ESCAPE FROM
CAMP 14
A REVIEW
Published in 2012, Escape
from Camp 14 tells the
story of Shin Dong-Hyuk,
the first known person born
in a North Korean political
prison camp to have
escaped.
AMANDA
SHEPPARD
BY
PROTOCOL-MAGAZINE
learn that those born within the confines of the camp know
nothing of the outside world. Perhaps more surprising
however, is the fact that those within the camp remained
unaware of the chronic famine that plagued North Korea
during the mid to late 1990s. For prisoners within the camp,
chronic food shortages were neither new, nor did they show
signs of rectification in the distant future. What’s more, those
born in Camp 14 knew very little (if anything at all) about
Journalist Blaine Harden
the Kim family. What has been presented to the wider world
chronicles Shin’s journey
as one of the most controlling dictatorships in existence
leading up to his escape
plays no role whatsoever in the lives of many detained
and his subsequent
within political prison camps. Those in Camp 14 who do
adjustment to life in both know about North Korean politics, (many of whom are exSouth Korea and the United government officials), are bound by the same rules as the
States.
other prisoners, with conversation limited to such an extent
that their knowledge is seldom passed on to fellow
prisoners.
A New York Times bestseller, Shin and Blaine have worked
together to shed light on the abhorrent conditions in these Amongst many other crucial revelations, the book highlights
camps and the countless human rights violations that occur the perceived apathy of the global community and of South
on a daily basis. From starvation to forced labour and Korean society in particular –with regard to the removal of
torture, the list of violations is seemingly endless. However, North Korean political prison camps. The South Korean
what makes Escape from Camp 14 a truly compelling read government has implemented several schemes in order to
is the way in which the book does not glorify its subject. facilitate the integration of North Korean defectors including
Rather, Shin is presented as a product of the camp –he tells subsidised accommodation, job training, and education.
of his struggles adapting to life outside and the impact the Defectors are taken to a transition centre where they are
camp has had on his upbringing and character. From an slowly introduced to daily life in South Korea, and this
early age, Shin knew to look upon his mother without love, involves an introduction to things which many take for
as the camp was not a place for emotion. Within the granted –hot water, electricity, television sets, and more.
confines of Camp 14, family was nothing more than With a seemingly simplistic portrayal of South Korean
competition for food.
society, Harden paints the state to be a success-driven
capitalist machine where failure is simply unacceptable.
Drawing upon interviews conducted with Shin over an While the picture painted is perhaps an overly negative one;
extended period of time, Harden contextualises Shin’s it serves to highlight issues of transition faced by many
testimony with those of other defectors as well as widely defectors.
accepted claims made by non-governmental organisations
and the media. This allows for what is arguably the most Shin, like many other defectors, has battled depression
holistic understanding of life in North Korean prison camps following his escape from Camp 14. He is now coming to
to date. Those born within the confines of a prison camp are terms with what occurred within the confines of Camp 14.
de-humanised from birth—Shin had no qualms snitching on Stating that he is only now truly aware of emotions, Shin
fellow children or adults in order to receive increased food must deal with the guilt caused by his actions during times
rations and the promise of less beatings. Stealing food when survival was the only thing on his mind. He has
resulted in harsh beatings and punishments, which were undergone extensive dental reconstruction following years
often distributed to people for reasons unknown to them. of decay, and his growth has been stunted –both
Shin informed on his mother and brother’s plans to escape consequences of a lifetime of malnutrition.
in the hopes of preferential treatment, but this resulted in
him being detained in an underground prison for three Escape from Camp 14 has brought to the fore issues many
months, where he was beaten and tortured within an inch of may have already been aware of, though perhaps the extent
his life. The book contains diagrams of the brutality inflicted of which has escaped us. Whilst impossible to know the true
upon Shin in his time of imprisonment, including the way inner-workings of life in North Korean political prison
that Shin was held above an open fire during his camps, the experiences described by Shin and dictated to
interrogation.
Harden parallel those of other defectors. Shin has not
portrayed himself as a hero; he has told a story that he
Escape from Camp 14 sheds light on the daily workings of clearly finds so shameful, that the reader has no choice but
political prison camps. Readers may not be surprised to to believe it.
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