Nine years after watching his mother's hanging, Shin In Geun squirmed through the electric fence that surrounds Camp 14 and ran off through the snow into the North Korean wilderness. It was January 2, 2005. Before then, no one born in a North Korean political prison camp had ever escaped. As far as can be determined, Shin is still the only one to do it.
He was 23 years old and knew no one outside the fence.
Within a month, he had walked into China. Within two years, he was living in South Korea. Four years later, he was living in Southern California.
Stunted by malnutrition, he is short and slight -- five feet six inches, about 120 pounds. His arms are bowed from childhood labor. His lower back and buttocks are scarred with burns from the torturer's fire. The skin over his pubis bears a puncture scar from the hook used to hold him in place over the fire. His ankles are scarred by shackles, from which he was hung upside down in solitary confinement. His right middle finger is cut off at the first knuckle, a guard's punishment for dropping a sewing machine in a camp garment factory. His shins, from ankle to knee on both legs, are mutilated and scarred by burns from the electrified barbed-wire fence that failed to keep him inside Camp 14
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This video is probably the best inside footage of what North Korea is actually like. I wouldn't be here if my grandpa did not escape from North Korea down to the South.
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Here's the second series where they go to Siberia where North Korean Slave labor camps are set up in the middle of nowhere.... TRULY ***ing crazy s***. Amazing how this is the first time released this story.
Last edited by SHOGUN; 03-29-2012 at 12:06 AM.
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You think that Iraq was a blood bath. You would be facing a million man army plus another million in reserve, fanatically loyal after decades of indocrination, armed to the teeth with advanced Chinese and Russian weapons, combine that with a chemical weapons stockpile that probably is one of the biggest ones in the world, plus one of the better anti air defense nets anywhere.
America would eventually win, but the casualty count would exceed what we saw in Iraq and Afghanistan in about 2 week of fighting.
Even bombing their infrastructure would have no effect as the majority of their citizens don't have access to it anyways.. Plus Seoul would cease to exist in the first 15 minutes of any war.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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Is this a book that has already been released?
I could never imagine to living conditions and what these people are put through! Its as if WWII concentration camps left germany and went to NK. No regard for human life!
You think that Iraq was a blood bath. You would be facing a million man army plus another million in reserve, fanatically loyal after decades of indocrination, armed to the teeth with advanced Chinese and Russian weapons, combine that with a chemical weapons stockpile that probably is one of the biggest ones in the world, plus one of the better anti air defense nets anywhere.
America would eventually win, but the casualty count would exceed what we saw in Iraq and Afghanistan in about 2 week of fighting.
Even bombing their infrastructure would have no effect as the majority of their citizens don't have access to it anyways.. Plus Seoul would cease to exist in the first 15 minutes of any war.
It would be a bloodbath by all accounts considering the NK and SK have million man standing armies plus both having 8million man plus reserves. Though I think the battle might be a little more lopsided in favor of the South. If you recall Iraq also had modern arms, combat experience and a million man army. In contrast we have a North Korean army that can't maintain their equipment due to supply shortages, suffers from malnutrition and have very little training on said equipment due to lack of supplies and fuel.
They can't even afford to give all their soldiers rifles during the military marches.
Of course, I'm sure the North Korean government denies, or has no knowledge, that a camp like this even exists. I'm sure to them, these leaked stories are all fabrications.
When is the world going to wake up and seriously do something for the people of North Korea. Torture camps in the year 2012? That government needs to be destroyed from the inside out.
Of course, I'm sure the North Korean government denies, or has no knowledge, that a camp like this even exists. I'm sure to them, these leaked stories are all fabrications.
When is the world going to wake up and seriously do something for the people of North Korea. Torture camps in the year 2012? That government needs to be destroyed from the inside out.
Problem is mostly economics, political will and the resulting diplomatic nightmare. Who's going to pay for this war? The US? China's not going to do anything about it...
Problem is mostly economics, political will and the resulting diplomatic nightmare. Who's going to pay for this war? The US? China's not going to do anything about it...
Doesn't the US print money willy nilly? Get them to pay for it. Long live the Federal Reserve.
It would be a bloodbath by all accounts considering the NK and SK have million man standing armies plus both having 8million man plus reserves. Though I think the battle might be a little more lopsided in favor of the South. If you recall Iraq also had modern arms, combat experience and a million man army. In contrast we have a North Korean army that can't maintain their equipment due to supply shortages, suffers from malnutrition and have very little training on said equipment due to lack of supplies and fuel.
They can't even afford to give all their soldiers rifles during the military marches.
