This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/world/asia/prominent-north-korean-defector-shin-dong-hyuk-recants-parts-of-his-story.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Prominent North Korean Defector Recants Parts of His Story of Captivity | Prominent North Korean Defector Recants Parts of His Story of Captivity |
| (1 day later) | |
| SEOUL, South Korea — He was the poster boy for human rights atrocities in North Korea; a soft-spoken survivor of the North’s cruel gulags who eventually met such dignitaries as John Kerry in his campaign to focus attention on the North’s abuses. His harrowing tales of life in a prison camp — including being forced to watch his mother and brother being executed — stunned even those steeped in defectors’ stories and made him a star witness for an unprecedented United Nations’ investigation of abuses by the North’s rulers. | SEOUL, South Korea — He was the poster boy for human rights atrocities in North Korea; a soft-spoken survivor of the North’s cruel gulags who eventually met such dignitaries as John Kerry in his campaign to focus attention on the North’s abuses. His harrowing tales of life in a prison camp — including being forced to watch his mother and brother being executed — stunned even those steeped in defectors’ stories and made him a star witness for an unprecedented United Nations’ investigation of abuses by the North’s rulers. |
| Now, that survivor, Shin Dong-hyuk, is retracting central facts of his life story, memorialized in a 2012 book, “Escape from Camp 14,” by a former Washington Post reporter that has been published in 27 languages. | Now, that survivor, Shin Dong-hyuk, is retracting central facts of his life story, memorialized in a 2012 book, “Escape from Camp 14,” by a former Washington Post reporter that has been published in 27 languages. |
| Mr. Shin, who gives his age as 32, now says that the key fact that set him apart from other defectors — that he and his family had been incarcerated at a prison that no one expected to leave alive — was only partly true, and that he actually served most of his time in the less brutal Camp 18. He also said that the torture he endured as a teenager, instead happened years later and was meted out for very different reasons. | Mr. Shin, who gives his age as 32, now says that the key fact that set him apart from other defectors — that he and his family had been incarcerated at a prison that no one expected to leave alive — was only partly true, and that he actually served most of his time in the less brutal Camp 18. He also said that the torture he endured as a teenager, instead happened years later and was meted out for very different reasons. |
| Mr. Shin’s confession has raised fears among other prison camp survivors and South Korean human rights activists that it could stall an already difficult campaign by the United States and other nations to get the Security Council to push for an investigation at the International Criminal Court. Other camp survivors also testified before the United Nations investigators, recounting being tortured and starved, but activists worry that Mr. Shin’s recanting will help China and other North Korea supporters fight against opening a court case. | Mr. Shin’s confession has raised fears among other prison camp survivors and South Korean human rights activists that it could stall an already difficult campaign by the United States and other nations to get the Security Council to push for an investigation at the International Criminal Court. Other camp survivors also testified before the United Nations investigators, recounting being tortured and starved, but activists worry that Mr. Shin’s recanting will help China and other North Korea supporters fight against opening a court case. |
| In a twist, Mr. Shin’s story began to unravel because of his fame — and his success in helping push for the United Nations inquiry. Increasingly angry over the push for accountability at the United Nations, North Korea posted a nearly 10-minute video in October, called “Lie and Truth,” exposing what it called Mr. Shin’s many lies. The video was laced with propaganda for the brutal police state, but it also included an interview with his father, who was recognized by another defector, a woman who had served time at Camp 18. | In a twist, Mr. Shin’s story began to unravel because of his fame — and his success in helping push for the United Nations inquiry. Increasingly angry over the push for accountability at the United Nations, North Korea posted a nearly 10-minute video in October, called “Lie and Truth,” exposing what it called Mr. Shin’s many lies. The video was laced with propaganda for the brutal police state, but it also included an interview with his father, who was recognized by another defector, a woman who had served time at Camp 18. |
