Escape from Camp 14

The day before his interrogation, Shin had been told that he did not have to spend the night in the dormitory but could go home and join his mother for supper. The teacher was rewarding him for good behavior, as, by this point, Shin had become tougher, less of an idler, and a frequent informer. When he arrived home, Shin was surprised to see his brother, whom he assumed must have done something good to have been granted this privilege.

After supper, Shin went to sleep in the bedroom; however, he was woken by the sound of his mother and brother talking in the kitchen. He peered through the door and was annoyed to see that his mother was cooking rice whereas she had only given him watery corn soup for supper. In North Korean culture, rice is highly important—it signifies wealth and the closeness of family, and it sanctified a proper meal. Rice was rarely eaten in the camps and was a rare commodity for many North Koreans.

Listening in, Shin learns that his brother had not been given the day off; instead, he had walked away from the factory where he worked after having done something wrong. His mother was consequently helping him escape, even though she knew that both she and other members of the family would be tortured and probably killed as a result. Hearing this, Shin is both angry and afraid, and the instinct to inform takes hold. As it was night time, he is not sure who to tell. He goes to the dormitory to ask advice from his friend, Hong Sung Jo, and the two of them seek out the school’s night guard. Upon reaching his office, Shin realizes that he can profit from the information in his possession. He therefore demands to be given better food and elevated to the position of grade leader at school, which means less work and fewer beatings. The guard agrees to this exchange, and Shin reveals what his mother and brother are planning.

As he wrote in his memoir, Shin was taken to the underground prison the next morning. However, the truth is that he knew why he had been summoned.

During his interrogation, Shin was confused as to why he was not being treated as a dutiful informer—only later did he realize that the night guard had taken credit for discovering the escape plan. As it was, Shin was in a state of shock and unable to say anything coherent. The officer placed a family rap sheet in front of him and told him to affix his thumbprint to the bottom. Again, Shin did not immediately understand what he was seeing, but the papers revealed why his father’s family had been incarcerated: his father was the brother of two men who fled south during a war that devastated most of the Korean peninsula.

Shin was then led to cell in which he spent the night, and the next day, he was brought to an interrogation room. The guards asked him why his family wanted to escape, but he replied that he did not know. On the third day, he was hung upside down in his cell until the guards returned in the evening, and on the fourth day, he was marched to a dimly lit room containing various torture implements. The main interrogator said that he would spare Shin in exchange for the truth, but Shin maintained that he knew nothing. He was consequently stripped, tied to a winch suspended from the ceiling, and tortured until he lost consciousness.

Shin awoke in his cell and, over the next two days, his wounds became infected and he struggled to eat or move. Shin believes that around ten days passed before his final interrogation, which took place in his cell on account of his weakness. This time, however, he was no longer afraid. He insisted that he was the one who reported what his mother and brother were planning, and he begged his interrogators to talk to Hong Sung Jo to confirm this.

After several days, Shin was taken to a cell containing another prisoner. He had been given a reprieve because his classmate had confirmed his story. The night guard, meanwhile, was never seen again.