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{{Korean name|[[Shin (Korean name)|Shin]]}}
{{Short description|South Korean prisoner of North Korea}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Shin (Korean name)|Shin]]||lang=Korean}}
{{Infobox Korean name | hangul = 신숙자| hanja =申淑子 | mr = Shin Suk-ja| rr = Shin Suk-ja}}
{{Infobox person
⚫
''' Shin Suk-ja''' (also spelled Shin Sook-ja; born 1942) is a [[South Korea]]n prisoner of [[North Korea]], imprisoned with her daughters in [[Yodok concentration camp]] after her husband [[Oh Kil-nam]] defected from North Korea to Denmark. The case received international attention, including [[Amnesty International]]'s naming her a [[prisoner of conscience]] and campaigning heavily for her release.
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1942}}
| birth_place = [[Tongyeong|Tōei]], [[Gyeongsangnam-do|Keishōnan-do]], [[Korea under Japanese rule|Chōsen]] (today [[South Korea]])
| known_for = [[Prisoner of conscience]] in North Korea
| spouse = [[Oh Kil-nam]]
| children = Oh Hae-won (1976)<BR/>Oh Kyu-won (1978)
| module = {{Infobox Korean name
| hangul = 신숙자
| hanja = {{linktext|申|淑|子}}
⚫
| mr = Shin Sukja
| rr = Shin Suk-ja
| child = yes}}
⚫
}}

⚫
''' Shin Suk-ja''' (also spelled Shin Sook-ja; born 1942) is a South Korean woman who is currently imprisoned, along with her daughters, in [[North Korea]] after her husband [[Oh Kil-nam]] defected from North Korea to [[Denmark]], having been given a [[political asylum]]. The case received international attention, including [[Amnesty International]]'s naming her a [[prisoner of conscience]] and campaigning heavily for her release; this appeal remains ignored by North Korean authorities.


== Early life in South Korea and Germany ==
== Early life in South Korea and Germany ==
Shin was born in [[Tongyeong]], [[Gyeongsangnam-do]], [[Korea]] in an area now part of [[South Korea]]. She attended elementary and middle school there. From 1958 she studied nursery at [[Masan]] Nursing School.<ref name=DI>{{cite web | title= Campaign seeks to save SK woman from NK prison camp
Shin was born in [[Tongyeong]] (Tōei), [[Gyeongsangnam-do]] (Keishōnan-dō), [[Korea under Japanese rule|Chōsen]] in an area now part of [[South Korea]]. She attended elementary and middle school there. From 1958 she studied nursery at [[Masan]] Nursing School.<ref name=DI>{{cite web | title= Campaign seeks to save SK woman from NK prison camp
| work=Donga Ilbo, August 6, 2011| url=http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2011080362968| accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref> In 1970 she left South Korea for [[Germany]], where she worked as a nurse in [[Tübingen]]. There she met Oh Kil-nam, a South Korean [[economics]] student, marrying him in 1972.<ref name=AI2>{{cite web | title= North Korea: Fear of "disappearance" of Shin Sook Ja (and her daughters), p. 5 - 8| work=Amnesty International, January 1994| url= http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ACT77/001/1994/en/849eaaf0-ec2c-11dd-8d9d-a7825928c0bf/act770011994en.html | accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref> Later they moved near [[Kiel]] (Germany), where she gave birth to her daughters Oh Hae-won (on September 17, 1976) and Oh Kyu-won (on June 21, 1978). The family lived in [[Kronshagen]] near Kiel until 1985.<ref>{{cite web | title= Save Oh Sisters!!| work=Free the NK Gulag (NGO)|url=http://eng.nkgulag.org/bbs/board.php?bo_table=e_02&wr_id=2 | accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref>
| work=[[The Dong-a Ilbo]], August 6, 2011| url=http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2011080362968| accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref> In 1970 she left South Korea for [[Germany]], where she worked as a nurse in [[Tübingen]]. There she met Oh Kil-nam, a South Korean [[economics]] student, marrying him in 1972.<ref name=AI2>{{cite web | title= North Korea: Fear of "disappearance" of Shin Sook Ja (and her daughters), p. 5 - 8| work=Amnesty International, January 1994| url= https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act77/001/1994/en/ | accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref> Later they moved near [[Kiel]] (Germany), where she gave birth to her daughters Oh Hae-won (on September 17, 1976) and Oh Kyu-won (on June 21, 1978). The family lived in [[Kronshagen]] near Kiel until 1985.<ref>{{cite web| title=Save Oh Sisters!!| work=Free the NK Gulag (NGO)| url=http://eng.nkgulag.org/bbs/board.php?bo_table=e_02&wr_id=2| accessdate=September 27, 2011| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120424230057/http://eng.nkgulag.org/bbs/board.php?bo_table=e_02&wr_id=2| archivedate=April 24, 2012}}</ref>


