The aquariums of Pyongyang : ten years in a North Korean gulag

Author / Creator

Kang, Ch'ŏr-hwan, 1968-

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Summary

"North Korea is today one of the last bastions of hard-line Communism. Fearing that influence from beyond its borders might corrupt the "ideological unity of the People and Party," North Korean lea...

"North Korea is today one of the last bastions of hard-line Communism. Fearing that influence from beyond its borders might corrupt the "ideological unity of the People and Party," North Korean leaders have kept a tight grasp on their one-party regime. No organized, active opposition movement exists, either at home or abroad, and few have ever managed to leave the country. Western journalists and historians have had little access to any information apart from official Party documents and propaganda. And until now, not much was known about the concentration camps where dissidents and others requiring "re-education" have been sent." "Kang Chol-hwan is the first survivor of one of these labor camps to escape the "hermit kingdom" and tell his story to the world. In collaboration with French journalist and historian Pierre Rigoulot, Kang reveals the human suffering in his camp, with its forced labor, frequent public executions and near-starvation rations that Kang supplemented with rats and bugs. This publication is the first of its kind to document the extreme conditions in these gulags, and provides a personal insight into life in North Korea." "Part horror story, part historical document, part memoir, part political tract, this story of one young man's personal suffering finally gives eye-witness proof to a neglected and ongoing chapter of modern history."--BOOK JACKET.

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