This is the story of a YOUNG BOY who escaped from North Korea. This letter was sent and translated by LiNK recently.
I must advise you all to read through this! Its very sad and depressing....
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE IF I WERE IN PERSON I'D BE BEGGING YOU ON MY KNEES TO READ THIS.
it doesn't matter whether you're christian, non christian, religious, non religious, just as long as you have a heart. read it. it is long, but i guarantee after just 2 minutes of reading you'll read it all.
please do. don't tell me you don't have time, theres always time for us.
A letter just released from a boy hiding in China. He escaped from North Korea very recently, alone. You will read why, soon.
[rushed translation of the letter from the refugee boy]
To All South Koreans:
I ran away from North Korea, and am writing this petition somewhere in China.
I was born in Pyongyang. My father was a professor of politics at Kim Il-sung University, and my mother taught at the Foreign Language Department of Kim Hyong-jik(Kim Il-sung's father) University. My elder sister was a student at the Instrumental Music Department of Pyongyang Music and Dance University. We lived in the Dong-dae-won District in Pyongyang.
When I became a 7th grade student, my family was taken to the political prison camp. We were living happily in Pyongyang.
My father drank too much one day, and said something against the Labor Party. He was accused of crime committed against the Party and against the Revolution. We were all taken to the political prison camp at Myong-chun County in Hamkyong-Bukdo Province. One night while we were all sleeping, there were loud shouts and knocks at the door.
My father went out to open the door. There were four people outside the door, all wearing dark glasses. They punched my father in the stomach, two of them took my father forcefully by the arms, and the other two came into our house and started to search for something. They broke everything in the house. They smashed all the dishes. They ordered my mother and my sister to kneel down on the floor, and asked them if my father ever said anything against the Revolution, if he ever contacted bad people, if he ever listened to radio, and many other things.
They confiscated the Party ID card of my father's and four photographs my father framed which he took at different times of his life. They warned my
mother and my sister to be ready for self-evaluation, and locked the door from outside. My mother was not well, and she fainted as soon as they left.
My sister and I cried, and tried to bring my mother back to senses. My mother finally came up at dawn, and cried with us.
At 9 o'clock in the morning, a Russian made truck came and loaded all of our belongings to the truck. My mother, my sister, and I were forced into a
Jeep, and taken to the National Security Agency. We spent two nights there. I was left alone in the cell, but my mother and my sister were taken out and interrogated many times.
They took our finger seals (for signature) several times. On the third day in the prison, we were taken to an armored vehicle. Inside the vehicle,
there was nothing but four soldiers with their rifles on their shoulder. We were being taken along with three young men and two women. They were all
handcuffed and shackled, but we were not.
They drove quite a while. They told my family to get out of the vehicle and urinate, but the other people had to do it inside the car into a bucket.
They told us to get back into the car, and then left one door open. They sat on the ground, and started to eat. One of them with a star on his
shoulder yelled at us, "You guys are hungry, are you not? You should not have gone against the Party! You are worse than animals." Then, he yelled
at me, "You, little SOB, come here! Your father and mother are traitors, and that is why you have to suffer!" He gave me two pieces of
wheat breads and a spoonful of salted cucumbers, and ordered to eat them outside the car. I ate only the cucumbers. I pretended to eat the breads,
but did not. I squeezed the breads and made them small balls. I thanked the man, and went back to the car. I shoved the breads, one into the mouth
of my mother and the other into my sister's. My mother did not say anything, but cried holding my hands and looking at me.
We arrived at the political prison camp (Kwan-lee-soh) at 2 o'clock in the morning, and there were many people at the entrance waiting for us.
(The political prison camp this family went to was No. 16 Kwan-lee-soh at Hwasung City in Hamkyong-Bukdo Province. This camp originally was for the political prisoner who committed serious crimes such as anti-Revolution and anti-Party. Prisoners like Kim Chang-bong and Huh Bong-hak who were detained at the Kwan-mo Prison camp were transferred to Hwasung Prison Camp later.
