Shin Dong-hyuk

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Shin Dong-hyuk (2014)
Korean spelling
Chosŏn'gŭl 신동혁
Hancha 申 東 赫
Revised
Romanization
Sin dong-hyeok
McCune-
Reischauer
Sin Tonghyŏk

Shin Dong-hyuk (born November 19, 1982 in Kaech'ŏn Detention Center in North Korea ) is a Korean human rights activist . He is the only North Korean refugee so far who was born in a prison camp, grew up there and was able to escape from there. He testified to human rights organizations to draw attention to the situation of the people in the Kaech'ŏn detention center and numerous similar camps in North Korea .

His biography , published in 2012, became a bestseller. In the same year a feature film based on the book came out. In 2015, however, doubts arose about the veracity of his statements. Shin had "changed" "crucial parts" of his story, and he eventually admitted that parts of his story were not true.

First version of Shin's biography

Subsequent version of his biography corresponds to that Shin Dong-hyuk former journalists from the Washington Post , Blaine Harden , had reported after his escape, and Harden to a bestseller processed.

Shin Dong-hyuk was born in Kaech'ŏn Detention Center, where prisoners are sentenced to lifelong forced labor and die at an average age of 45 years. Shin's parents were arranged married and allowed to have sexual intercourse several times a year as a reward for a good job. Shin, who lived with his mother until he was 12, had little contact with his father, who lived in a different part of the camp. He saw his mother as a competitor for the small food rations and had no ties to his parents or his brother. The guards told Shin that he was imprisoned because his parents had committed crimes against the state and that he would have to work hard and always follow the guards, otherwise he would be punished or executed. Shin experienced regular violence in the camp and watched dozens of executions each year. A guard cut off part of Shin's finger as a punishment for dropping a sewing machine. He observed regular attacks on adult and underage prisoners. Shin stated that he tried to survive by eating rats, frogs, and insects on the one hand, and denouncing other prisoners on the other in hopes of rewards.

At the age of 14, Shin overheard a conversation between his mother and brother who were planning to try to escape. According to the instructions given to him, he reported this to the camp supervisor. The denunciation was not honored, and Shin was tortured by guards for several days to obtain more information. As part of the torture, a charcoal fire was lit under his back while a guard drove a hook into his back to prevent him from moving. These measures caused permanent health damage to Shin. On November 29, 1996, Shin was forced to attend the public execution of his mother and brother. Shin believed at the time that his mother was rightly killed and did not realize the full scope of his actions until a later date.

In 2005 Shin managed to escape, but his friend Park, who had told him about the outside world, died. He fled more than 600 km to China and from there went via detours to the human rights organization Link, for which he later gave lectures. However, he was only active there for a short time.

Book and film

On March 29, 2012 the book Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by journalist Blaine Harden was published about Shin's life in captivity, his escape and his time afterwards. On September 14, 2012, the German translation under the title Flucht aus Lager 14 was published by the Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt . In November 2012 the film Camp 14 - Total Control Zone was released in theaters. Shin has lectured all over the world.

Doubts about Shin's credibility

In January 2015, the North Korean government released a video allegedly showing Shin's father calling his son's story a fake.

When asked about this, Shin retracted parts of his story, stating that key parts of his story were not true, including sections about his stay in Camp 14 and how old he was when he was tortured.

Kim Young-soon, a survivor of Camp 15, said Shin had previously changed vital elements of his history, and "many defectors adorn their stories ... I hope that there is more honesty among defectors, not lies, to earn money".

Blaine Harden, author of the best-selling book on Shin, said a good portion of the revised narrative was consistent with Shin's original narrative and his testimony before the UN commission, “but he has significantly changed details about his previous life, and dates and locations major events fundamentally changed «. Michael Kirby, the Australian judge and chairman of the UN commission, said the changes in Shin's story would not change the UN report on human rights abuses in North Korea, and Shin "is not a cheater".