| She and other defectors then began to talk quietly with a handful of South Korean reporters about their suspicions that Mr. Shin and his family had never served time at the harsher camp in what is known as a “total-control zone.” As questions mounted, Mr. Shin came under increasing pressure to defend his story. | She and other defectors then began to talk quietly with a handful of South Korean reporters about their suspicions that Mr. Shin and his family had never served time at the harsher camp in what is known as a “total-control zone.” As questions mounted, Mr. Shin came under increasing pressure to defend his story. |
| On Friday, he confessed to the author of “Escape from Camp 14,” Blaine Harden, and confirmed his retractions Sunday in a phone interview with The New York Times. | On Friday, he confessed to the author of “Escape from Camp 14,” Blaine Harden, and confirmed his retractions Sunday in a phone interview with The New York Times. |
| “I am sorry to a lot of people,” Mr. Shin said by telephone from the United States, where he recently married a Korean-American woman. “I knew I could hide it no longer, but I dithered because friends feared the damage my coming out might do to the movement for North Korean human rights.” | “I am sorry to a lot of people,” Mr. Shin said by telephone from the United States, where he recently married a Korean-American woman. “I knew I could hide it no longer, but I dithered because friends feared the damage my coming out might do to the movement for North Korean human rights.” |
| A post on his Facebook page urged his supporters to fight on to expose North Korea’s treatment of its people. | A post on his Facebook page urged his supporters to fight on to expose North Korea’s treatment of its people. |
| “For my family, for the suffering political prisoners, for the suffering North Korean people, each of you still have a voice and an ability to fight for us and against this evil regime,” the post says, adding that he may no longer be able to carry on his own campaign. | “For my family, for the suffering political prisoners, for the suffering North Korean people, each of you still have a voice and an ability to fight for us and against this evil regime,” the post says, adding that he may no longer be able to carry on his own campaign. |
| It is difficult to overestimate the influence Mr. Shin has had in the long effort to bring international attention to rights abuses in the North. Activists have long contended that the United States and others mainly ignored the abuses and focused instead on the external threat posed by the North’s growing nuclear arsenal. | It is difficult to overestimate the influence Mr. Shin has had in the long effort to bring international attention to rights abuses in the North. Activists have long contended that the United States and others mainly ignored the abuses and focused instead on the external threat posed by the North’s growing nuclear arsenal. |
| In December 2012, Mr. Shin, together with another gulag survivor, took part in a meeting with Navi Pillay, then the United Nations human rights chief, in her Geneva office, according to Rupert Colville, who had served as her spokesman. Ms. Pillay cited the survivors’ accounts the next month when she publicly urged stronger international action against North Korea and the creation of an international inquiry into human rights conditions. | |
| After the commission issued its scathing report, Mr. Shin appeared with Mr. Kerry at an unusual event on the sidelines of the General Assembly in which Mr. Kerry, too, added his voice to efforts to draw attention to human rights in North Korea. | After the commission issued its scathing report, Mr. Shin appeared with Mr. Kerry at an unusual event on the sidelines of the General Assembly in which Mr. Kerry, too, added his voice to efforts to draw attention to human rights in North Korea. |
| Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said Sunday that Mr. Shin’s change of heart did not diminish the findings of the yearlong United Nations inquiry, which relied on the testimony of 80 witnesses and more than 240 confidential interviews with victims and other witnesses who would not speak publicly for fear of reprisals. | Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said Sunday that Mr. Shin’s change of heart did not diminish the findings of the yearlong United Nations inquiry, which relied on the testimony of 80 witnesses and more than 240 confidential interviews with victims and other witnesses who would not speak publicly for fear of reprisals. |
| “The commission report is air tight with or without Shin,” Mr. Adams said. | “The commission report is air tight with or without Shin,” Mr. Adams said. |
| In a phone interview, Michael Kirby, the Australian judge who led the United Nations investigation, noted that the “commission deals with very serious abuses of human rights that go back over 70 years.” | In a phone interview, Michael Kirby, the Australian judge who led the United Nations investigation, noted that the “commission deals with very serious abuses of human rights that go back over 70 years.” |
