennifer Cho in Seoul. Also in Seoul, Yoonjung Seo helped with reporting, as did Brian Lee. In Tokyo, Akiko Yamamoto helped with reporting and logistics. In Southern California, David Kim was a masterful translator and friend to Shin and to me. He also gave me advice on the manuscript.

At Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) in Torrance, Hannah Song and Andy Kim helped me understand Shin’s adjustment to the United States. In addition, Song spent many hours solving logistical problems for Shin and for me. In Seattle, Harim Lee was also helpful. In Columbus, Ohio, Lowell and Linda Dye, who have helped Shin and whom he regards as parents, offered perspective and advice.

For guidance in my attempt to understand what is going on inside North Korea, I thank Marcus Noland, deputy director and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. He gave generously of his time and expertise. His research on North Korea with Stephan Haggard was a key resource. Also, conversations with Kongdan Oh, a research staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses in Alexandria, Virginia, helped me understand what I heard from Shin and from other North Koreans. The books she has written with her husband, Ralph Hassig, a North Korean scholar, were also invaluable. In Seoul, Andrei Lankov, who teaches North Korean studies at Kookmin University, was always willing to share his insight.

Two tireless bloggers, Joshua Stanton from One Free Korea and Curtis Melvin of North Korean Economy Watch, provided useful and constantly updated information and analysis about the North’s economy, leadership, military and politics. Also, Barbara Demick’s fine book, Nothing to Envy, was a key to the thinking of ordinary North Koreans.

I especially want to thank the Seoul-based Database Center for North Korean Human Rights. It published Shin’s Korean-language memoir and generously encouraged him to cooperate with me. Also, the Korean Bar Association’s ‘White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea 2008’ was a valuable resource.

David Hawk, author of ‘The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps’ and perhaps the single most important individual in alerting outsiders to the existence and operation of the camps, shared his expertise and research. Suzanne Scholte, who has led campaigns around the world for human rights in North Korea, also has my thanks. In Seattle, Blaise Aguera y Arcas made shrewd narrative suggestions and Sam Howe Verhovek gave reporting advice.

My agent, Raphael Sagalyn, did a masterful job in making this book possible. At Viking, editor Kathryn Court embraced the project and offered advice that significantly improved the manuscript, as did Tara Singh, Kathryn’s assistant.

David Hoffman, the Washington Post foreign editor who sent me to Asia, told me to dig into North Korea. When I hesitated, he insisted. When I struggled, he was encouraging. Post editors Doug Jehl and Kevin Sullivan were also demanding and supportive. Donald G. Graham, the chairman of the Washington Post Company, paid amazingly close attention to North Korea and always let me know if I managed to write anything interesting about it.

Finally, my wife, Jessica Kowal, played a major role in making this book. In addition to reading and editing it, she convinced me that telling Shin’s story was the best possible thing I could do. My children, Lucinda and Arno, asked a lot of good questions about Shin’s life. They could not comprehend the cruelty of North Korea, but recognized Shin as an amazing person. I feel the same way.

APPENDICES

The Ten Laws of Camp 14

Shin was required in the camp’s school to memorize these rules and was often ordered by guards to recite them.

1. Do not try to escape

Anyone caught escaping will be shot immediately.

Any witness to an attempted escape who fails to report it will be shot immediately.

Any witness to an attempted escape must promptly notify a guard.

Groups of two or more are prohibited from assembling to devise a plot or to attempt to escape.

2. No more than two prisoners can meet together

Anyone who fails to secure permission from a guard for a meeting of more than two prisoners will be shot immediately.

Those who trespass into the guards’ village or who damage public property will be shot immediately.

No gathering may exceed the number of prisoners allowed by the guard in charge.

Outside work, no group of prisoners may gather without permission.

At night, three or more prisoners may not travel together without permission from the guard in charge.

3. Do not steal

Anyone found stealing or in possession of arms will be shot immediately.

Anyone who does not report or who aids a person who has stolen or possesses arms will be shot immediately.

Anyone who steals or conceals any foodstuffs will be shot immediately.

Anyone who deliberately damages any materials used in the camp will be shot immediately.

4. Guards must be obeyed unconditionally

Anyone who harbours ill will towards or physically assaults a guard will be shot immediately.

Anyone who fails to demonstrate total compliance with a guard’s instructions will be shot immediately.

There must be no backtalk or complaints to a guard.

When meeting a guard, one must bow deferentially.

5. Anyone who sees a fugitive or suspicious figure must promptly report him

Anyone who provides cover for or protects a fugitive will be shot immediately.

Anyone who holds or hides a fugitive’s possessions, conspires with him, or fails to report him will be shot immediately.

6. Prisoners must watch each other and report any suspicious behaviour immediately

Each prisoner must observe others and remain vigilant.

The speech and conduct of others must be observed closely. Should anything arouse suspicion, a guard must be notified immediately.

Prisoners must faithfully attend meetings of ideological struggle, and they must censure others and themselves vehemently.

7. Prisoners must more than fulfil the work assigned them each day

Prisoners who neglect their work quota or fail to complete it will be considered to harbour discontent and will be shot immediately.

Each prisoner must be solely responsible for his work quota.

To fulfil one’s work quota is to wash away sins, as well as to recompense the state for the forgiveness it has shown.