Shin explained that some "mistakes" "arose" because that way he could better deal with the painful experiences.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d Blaine Harden: How one man escaped from a North Korean prison camp. In: The Guardian. March 16, 2012, archived from the original on March 29, 2012 ; Retrieved March 29, 2012 .
  2. a b c d e f g Blaine Harden: Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West . 2012, ISBN 978-1-101-56126-3 , pp. 224 .
  3. a b c d e f g Q&A with Blaine Harden. ( JW Player ; 59 minutes) Interview. In: c-span.org . April 11, 2012, accessed April 18, 2019 .
  4. Korean gulag escapee speaks out. Contribution from Radio Free Asia . In: refworld.org . November 30, 2008, accessed June 25, 2020.
  5. ^ Life Funds for North Korean Refugees (NGO): I was a Political Prisoner at Birth in North Korea
  6. ^ The Hidden Gulag - Exposing Crimes against Humanity in North Korea's Vast Prison System. (PDF; 5.5 MB) In: The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. Pp. 48–51 , accessed September 20, 2012 .
  7. ^ Political Prison Camps in North Korea Today . Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), 2011, ISBN 978-89-93739-16-9 , Chapter 3.3.3: Penalty System for Prisoners , p. 261 (English, digitized version ( memento from February 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 3.6 MB ; accessed on December 12, 2018]). Political Prison Camps in North Korea Today ( Memento of the original from February 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / nkdb.org
  8. ^ Political Prison Camps in North Korea Today . Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), 2011, ISBN 978-89-93739-16-9 , Chapter 3.3.3: Penalty System for Prisoners , p. 289 (English, digitized version ( memento from February 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 3.6 MB ; accessed on December 12, 2018]). Political Prison Camps in North Korea Today ( Memento of the original from February 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / nkdb.org
  9. ^ Political Prison Camps in North Korea Today . Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), 2011, ISBN 978-89-93739-16-9 , Chapter 4.4.4: Minimum Age for Labor and Labor for the Old and the Weak , p. 422 (English, digitized version ( memento from February 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 3.6 MB ; accessed on December 12, 2018]). Political Prison Camps in North Korea Today ( Memento of the original from February 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / nkdb.org
  10. ^ Political Prison Camps in North Korea Today . Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), 2011, ISBN 978-89-93739-16-9 , Chapter 4.4.5: Supervision of Labor , p. 425 (English, digitized version ( memento from February 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) [PDF; 3.6 MB ; accessed on December 12, 2018]). Political Prison Camps in North Korea Today ( Memento of the original from February 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / nkdb.org
  11. ^ Born and Raised in a North Korean Prison Camps. In: ABC News. October 30, 2007, accessed March 26, 2012 .
  12. ^ Medical Report and History of Shin Dong-hyuk. In: Life Funds for North Korean Refugees. July 9, 2007, accessed March 26, 2012 .
  13. Choe Sang-Hun: Born and raised in a North Korean gulag. In: The New York Times. July 9, 2007, archived from the original on March 29, 2012 ; Retrieved March 29, 2012 .
  14. Escapee Tells of Horrors in North Korean Prison Camp. In: Washington Post. December 11th 2008, accessed on 18 January 2013 .
  15. a b Jiyoung Song: Why do North Korean defector testimonies so often fall apart? The Guardian, Oct. 13, 2015.
  16. YouTube video cited in the Guardian : The Truth About Shin Dong-hyuk Exposed (DPRK Documentary)
  17. a b c d Reuters : North Korean defector changes story after seeing father in video The Guardian , January 19, 2015.
  18. Choe Sang-hun: Prominent North Korean Defector Recants Parts of His Story of Captivity. In: The New York Times . January 18, 2015, accessed January 25, 2015 .
  19. North Koreans must revoke parts of their Gulag report (focus)
  20. Camp 14 - North Koreans Revise Parts of His Gulag Report. In: zeit.de . January 19, 2015, accessed May 19, 2020.