On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a look at the grim prospects for disabled North Koreans.
Competitive Suffering
I was nearly at the end of a presentation on the North Korean prison camp system, when the last person in the audience grasped the microphone to ask a question. His question was so unexpected that I was literally blindsided.
Freedom and Bondage in North Korea
The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea is a DC-based nonprofit that studies these issues in gripping detail. I spoke recently with David Hawk, a lead researcher for the Committee, about North Korean camps, defectors, and the networks of merchants and sympathizers who operate in the shadows.
Review: Escape from Camp 14
In North Korea’s Camp 14, where Shin Dong-hyuk was born, the first of the Ten Commandments that formed the rules of the camp states: “Anyone caught escaping will be shot immediately.” Everyone in the camp is obliged to witness these executions, for they serve as warnings to anyone who contemplates escape. Shin saw his first execution at the age of four.