The Kwan-mo Prison Camp was dismantled when the military set up the headquarters of the 6th Army here after they disbanded the 6th Army. The political prison camp at Chong-sung-ku in On-sung County was also dismantled when they converted the area into a tobacco farm. All serious political prisoners were transferred to Hwasung Political Prison Camp at that time.
At the end of the 6th Army incident, the officers who were involved with the incident were sent to Hwasung Prison Camp. The driver who transported the prisoners at the time was a blood relation of mine.
Hwasung Political Prison Camp became a big place at the time, and was known to those outside of its existence.)
They shouted at us loudly, told us to bend our heads, and put our hands behind our heads. We were taken to the so-called Welcome House, but those
who were in shackles were taken to somewhere. We were told to kneel down, and they started to ask questions and wrote down something in their
notebooks.
Four people came and took my father and my sister first. They told the guards who transported us that they were done. They went out talking to
each other something. I sat on the floor and waited. One security agent came and took me to a cell. They undressed me naked and took all my
clothes. They gave me prisoner's uniform, which was too big for me and had many holes in it. It was so dirty it did not look like clothes.
Inside, there were 30 boys aged from 10 to 20, and there were 6 groups like this in total. I was assigned to No. 4 group. They call the place where I
was sent to, No. 3 Unit.
Early dawn, the leader of the cell yelled at us to get up and line up outside. I realized that both sides of the place were cliffs. Soldiers had
heavy machine guns placed in the caves in the cliff, and guarded the prison camp. I counted the guard stations in the cliff later. There were twelve
stations in total, divided into three units.
I began to learn carpentry from that day.
Our family was all separated. My father belonged to No. 1 Unit, and my mother and my sister went to No. 2 Unit. No. 1 Unit was for those who
committed serious crime and the prisoners were handcuffed and shackled all the time. At No. 2 Unit, one had to bend down to get into the cell through
a concrete stair, and the cells were all underground. The ceiling of these cells was covered with iron grids, and a guard was placed on the iron girds.
At No. 2 Units, prisoners were put to hard labor. Men worked at mills to make wood panels from logs, while women worked on the farms. At No. 3 Unit, prisoners were composed of old people, children, and the families of Nos. 1 and 2 Units prisoners. There was a treatment center for prisoners at No. 3 Unit.
They gave us two meals a day. One meal was composed of one potato and some salts, and another meal was composed of handful of corns, or rice or corn stalks, or handful of steamed wheat. I was not good at work, and the leader used to take half of my meals.
We called the guards "Teachers." We could not complain to the Teachers no matter what. The grounds surrounding the camp were treated with chemicals, and there were no grasses grown. We were hungry, but there were no grasses to eat. Sometimes, we found some edible grasses and weeds while working. We had to watch the Teachers, and ate the grasses while they were not watching us. We saved some, and ate the grasses during the night. Prisoners at No. 3 Units were good at finding mushrooms and many kinds of berries and roots, but we who are from Pyongyang did not know anything. We just worked inside the prison camp.
When we first came to the prison camp last year, we were put to interrogation period and we suffered much. Two or three times a week, we
were called to interrogation where my father was being interrogated. The Teachers beat my father in front of us, shouting he was not answering
questions, with a wooden club and with rifle belts.
Sometimes, they beat my father with the belt from a generator.
My mother fainted every time they beat my father. Evertime my mother fainted, they gave me a bucket of water, and ordered me to pour the water to
my mother. I shuddered with fear, but poured water to my mother. My father shouted back. The Teachers said, "You SOB has not repented yet!" They put 2x4's in between his joints, and pushed down. Sometimes, they hang my father upside down, and kept their interrogation. "We have all the proof."
"How much did you get? Give us the names of the National Security agents! What is the name of your group?" They beat and beat my father. My father lost all his teeth, his mouth all torn, he could not speak. They shaved my father's head, and I could see my father's head was full of scars and
bruises. His body was full of bruises, he could not walk by himself, and the guards dragged him in and out. The Teachers beat him, and the people in
uniforms beat him. They bullied my father to accept his crimes, and my father never did. Several guards ganged up and beat him and beat him.
