North Korea: Survivor Shin Dong-hyuk Says He Changed His Story

January 19, 2015 8:23 AM EST

When Shin Dong-hyuk’s life story was published in 2012, CNN hailed it as a “true North Korea survival story.” Born in a notorious North Korean prison complex, Shin endured almost unimaginable deprivation and torture before breaking out, crawling under an electrified fence, and over the body of a fellow prisoner, to flee. The account, Escape From Camp 14, by journalist Blaine Harden, became a New York Times best seller, helping to call global attention to the country’s egregious rights abuses.

Trouble is, it was not all true.

On Friday Jan. 16, Shin told Harden a revised version of the story. While he was born at Camp 14, he spent part of his youth at another complex, Camp 18, escaping twice before landing back at the first camp, he now says. And it was at Camp 18, not at Camp 14, that he betrayed his mother and brother, sharing their plan to escape, and then witnessing their executions. This and other new details came to light after fellow defectors raised questions about the tale. The new timeline, first published by the Washington Post, has yet to be confirmed.

Take an Inside Look at North Korea

Aug. 26, 2011. A North Korean woman looks down at the city of Pyongyang from the top of the Tower of the Juche Idea.David Guttenfelder—AP

Journey into North Korea — April 12, 2011. Central Pyongyang at dusk through a hotel room window.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea — Jan. 16, 2012. Light shines through a window on to a tank filled with goldfish inside an office at the Korean Central News Agency building in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX NORTH KOREA — Feb. 26, 2008. North Korean commuters are seen riding a bus in central Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Daily Life — Feb. 12, 2012. A North Korean man rides a bike along the banks of the Pothong River in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Kim Il Sung Birthday — April 14, 2011. North Koreans pay their respects before a monument of Kim Il-Sung at Mansu Hill in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Building On the Past — Oct. 11, 2011. North Korean construction workers labor in the Mansudae area of Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Daily Life — April 3, 2012. A North Korean student learns to drive a tractor on a computerized driving simulator at the Samjiyon Schoolchildren's Palace in Samjiyon, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Kim Jong Il Making the Myth — Oct. 9, 2011. A man walks past a building in Pyongyang where a picture of North Korea's late leader Kim Il-Sung hangs on its outer wall.David Guttenfelder—AP

YE North Korea — March 10, 2011. Children look through a subway car window in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Rocket Launch — April 8, 2012. A North Korean soldier stands at a check point seen from a train heading to North Phyongan Province, about 50 kilometers (35 miles) south of the border town of Sinuiju along North Korea's west coast.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Kim Il Sung Birthday — April 13, 2011. North Korean soldiers tour the grounds of the birthplace of the late President Kim Il-Sung at Mangyongdae, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Mount Paektu — April 2, 2012. The hoof of a deer used as a door handle hangs on the door of the small cabin that is said to have been the home of the late North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung, and the birthplace of his son and late leader Kim Jong-Il at what was a secret military camp during the fight against the Japanese at the foot of Mount Paektu, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Mount Paektu — April 4, 2012. a North Korean soldier working as a guide walks through a forest at the foot of Mount Paektu, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Feeding the People — April 17, 2011. People work in a field outside of Kaesong, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Hunger — Oct. 8, 2011. A North Korean man rests near a farm field along a highway outside the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Mobile Phones — Feb. 26, 2008. A North Korean woman peers out of an elevator while speaking on an in-house phone at a library in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea NY Philharmonic — Feb. 26, 2008. North Korean ushers peer into the concert hall before the start of a performance by the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea NY Philharmonic — Feb. 26, 2008. North Koreans look through the performance program before the start of a concert by the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea in Autumn — Oct. 11, 2011. North Korean soccer fans react after their team missed a goal during a World Cup qualifying match between North Korea and Uzbekistan, in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

Sept. 16, 2008. A guide gives a lecture in front of a diorama showing the Korean War's 1950 battle of Taejon as she gives a tour of the War Museum in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Venerating Kim — Feb. 14, 2012. A North Korean stands at attention as others cheer during the unveiling of a new bronze statue depicting the late leader Kim Jong-Il and his father Kim Il-Sung at Mansudae Art Studio in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Lost in Pyongyang — April 12, 2012. North Korean residents of the capital city mingle on the side of the street in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Rocket Launch — April 8, 2012. A group of journalists walk down a road in front of North Korea's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff at Sohae Satellite Station.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Portraits — April 17, 2012. A man and a boy pose for a picture in front of portraits of the late leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il at a festival for the "Kimilsungia" flower to mark 100 years since the birth of North Korea's late leader in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Forgotten Cities — Aug. 8, 2012. A woman rides a roller coaster at a newly-built amusement park in Pyongyang, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Pyongyang Marathon — April 14, 2013. Runners rest inside Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang. North Korea hosted the 26th Mangyongdae Prize Marathon to mark the upcoming birthday of the late leader Kim Il Sung.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Koreas Tension — April 15, 2013. A North Korean child covers the eyes of her father as she sits on his shoulders watching mass folk dancing in front of Pyongyang Indoor Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Military — April 25, 2013. North Korean soldiers and civilians stand on a foot bridge to look at goldfish in a moat as they tour the grounds of Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum where the bodies of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie embalmed, in Pyongyang, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Military — April 25, 2013. North Korean soldiers and civilians pose for souvenir photos in front of a fountain as they tour the grounds of Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum where the bodies of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie embalmed, in Pyongyang, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

“When I agreed to share my experience for the book, I found it was too painful to think about some of the things that happened,” Shin told Harden. “So I made a compromise in my mind. I altered some details that I thought wouldn’t matter. I didn’t want to tell exactly what happened in order not to relive these painful moments all over again.” Shin also said in a Facebook page that he did not realize that the extent to which these details mattered, and asked forgiveness.

The details, of course, do matter. As one of the most high-profile survivors of North Korea’s political prisons, Shin has done more than most to raise awareness about the camps and the people who suffer there. Doubts about his credibility as a witness — and hence his credibility as a spokesperson — may make people less likely to believe other survivor testimony.

In weighing the revelations, though, it’s worth keeping three things in mind. First, we don’t yet know the full story. In his Facebook post, Shin said he would not be speaking further on the matter. The author, Harden, says he and his publishers will work to find out what really happened and to amend the book. Until they release more details, or others are able to corroborate Shin’s revised story, there will be gaps. The bulk of the story may — or may not — be true.

Second, it is worth considering why survivors of trauma might provide inconsistent or incorrect testimony. As Shin himself says in his Facebook note, recounting torture can be traumatic, especially when it involves the suffering of family members or friends. And Shin’s story is based on childhood and teenage memories of profound suffering and abuse.

Indeed, those who work with North Korean refugees note that obscuring details and withholding information can be a sort of survival strategy. “North Korean refugees can face more challenges than other refugees because they are acutely aware that what they say may affect people back in North Korea,” says Sokeel Park, director of research and strategy at Liberty in North Korea, an NGO that works with North Koreans. “They still feel tied because their relatives, or the people who helped them escape, are there.”

Third, and perhaps most important, with or without Shin’s testimony, there is a wide body of evidence that the prison camps exist — and are absolutely brutal. A U.N. investigation into the country’s rights abuses includes testimony from 80 witnesses, and was also based on accounts by 240 others who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. “The basic knowledge on how serious this is does not hinge on the details of one person’s story,” says Park.

That’s the same message Shin sent out before stepping away from the spotlight for a while. “Instead of me, you all can still fight,” he wrote. “The world still needs to know of the horrendous and unspeakable horrors that are taking place.”

And that, no doubt, is true.