I don't know if I agree with your evaluation.
I haven't seen anything about Supply shortages to the North Korean Military, you might have a point with thier airforce, but the airforce wouldn't be a key part of North Korea's war plans with an invasion.
All food goes to the military first so the nutritional deficiencies that the average citizen suffers through aren't applicable to their military.
China continues to supply North Korea with supplies and parts, you could argue that they might have trouble with fuel, but ammunition is well supplied for example.
Iraq was literally the perfect war for the States at the start, it's dry and the hardened ground is perfect for the American armor and mobility based doctrine. North Korea is mountainous, and where it isn't mountainous its rice paddies and swampy ground, North Korea isn't really armor and mobility friendly.
There's no comparing Iraq's military readiness and training with North Korea, with the exception of the republican guard in Iraq there was an expectation that Iraq's military would collapse very quickly when confronted.
North Korea's readiness is excellent, their diciplinary system while brutal creates a well diciplined fanatical army that can fight on their feet.
In Iraq you could take out infrastructure, food power, water, etc and make the people suffer into submission, or rob Iraq of its at the time advanced command and control communications systems.
You can't rob North Korea of what it doesn't have, the majority of their people live outside of the city, they don't have the same kind of reliance on infrastructure systems, so bombing power and water stations is going to hae a minimal effect.
Iraq's military outside of the republican guard weren't what you would call committed to the fight, they surrendered at the first sign of trouble. While Saddam had cowed his people he hadn't really subjugated people. In North Korea after 50 years of harsh dicipline, extremely effective propaganda, those people for the most part and especially in the military are ultra nationalist.
And last but not least, up to a quarter of North Korea's military are highly trained special forces units that train as individual commando units, they'd go after America's very long supply chain.
An invasion of North Korea would be a brutal war, it would be far worse then the Vietnam War, North Korea would want to bleed the American's til they give up.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
I haven't seen anything about Supply shortages to the North Korean Military, you might have a point with thier airforce, but the airforce wouldn't be a key part of North Korea's war plans with an invasion.
All food goes to the military first so the nutritional deficiencies that the average citizen suffers through aren't applicable to their military.
China continues to supply North Korea with supplies and parts, you could argue that they might have trouble with fuel, but ammunition is well supplied for example.
Iraq was the perfect place for American armored strategy and mobility, I completely agree with you there and yes the NK conventional armed forces especially in their current numbers are a huge issue, but I'm saying they may not be as disciplined or well equipped as a few decades ago despite influx of semi-new equipment from China and Russia.
I've read a few defector reports in the last two years and all those accounts tell of soldiers who are starving, discipline breaking down soldiers taking at from the normal citizenry at gunpoint because of lack of supplies. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/nort...09700315F.HTML
More than half of Korea's conventional forces use equipment designed in the 1960s, IISS believes that a big bulk of their conventional forces will be non-functional due to lack of parts and supplies http://www.iiss.org/publications/str...e-on-the-kore/
While they might be scraping enough foreign reserves to buy arms from China and Russia, they still rely on tanks like the P'okpoong and T-62s which according to Jane's lack thermal imaging equipment and modern laser rangefinders... huge disadvantage there.
Fuel shortages from their airforce, a little old but that's from what I remembered. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/200...orth-Korea.htm
I remember Jane's saying that the average Korean Airforce pilot, along with being forced to fly mostly Korean war era planes, get only roughly 25 hours of flight time a year due to fuel shortages. I'll look for the articles later when I get home.
Granted an army that size will do huge amounts of damage and the death toll to do anything about them would be enormous, I was just pointing out they are may or may not in the best state in terms of morale, material and discipline.
If China changed their tune NK would collapse in moments...
I wonder if the US, China, Korea have discussed possible options for after the inevitable collapse.
I do believe a Wikileaks document exposed a conversation/plan by China to deal with an "eventual" North Korean collapse. Although I don't know details. I remember hearing about it in the news.
This video is probably the best inside footage of what North Korea is actually like. I wouldn't be here if my grandpa did not escape from North Korea down to the South.
Wow, I know its a long shot but I would love to hear his story on what that was like. Stores like this that I hear about from NK make me sick. I know not everyone believes in God or whatever, but I hope there is a special place in hell for people like Kim Jong Il who treat their own people like this.
Last edited by Huntingwhale; 03-29-2012 at 10:26 AM.
I do believe a Wikileaks document exposed a conversation/plan by China to deal with an "eventual" North Korean collapse. Although I don't know details. I remember hearing about it in the news.
Terrible Story, North Korean Son Sent Own Mother To Death