December, last winter
Several days before the New Year, all of us were called. "We have to finish your business before the end of the year. You are a headache! You
confess now, you will be o.k. and we will be happy!" They tied up my father to the pear tree in front of the workhouse. The one in winter coat
sat in front of my father, and asked the other Teacher to bring six wooden clubs. He went over to the mill and fetched 2x4's.
They gave me, my mother and my sister, one club each. He ordered us to beat my father three times each time he refused to answer. I beat my father
three times. I beat him nine times in total. My father still maintained his innocence, and told them he was still loyal to the Party.
The Teachers got very mad and yelled, "We have had it with you!" They undressed my mother and my sister naked. They broke the ice in the mining
car, and ordered my mother and my sister to go into the freezing water. My mother and my sister cried and resisted. They forced them into the water,
and put them down with their feet.
They took them out, and made them stand in front of my father. They said they would free them if they confessed the crime of my father. They
refused. They beat them up with a leather belt.
Another Teacher made my mother spread her legs open and said, "You have a nice bird's nest." He pulled out the hairs from my mother. Another
Teacher said to my sister, "How many times did you do it with the boys when you were at the university?" My sister trembled and said, "I've never
done it." He said she was lying, and order her to spread her legs for inspection. He made my sister lie down in the dirt, spread her legs open,
and pushed his shoes into her. They put the club into her and said, "You have done it many times. You are lying!" They took out a cigarette
lighter and set fire on her hairs, "You must be punished for what you have done!"
My sister cried out loud, and they all laughed.
We all thought we were going to die on that day, but they let us go when my mother fainted and did not come back to.
Ten days later, we were interrogated again all day long. All of the Teachers left to go attend the Living Indoctrination Meeting (They ran these
meetings once a week in North Korea, such as Party Loyalty Indoctrination Meetings, Youth Meetings, Living Indoctrination Meetings, and Local Party Members Meetings.) except for two Teachers. They tied my father to a pole, and tied my hands and my mother's to a tree branch. They then turned to my sister, "You have been here a year, and you still have some flesh left. What did you steal?" They undressed my sister, saying they had to inspect her.
Near the pole where my father was tied, there was a reed mat. They brought the mat and ordered my sister to lie down on the mat. They said, "You are so dirty. I cannot stand it." One of them took off his shoes, and took his socks off. He gave it to my sister and ordered her to wet it in the
water and clean herself. (He pulled out new socks from pocket and put it on.)
My sister washed herself again and again, and her flesh turned red.
The two Teachers tried to force themselves into her, and my sister resisted. They beat her several times, and one of them rubbed a cigarette but on her
nipple. They pushed down my sister and sat on her face with their butts. My sister screamed, and they tied her hands and feet.
They tied one leg to the pole my father was tied to, and the other to my mother and the tree branch where we were tied. They tied her arms to the
cart and a pole. "We will make you rags today!" They then raped her.
They threatened me and my mother not to talk about it to other Teachers. They would kill us both if we talk to others. They yelled at my father,
"You still refuse to confess? You must be the worst spy!" They tried to put him in the freezing water.
My father at that instant gathered his last strength, pulled the bayonet from one of the Teachers, and pushed it into his stomach. The soldiers
carry their bayonets at their sides. My father pushed the bayonet into his stomach hard, and there was so much blood around him.
The Teachers panicked and called for a doctor. My father died on the way to the treatment center. My mother fainted, and came back to on the day after. She went crazy, and died three days later after she ate three bowls of human excrements at the outhouse.
(The two Teachers were punished after this incident, and transferred out of the camp. I heard later that the Teachers were inspected by the higher authority, and there was an Ideology Indoctrination Meetings held later.)
My sister was very sick, and went crazy after my parents died. I wanted to save my only sister. I hid goodies and gave them to her at her cell
whenever I had to go to the mill. Every night, there was a Reform Meeting. Women sat across from the men. I had to watch my sister across the aisle,
and cried without making sound.
