UCA News
Contribute

Why we should closely examine Shin Dong-hyuk’s account

N. Korean defector's alterations to his tale of escape should be properly considered to keep pressure on Pyongyang
Why we should closely examine Shin Dong-hyuk’s account

Shin Dong-hyuk's account of life in a North Korean prison camp became a best-selling book (AFP Photo/Jim Wastson)

Published: January 27, 2015 11:15 AM GMT
Updated: April 22, 2015 01:57 AM GMT

When earlier this month defector Shin Dong-hyuk acknowledged revising details of his early life and his remarkable escape from North Korea’s gulags, the initial reaction was predictable: North Korea’s crude propaganda machine swung into motion and said these developments proved the accusations against Kim Jong-un’s regime were lies; the UN’s Commission of Inquiry defended their ground-breaking report which included Shin’s testimony; and, of course, journalists swarmed all over the story.

Amid the accusations traded since January 17, when Shin announced and apologized for his revisions on Facebook, a key question has been forgotten, at least in public: What is the best way to address this issue while at the same time offering the greatest chance of holding North Korea to account for its appalling human rights record?

Most media coverage has focused on understanding the reality of Shin’s story. For the moment we know he has revised two key details. The first is that he now says he escaped North Korea twice, and not once, as stated previously in his remarkable story, Escape from Camp 14, written by American journalist Blaine Harden. In addition, Shin also now says he did not escape from notorious Camp 14 and instead fled nearby Camp 18, a slightly less harsh facility — from what we know — but very harsh all the same, according to a statement by Harden.

“In light of my conversation with Shin, I am working with my publisher to gather more information and amend the book,” said Harden.

In terms of the landmark UN Commission of Inquiry into North Korean abuses published last February, Shin is just one of 200 witnesses, albeit among the most damning, given he represents one of the lucky few to have escaped a gulag alive. His name is referenced on only 11 of the final report’s 372 pages, outside of footnotes.

As Michael Kirby, head of the Commission of Inquiry, notes in his response to the Shin issue in The Guardian last Thursday: “Anyone can view hour after hour of distressing testimony that affirms the shocking abuses found in the commission’s conclusions. The evidence is believable and compelling.”

However, Kirby is wrong to imply some western media may be “unwitting allies of North Korean propaganda” by asking questions about whether Shin’s revisions might impact the UN effort to hold North Korea to account for its abuses. 

Few have questioned the line taken by Kirby, no doubt because of his thorough, effective work heading the inquiry, or perhaps because of fears of negatively impacting the important campaign to address abuses in North Korea.

Professor John Delury, a Korea-watcher at Seoul’s Yonsei University, tweeted in response to The Guardian article: “Shin Dong-hyuk is complicated on many levels — but blaming 'western media' not the way to go.”

It was a rare criticism of Kirby’s response.

Marzuki Darusman, the UN’s special rapporteur on North Korean human rights, was less stark in his criticism of the questions surrounding Shin, but did appear to dismiss the need for queries around his testimony in an interview with ucanews.com.

“I would caution the use of such words as the journalistic designation of Mr Shin having ‘fabricated’ testimonies, which is so far off the mark but has affected the overall impression of this,” Darusman said by telephone. “So using words like ‘changing’ his story, coming up with ‘fabrications’, does not help and there does need to be a bit of empathy for this person, and I would appeal to the media to look at it from that angle.”

Surely asking questions of the report is a right and obligation of a free media, one that is completely denied in North Korea itself. Indeed, much of the coverage of Shin’s revisions has focused on the nonsense coming out of Pyongyang in regards to the commission, and much of it has been thorough and dismissive of North Korea’s crude propaganda effort.

Two videos on Shin released in October show what appear to be coerced interviews with his 70-year-old father and 58-year-old stepmother. Since Shin revised parts of his story, western media have poured over this Pyongyang-led smear campaign of Shin, noting a long list of inconsistencies on dates, ages and places. Questions that have been asked as a result of Shin’s revisions have therefore — once again — helped dismiss the excuses and lies of Kim Jong-un’s regime.

More importantly, asking the necessary questions of Shin’s story remains important for the overall process of holding North Korea to account for its widespread, horrific abuses. There is no doubt that these are real, as shown by countless testimony and satellite imagery in recent years.

On December 22, the UN Security Council voted in favor of placing North Korean rights on its permanent agenda in a landmark hearing that included reading part of Shin’s testimony in the inquiry report by Luxembourg’s ambassador to the UN.

If Kirby’s inquiry is going to achieve its aim of holding Pyongyang to account — perhaps through the International Criminal Court (ICC) — then we need to make sure the case against North Korea is as strong as possible. And that means asking questions of the report when these arise, rather than ignoring them, however difficult these questions may be, and even if in the short-term they might appear to undermine the case against Kim Jong-un’s regime.

Only last year, the ICC saw the case against Kenyan President Uhuru and deputy president William Ruto damaged after the prosecution used witnesses that could not produce a consistent story in court.

Although the case is very different to that of North Korea and Shin, the similarity is that in both instances, inconsistencies were known beforehand. Given how difficult it is going to be to get North Korean rights considered by the ICC while China and Russia stand strongly opposed, it makes perfect sense to scrupulously examine any questions raised about testimony now.

Shin himself appears to recognize this. In his statement apologizing for the revisions posted on Facebook on January 17, he writes that he may not continue his work raising awareness of conditions in North Korea, presumably over fears he could end up undermining the campaign he has worked so tirelessly to help in recent years.

“The world still needs to know of the horrendous and unspeakable horrors that are taking place,” he concludes. “These will be my final words and this will be my final post. Thank you.”

Dan Long is the pseudonym of a journalist based in Beijing who has reported on the region for more than a decade.

Help UCA News to be independent
Dear reader,
Lent is the season during which catechumens make their final preparations to be welcomed into the Church.
Each year during Lent, UCA News presents the stories of people who will join the Church in proclaiming that Jesus Christ is their Lord. The stories of how women and men who will be baptized came to believe in Christ are inspirations for all of us as we prepare to celebrate the Church's chief feast.
Help us with your donations to bring such stories of faith that make a difference in the Church and society.
A small contribution of US$5 will support us continue our mission…
William J. Grimm
Publisher
UCA News
Asian Bishops
Latest News
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia