Escape from Camp 14 is a book about the life of Shun Dong-hyuk, he is a survivor of a North Korean political prison camp in the mountains of North Korea. Located about 55 miles north of Pyongyang, the labour camp is a 'complete control district', a no-exit prison where the only sentence is life. No one born in Camp 14 or in any North Korean political prison camp has escaped. Except Shin.
Shin Dong-hyuk was born in Camp 14 in the early 1980's, he was born to two prisoners who were allowed to marry as a reward for good work. In his beginning years Shin already witnessed public executions from the camp guards. He listened to the supervising guard that the prisoner about to die had been offered 'redemption' from the state, but that he had refused the offering. Shin watched three guards take aim and shooting the prisoner three times in the chest. This was just another day in the North Korean Gulag.
This book is very hard to read at times, they get stripped from their humanity and are left with nothing but humiliation. Most of the prisoners not only get physically, but also mentally abused to an extent where you question yourself; how can this still happen in present-day society. There is a constant threat of these types of severe punishments from the camp guards. Sexual abuse, torture, and even drownings are almost a daily occurrence. I don't want to give away too many spoilers of the book, so I'll leave it at this.
This book also makes you think about the current state of North Korea. Everything in North Korea is controlled by the government, it's kind of ironic that they call themselves the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Even your haircut is controlled by the government, there are only 15 approved haircuts for both sexes. Except for the Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, he can get whatever haircut he likes.
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