My sister got weaker and weaker, and she looked like a ghost. My sister had her hairs pulled and shaved, and I could not even recognize her.
My sister, when she was in Pyongyang, was so pretty that her pictures appeared on the cover of a picture magazine and a youth literature magazine.
People living at the same apartment said she was so pretty that she could be a movie star. My sister was always quiet and did not talk much. Everybody loved her and adored her. She has become in the prison camp an invalid and a discarded vegetable case.
It was August. There was nothing to feed the prisoners at the camp. They let the prisoners eat the potatoes from the potato farm. Women pulled the
potatoes from the ground with a digger, and men carried them in buckets to the collection place. The Teachers stood watch, and an ox cart carried the
potatoes.
At lunchtime, the Teachers were roasting the potatoes for their lunch. The Teacher guard left to join the lunch. Three prisoners attacked my sister
and raped her. She died by herself.
My sister was sick and hungry always. When the Teacher guard left for his lunch, my sister gorged herself with the raw potatoes. When the prisoners
attacked her, she was not herself and went crazy. The Teachers knew what happened, but said, "She stole and ate the potatoes. She deserved to
die." They had her body covered with the potato stalks. The Teacher guard took the three prisoners who attacked her.
I was not there, and I did not know my sister died. I did not see her for a while, and asked the Teachers where my sister was. They beat me on the
head, and told me they did not know.
Only when my close friend, Young-soo, told me, I learned that my sister died.
I did not know. Whenever a prisoner was missing, the camp was upside down, but it was very quiet when my sister disappeared.
It rained continuously for several days, and we were all locked inside. I had no way of knowing my sister died. My sister died before August 10th,
and I found out her death after August 20th. People went out to the potato farm, and found the body of my sister.
The mangers of the camp were to take care of her body, but could not because of the rain. They forgot about it, and sent me out to the farm. I cried
and begged to the Teachers to bury her properly. The Teachers ignored my plea, and took her body to cremate her.
There was a crematory at the camp, and more than 10 bodies were cremated each month.
I looked at the body of my sister. She had a rotten potato stalk in one hand, and dirt in the other. In her mouth were dirts and rotten potatoes.
I tried to clean her mouth, and cried holding her body. The Teachers kicked me, and ordered the prisoners to take her body.
I cried alone for several days.
If I got caught while crying, they would have charged me for sympathizing with an anti-Revolutionary. I could not cry openly.
My closest friend, Young-soo was two years older than I. He said, "You should act like a grown-up man. Forget the whole thing! We must survive no matter what. Something good will happen when the country is unified." He cared about me.
Young-soo's grandfather was a civil vigilant during the War, and killed many people. He went to South Korea. The family got to be tied to their
grandfather. They escaped to China, but caught in three years. They came to this prison camp four years ago. His father died soon after, and his
mother died two years ago. He did not know what happened to his brother and his sister. He bragged that his sister was in China and how good things
were in China when he was there. He could eat anything and everything.
Since September, they assigned me to the group who collected mushrooms. There were no mushrooms yet, and we had to collect wild grasses. We had to fill two sacks with wild grasses everyday. Young-soo was with me everyday, and talked about escape.
I was scared. I did not know the way, and the Teachers were guarding with their rifles ready. Young-soo said we would be safe if only we can climb
over one mountain. He had been in the camp over three years, and he said he knew where the barbed wires were, where the mines were, and were the pits were.
We went out to collect wild grasses for eight days in a row. We ate lots of grasses, and we felt better.
The day before we escaped, Young-soo caught a big snake. He cut the head off, and cut the snake in half with a stone. He cleaned the inside and gave
me the snake. We pretended we were eating grasses, and tried to eat the snake. It was very difficult because the skin was very tough. I discarded
the skin, and swallowed the meat only.
Young-soo said we had to escape on the day after. It rained lightly on the day after.
The Teachers had their raincoats on. They traded with the civilians, wild grasses for wine. They were drinking wine. The guards were watching, but
we decided to escape from the camp. Fortunately, one of the guards fell from a tree because it was slippery. The Teachers were not watching us.
