Comment "The Aquariums of Pyongyang" (Score 2, Interesting) 421
North Korea uses prisoners in their various prison camps to breed rabbits, which are killed for meat. (not for the prisoners, who must eat bugs, worms, raw rats, etc. in order to survive) Kang Chol-Hwan who was imprisoned with his entire family in the 'redeeemables' area of the Yodok prison camp wrote a book that describes his experiences, "The Aquariums of Pyongyang". For anyone interested in North Korean human rights, its a must read. Kang Chol-Hwan is now a reporter for the South Korean newspaper the Chosun Ilbo on North Korean affairs. He's one of the most successful North Korean refugees living in South Korea.
Most North Korean refugees who manage to escape into China lead hunted lives in a terrible limbo of exploitation, terrified that they may be returned to North Korea, where people are often executed for the crime of trying to leave the country and bringing shame upon the Dear Leader.
If you read Aquariums realize that Kang Chol-Hwan's nine years in the Yodok prison camp as a boy were in the least brutal area of the least brutal camp, the only area where people are ever released. Many are sentenced to work on secret underground projects, similar to Hitler's rocket works at Peeneemunde, that only offer death through overwork as an escape, once you go in, you never come out.
Sun Ok-Lee is a North Korean refugee living in the US who worked as a bookeeper in another slave labor camp and her account to the US House is probably the most realistic account of these camps. She is one of less than five people known to have ever left one and lived.. Thousands die each year in these camps. They work people to death. (Each person, and their fat, represents useful energy to be extracted before killing them, as you will see)
Her account is at http://ncafe.com/northkorea/SunOkLeeTestimony_w_ll us.pdf
Most North Korean refugees who manage to escape into China lead hunted lives in a terrible limbo of exploitation, terrified that they may be returned to North Korea, where people are often executed for the crime of trying to leave the country and bringing shame upon the Dear Leader.
If you read Aquariums realize that Kang Chol-Hwan's nine years in the Yodok prison camp as a boy were in the least brutal area of the least brutal camp, the only area where people are ever released. Many are sentenced to work on secret underground projects, similar to Hitler's rocket works at Peeneemunde, that only offer death through overwork as an escape, once you go in, you never come out.
Sun Ok-Lee is a North Korean refugee living in the US who worked as a bookeeper in another slave labor camp and her account to the US House is probably the most realistic account of these camps. She is one of less than five people known to have ever left one and lived.. Thousands die each year in these camps. They work people to death. (Each person, and their fat, represents useful energy to be extracted before killing them, as you will see)
Her account is at http://ncafe.com/northkorea/SunOkLeeTestimony_w_l
