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Comment by meric | Hacker News Reader

It's different to this one http://www.utsalumni.org/news/how-one-man-escaped-from-a-nor...

The latter tells the story of how he betrayed his mother and brother. It is omitted from the posted link.

Also in the latter story, he discovered Park died before he escaped, not the other way around.

All true stories become distorted through repeated retelling. So the true stories are the one that is told the earliest. Better is the one that is told on camera since computers do not have mechanisms for distortion.

That's not our fault, but simply how our memories work. Here's one article on memory distortion. http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/02/how-memories-are-distorted-...

> computers do not have mechanisms for distortion

Yet.

I just read this whole story, and I can scarcely comprehend it's real. I just don't quite know what to say. What are you meant to do when you read something like that?

His biography titled Escape from Camp 14 is well worth a listen to get more details.

http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B007MHIXJY&qid...

I am currently reading this due to another post about this same guy a couple of weeks back. I would highly recommend it, though it is truly upsetting, I have to keep reminding myself that what this man went through was/is real.

OP link does seem to gloss over some of the finer details explained in the book.

One possibility is to inform yourself more.

FYI

The best resource I found so far is http://www.dailynk.com/english/ . At least one more story like the OP's can be found here http://www.dailynk.com/english/sub_list_last.php?page=1&...

There is an organization that tries to do something about this http://libertyinnorthkorea.org/ . They have some videos as well that are worth watching http://www.youtube.com/user/linkglobal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Hyun_Hui

The wrong thing to do is nothing.

I encourage you to work out what you could do that could help this situation, anything, and do it.

What are you doing?

Donating time (my labor) and money to effective non-profit organizations that promote human rights. Endeavoring to improve myself so I can do more to help others. Encouraging others to get active.

I get that feeling every time I read about North Korea. At the very least, the ongoing tragedy there thrives in the absence of attention. Imagine how much outcry and public pressure for action there would be if there were video footage of these concentration camps on the news every day. At the very least, helping give it more exposure and awareness could help build momentum for more meaningful action.

One reaction I get is a lack of fear of their nuclear tests. Rather, I welcome them as each time it might be enough to push larger countries to actually fix the situation.

"When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit to the glories of love. When evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must bring into being a real order of justice."

Martin Luther King

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