Surviving a North Korean prison camp

As far as the government is concerned, you are born to work, then die, in the camp. But escape is possible.

Freedom.
(Image credit: nobeastsofierce Interiors / Alamy Stock Photo)

At any moment, one of Camp 14's guards could stop Shin Dong-hyuk and demand he recite the Ten Laws. Without missing a beat, Shin had to start rattling them off — do not try to escape, do not steal, report suspicious behavior immediately — knowing that breaking any of the rules usually ended with the culprit being shot on the spot.

Shin memorized the Ten Laws alongside other children born to political prisoners inside this North Korean internment camp. It was made clear to all of them from an early age that as far as the government was concerned, they were born to work, then die, in the camp. Prisoners were forced to toil in mines and factories producing everything from rubber to shoes to paper. They might perish at the hands of a guard who caught them hoarding a few corn kernels, or drop dead in the coal mine — it didn't really matter to the regime. They were there to atone for the sins of their families.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.