| In his revised account, Mr. Shin stuck to many of the key details he gave to the United Nations Commission of Inquiry. | In his revised account, Mr. Shin stuck to many of the key details he gave to the United Nations Commission of Inquiry. |
| Mr. Shin’s story, which he repeated many times in recent years, is remarkable. He said he was born and grew up at Camp 14 — a sprawling cluster of villages in mountains north of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, surviving hunger and torture until he miraculously escaped in 2005, at 22, by crawling over the body of a dead friend electrocuted by a fence surrounding the camp. | |
| He was the first North Korean who claimed to have escaped from a prison camp in the North. More than a dozen other camp survivors have escaped to South Korea, but all had been freed after serving terms in prisons that are used for re-education as well as punishment. | He was the first North Korean who claimed to have escaped from a prison camp in the North. More than a dozen other camp survivors have escaped to South Korea, but all had been freed after serving terms in prisons that are used for re-education as well as punishment. |
| Among his more gruesome tales, Mr. Shin had said sadistic prison guards dangled him over a fire when they suspected him of plotting to escape with his family and chopped off a fingertip when he dropped a sewing machine. He now says the guards actually hurt him because he had escaped from Camp 18 and been caught. | |
| The Washington Post first reported Mr. Shin’s revisions. | The Washington Post first reported Mr. Shin’s revisions. |
| On Sunday, Mr. Harden declined to be interviewed, but in a statement he provided to The Times he said that Mr. Shin said he had not realized that changing the details of his story for the book would be a problem. | On Sunday, Mr. Harden declined to be interviewed, but in a statement he provided to The Times he said that Mr. Shin said he had not realized that changing the details of his story for the book would be a problem. |
| “I didn’t want to tell exactly what happened in order not to relive these painful moments,” the statement quoted Mr. Shin as saying. | “I didn’t want to tell exactly what happened in order not to relive these painful moments,” the statement quoted Mr. Shin as saying. |
| It is difficult to verify the accounts of North Korean defectors because the country is so isolated. In an email Sunday, Mr. Harden said he had stressed in his book that Mr. Shin could be an unreliable narrator of his life. | It is difficult to verify the accounts of North Korean defectors because the country is so isolated. In an email Sunday, Mr. Harden said he had stressed in his book that Mr. Shin could be an unreliable narrator of his life. |
| When asked if copies of the book would be pulled from stores, a spokeswoman for Penguin Books, said that “we are working with the author on an accurate understanding of the facts.” | When asked if copies of the book would be pulled from stores, a spokeswoman for Penguin Books, said that “we are working with the author on an accurate understanding of the facts.” |
| Mr. Shin’s latest account has raised its own questions. He now says he escaped Camp 18 twice, in 1999 and 2001, was caught both times, and eventually handed to the infamous Camp 14. | Mr. Shin’s latest account has raised its own questions. He now says he escaped Camp 18 twice, in 1999 and 2001, was caught both times, and eventually handed to the infamous Camp 14. |
| “He is still lying,” said a North Korean defector who said he was in Camp 18, speaking on condition of anonymity because he has family in the North. “You just cannot escape a North Korean prison camp twice, as he said he did, and is still alive and manages to escape a third time, this time from the total-control zone.” | “He is still lying,” said a North Korean defector who said he was in Camp 18, speaking on condition of anonymity because he has family in the North. “You just cannot escape a North Korean prison camp twice, as he said he did, and is still alive and manages to escape a third time, this time from the total-control zone.” |
| During the phone interview, Mr. Shin cited “great mental stress” while declining to explain how he escaped so many times from heavily guarded camps. | |
| Another former inmate, Chung Kwang-il, said he could not understand why Mr. Shin lied. | Another former inmate, Chung Kwang-il, said he could not understand why Mr. Shin lied. |
| “Without saying he was from Camp 14, he had remarkable stories to tell, a good witness to North Korean human rights abuse,” he said. “I guess he somehow thought he needed a more dramatic story to attract attention.” | “Without saying he was from Camp 14, he had remarkable stories to tell, a good witness to North Korean human rights abuse,” he said. “I guess he somehow thought he needed a more dramatic story to attract attention.” |