North Korean Prisoner Escaped From Camp 14

[Anonymous]

Wow! Amazing story. I'll definitely have to check it out. Another good source for North Korean study is the book "Nothing to Envy," written by a Los Angeles Times journalist just a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

I showed my students this interview last week and they were very moved by it, as was I. It's unbelievable some of the things that people still do to one another on this planet. One of the sadder aspects of the conflict in Korea is that the tension between the north and the south is a Cold War creation. Do the north and the south really hate each other? No! They are united by their shared ethnicity, but have been separated by the division that was created in their country after WWII. One wonders if and when this sad chapter in the peninsula's history will come to an end?
If there is a silver lining in the 60 minutes interview, it is the resiliency of the human spirit to overcome seemingly impossible circumstances. A truly moving piece of journalism.

[Anonymous]

Wow, its sad to realize that this things are still happening, not just in Asia, but all over the world. when I discuss with my students the fact that people are still going through situations like this, they just wonder if it will ever end? I try to make them realize how fortunate they are to be in a place where abuse and hunger is not their everyday life. We talk about all types of situations even in the United States, a very popular one tends to be the human trafficking, and the abuse that goes with it. This one hits home.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Last Sunday, on the news magazine show Sixty Minutes, I heard an interview with Shin Dong-hyuk who managed to escape a secret concentration camp, called Camp 14. Not only did he escape the camp, which was an incredible feat, but was also born and raised there as well. This camp is hidden deep in the mountains, about an hour away from North Korea's capital, Pyongyang. According to human right rights groups, it's part of the largest network of political prisons in the world. About 150,000 people are believed to be doing hard labor at Camp 14. They are routinely beaten and starved. The camp is not just meant for political prisoners, but for their families as well. These families include parents, grandparents and children. The children born in the camps to the political prisoners are also punished as well. This practice was put into practice by North Korea, first leader Communist leader, Kim Il Sung. The practice is called, "three generations of punishment,” which is meant to stifle any protest or resistance against the government. I put a link below, just in case you want to watch this amazing story.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50136263n

[Author]

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