Young-soo and I went through the barbed wires, and ran like hell toward the mountains. Young-soo told me beforehand several prisoners who ran down the mountain were all shot to death by the guards. We ran up the mountain in the misty rain and fog. We were not spotted by the guards.
We were near to the top of the mountain, and a shot rang out. They found out we were missing, and began the hunt. We ran like hell and climbed over
two mountains.
There was a mountain brook. Young-soo suggested we went into the brook in order to escape the hunting dogs. We stayed in the brook until dark. There was no sign of dogs and search party.
Young-soo said it would be Hwasung City if we climb over one more mountain. I realized I was near Hwasung City only then. I heard the camp was near Chilbo Mountain, but was not sure where we were.
As we come down the mountain, we avoided people who were collecting wild grasses. Young-soo and I raided a nursery school. We stole one pack of flour and three kilos of corn eyes. We raided another house, and got new clothes. There was nothing to eat at that house, but we found some pears in the cabinet. We ate them all. Young-soo said we should not ride the train, but walk alongside the railroad track. It was first time I got to
Hamkyong-Bukdo Province. It was very difficult to walk to Chongjin City.
We walked to Sang-Ki Town, and rode a cargo truck to Chongjin City. We met a guy named Chol in Chongjin City. (He was 18 years old.)
Chol said he had been to China seven times altogether, and there were many relatives of his in China. He offered to take us to China. Young-soo and
Chol got into a fight, and Young-soo won. We all became friends afterwards.
Chol suggested we should wait in Namyang City for the freight train heading for China, and got on the train when we could. Young-soo and I did not know how to swim. We were afraid of drowning in the Tumen River while crossing the border. We wanted to sneak into the mining cart going into China. We thought we could hide in those carts. We had to go to On-sung City first to make money. Chol and Young-soo were very good at raiding and stealing.
We spent three days at On-sung Market collecting money by pick pocketing. We made thirty thousand Won's. We could bribe the inspectors with money, and make sure they would not poke holes into the cart cargo we were going to hide in. We went up the hill and looked at China side.
There was lot of people down in the village because there was a hospital. We decided to spend the night in the hill even though it was dangerous. We
all slept at the cliff supported by wooden poles. Young-soo kicked around in his sleep, and fell off the edge down to the railroad track. He
screamed, and the guards came running with flashlights. It was very noisy down at the tracks.
Chol covered my mouth with his hands. He said we had to run. We ran to the other side of the mountain. I ran crying all the while. I did not want to
abandon Young-soo.
When I lost my father, my mother, and then my sister at the prison camp, and was ready to die myself, it was Young-soo who saved me. He was like a
brother to me, and he was gone now.
In the mountains, I called out Young-soo loud, and cried. My brother, Young-soo had to die in front of Tumen River just before crossing.
I searched for his body for several days, but could not find him.
Four days passed like that. Chol and I crossed the border in a cart heading for China, and arrived at a place named Ahn-Doh. The relatives of Chol's
in Ahn-Doh gave us 350 Yuan, but did not let us in.
They put us in a bus, which was heading to Mok-Dan River.
Chol and I arrived at Mok-Dan River on the 7th, and we continued on to Chonjin City by bus with the help of Chol¡¯s acquaintance. In Chonjin, they
told us that it was dangerous to go to Beijing. They advised us to go inland from Chonjin City by train or bus.
We were walking out from a Korean restaurant, and we ran into a South Korean reporter-benefactor.
I cannot forget my father. I cannot forget my mother. I cannot forget my sister. I cannot forget Young-soo.
I can eat rice and beef now everyday. I think and resolve everyday that I will revenge.
I am still a child, but I have watched many movies from South Korea now, and I have met many South Koreans.
The reporter-benefactor has been very kind to me, and I got to know lot of people here.
When I grow up, I will avenge my father, my mother, my sister, and my brother, Young-soo.
The reporter-benefactor told me to write this letter. He told me this letter would reach the people in South Korea. I think about my parents and
my sister. I cry everyday thinking about them.
