Beyond the Interview: The books on North Korea

With the controversy on the film ‘The Interview’, there is a lot being said about North Korea’s extremist regime. After a suspension on the release of the film on Christmas, it has finally seen the light of day, as US President Barack Obama asked theatres to go ahead with the screening.

As the intrigue grows for this socialist regime, headed by Kim Jong Un, we look at some of the best books written on this country and its draconian system.

 

– Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West, by Blaine Harden: Shin Dong-hyuk was one of hundreds of thousands of people who are trapped in concentration camps across the borders of North Korea. At the age of 13, he informed on his mother and brother, leading to their execution. The book traces the harrowing journey of this man to China, after he escaped from the gulag in 2005. Dong-hyuk is the only known person to have been born in a gulag and escaped. The book has also been made into a movie, called Camp 14: Total Control Zone.

 

 

– Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, by Barbara Demick: Written by Barbara Demick, the former Seoul bureau chief for the New York Times, this book traces the lives of six ordinary citizens in the city of  Chongjin. The story is set during the years 1996-99, when a famine struck the country, set against the backdrop of the death of  Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il’s succession. The book is said to have been based on photos and videos smuggled out of the country, besides accounts from defectors from the country.

 

 

– The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History, by Don Oberdorfer: Published in 1997, this book traces the history of the relationship between North and South Korea. It explores US’ diplomatic role in the conflict since the Korean war.

 

 

– The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag, by Chol-hwan Kang: An autobiographical account of the life of defector Kang Chol-hwan, who spent 10 years in Yodok prison because his grandfather was charged with treason on suspicions of having lived in Japan.  Kang defected to south korea soon after his release, going on to work as a journalist. The book tells stories of forced manual labour, hunger and brutality. The book is being made into a film starring Steven Yeun, of  The Walking Dead fame.

 

 

– The Orphan Master’s son, by Adam Johnson: Johnson won the Pulitzer prize for fiction and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in 2013 for this fictional account of the life of Pak Jun-do, the North Korean John-Doe. The son of an orphan master, who has never met his mother, rises through the ranks of the army. He comes back to North Korea from Texas, (where he is working as a naval spy) to take on Kim Jong-il and save the woman he loves.