CSW hosted 30-year-old Shin Dong-Hyuk on a two-week tour of the UK, where he described his life in and escape from the notorious North Korean gulags to politicians, church leaders and churches around the UK.

CSW organises UK speaking tour for North Korean escapee

In late October, CSW hosted North Korean prison camp escapee, Shin Dong-Hyuk, on a two-week UK visit.  Mr Shin met several high profile political and religious leaders, and spoke at churches to raise awareness of the suffering of the North Korean people at the hands of Kim Jong-il's regime.

CSW also organised meetings for Mr Shin with Jeremy Browne, the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Baroness D'Souza, the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords, and the Archbishop of Canterbury.  He also met MPs and members of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission and MP Kerry McCarthy, Shadow Minister of State with responsibility for East Asia.

"...testimonies such as [these] give us an insight that we would not otherwise get."
Jeremy Browne, Minister of State at the FCO, said, "It has been inspiring to meet with Shin Dong Hyuk, and to hear about his experiences of 23 years in a political prison camp: a timescale most of us find impossible to imagine ... testimonies such as Mr Shin's give us an insight that we would not otherwise get.  I hope that through his words to Parliament and through his many international meetings, Mr Shin will be able to keep raising awareness of human rights in North Korea."

Born and raised in a prison camp

Shin Dong-Hyuk was born inside one of North Korea's brutal prison camps and imprisoned there with his family as punishment for his parent's crimes, a system known as 'guilt by association'.  At the age of fourteen he was tortured by the prison authorities after a failed escape attempt by his mother and brother, and later forced to watch their public execution.  There are currently 200,000 prisoners in North Korea's prison camps, many of whom are Christians. 

With a new-found Christian faith, Mr Shin also shared his testimony at several churches in London and Belfast, and addressed audiences at Oxford University and King's College London.

CSW redoubles efforts to call North Korea to account

On 6 October, CSW and over 40 members of the International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK) signed a letter to Kim Jong-Il, which was delivered to North Korea's embassies and diplomatic missions around the world on a Global Day of Action. The ICNK staged the day to draw attention to North Korea's regime and call on them to end the widespread violation of human rights.