== Move to North Korea ==
== Move to North Korea ==
Oh became involved in political activism against the South Korean government in the early 1980s.<ref name="AI">{{citation|url=http://www.amnesty.org/library/asset/ASA24/003/1993/en/959f4967-ecb6-11dd-85fd-99a1fce0c9ec/asa240031993en.html|title=North Korea: Summary of Amnesty International's concerns|chapter=2.2. Shin Sook Ja and her daughters|publisher=[[Amnesty International]]|year=1993|accessdate=2010-02-25}}</ref> He was influenced in this by a number of famous South Korean leftists in Germany, including [[Song Du-yul]] and [[Isang Yun|Yun Isang]]; they later suggested that he could help his motherland by working as an economist in North Korea.<ref name="ChosunIlbo20090903">{{citation|periodical=Chosun Ilbo|date=2009-09-03|accessdate=2010-02-25|url=http://www.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/09/03/2009090300464.html|title=아내·두 딸을 북한에 두고 탈출한 오길남 박사}}</ref> His activism also attracted the attention of North Korean government representatives, who further attempted to entice him to defect, claiming that his wife could receive free treatment for her [[hepatitis]] in [[Pyongyang]]. Over Shin's objections, the family moved to North Korea, arriving on 8 December 1985. Instead of receiving the promised medical treatment, he and his wife were reportedly held at a military camp and forced to study the ''[[Juche]]'' ideology of [[Kim Il-sung]]. They were then employed making propaganda broadcasts to South Korea.<ref name="WP">{{citation|last=Harden|first=Blaine|date=2010-02-22|title=A family and a conscience, destroyed by North Korea's cruelty|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/21/AR2010022103690.html?sid=ST2010022103942|periodical=Washington Post|accessdate=2010-02-25}}</ref> While there, Oh claims to have met [[North Korean abductions of South Koreans|South Korean abductees]] who were also employed making propaganda broadcasts, including two of the flight attendants from the [[Korean Air Lines YS-11 hijacking]].<ref name="NKRadio">{{citation|url=http://english.nkradio.org/news/231|periodical=Open Radio for North Korea|title=Fate of Abducted Korean Airlines Passengers Still Unclear|last=Um|first=Han-Ah|date=2007-10-05|accessdate=2010-07-07}}</ref>
Oh became involved in political activism against the South Korean government in the early 1980s.<ref name="AI">{{citation|url=https://www.amnesty.org/library/asset/ASA24/003/1993/en/959f4967-ecb6-11dd-85fd-99a1fce0c9ec/asa240031993en.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130112063808/http://www.amnesty.org/library/asset/ASA24/003/1993/en/959f4967-ecb6-11dd-85fd-99a1fce0c9ec/asa240031993en.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-01-12|title=North Korea: Summary of Amnesty International's concerns|chapter=2.2. Shin Sook Ja and her daughters|publisher=[[Amnesty International]]|year=1993|accessdate=2010-02-25}}</ref> He was influenced in this by a number of famous South Korean leftists in Germany, including [[Song Du-yul]] and [[Isang Yun|Yun Isang]]; they later suggested that he could help his motherland by working as an economist in North Korea.<ref name="ChosunIlbo20090903">{{citation|periodical=Chosun Ilbo|date=2009-09-03|accessdate=2010-02-25|url=http://www.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/09/03/2009090300464.html|title=아내·두 딸을 북한에 두고 탈출한 오길남 박사}}</ref> His activism also attracted the attention of North Korean government representatives, who further attempted to entice him to defect, claiming that his wife could receive free treatment for her [[hepatitis]] in [[Pyongyang]]. Over Shin's objections, the family moved to North Korea, arriving on 8 December 1985. Instead of receiving the promised medical treatment, he and his wife were reportedly held at a military camp and forced to study the ''[[Juche]]'' ideology of [[Kim Il Sung]]. They were then employed making propaganda broadcasts to South Korea.<ref name="WP">{{citation|last=Harden|first=Blaine|date=2010-02-22|title=A family and a conscience, destroyed by North Korea's cruelty|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/21/AR2010022103690.html?sid=ST2010022103942|periodical=Washington Post|accessdate=2010-02-25}}</ref> While there, Oh claims to have met [[North Korean abductions of South Koreans|South Korean abductees]] who were also employed making propaganda broadcasts, including two of the flight attendants from the [[Korean Air Lines YS-11 hijacking]].<ref name="NKRadio">{{citation|url=http://english.nkradio.org/news/231|periodical=Open Radio for North Korea|title=Fate of Abducted Korean Airlines Passengers Still Unclear|last=Um|first=Han-Ah|date=2007-10-05|accessdate=2010-07-07|archive-date=2011-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727125110/http://english.nkradio.org/news/231|url-status=dead}}</ref>


Later, the North Korean authorities sent Oh Kil-nam back to Germany to recruit other South Korean students for North Korea, telling him his family could not go along.<ref>{{cite web | title= ’Please fight for my wife, daughters’| work=The Korea Times, August 17, 2011| url= http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/08/116_92969.html| accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref> Oh said later that Shin hit him in the face when he said he would come back with some South Koreans, and that she then told him, "we have to pay the price for our wrong decision, but you shouldn't follow an order that victimizes others and just run away. Our daughters shouldn't become the daughters of hateful accomplices. If you escape this country, please rescue us, but if you fail, believe that we're dead."<ref name=DI />
Later, the North Korean authorities sent Oh Kil-nam back to Germany to recruit other South Korean students for North Korea, telling him his family could not go along.<ref>{{cite web | title= ’Please fight for my wife, daughters’| work=The Korea Times, August 17, 2011| url= https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/08/116_92969.html| access-date=September 27, 2011}}</ref> Oh said later that Shin hit him in the face when he said he would come back with some South Koreans, and that she then told him, "we have to pay the price for our wrong decision, but you shouldn't follow an order that victimizes others and just run away. Our daughters shouldn't become the daughters of hateful accomplices. If you escape this country, please rescue us, but if you fail, believe that we're dead."<ref name=DI />


==Oh Kil-nam's defection==
==Oh Kil-nam's defection==
In 1986, Oh Kil-nam requested political asylum in Denmark on his way to Germany. The following year, Shin and her daughters (then 9 and 11 years old) were deported to Yodok camp, apparently because her husband did not return to North Korea.<ref name=AI2/> Official North Korean intermediaries gave Oh letters from Shin and her daughters in 1988 and 1989, and an audio tape with their voices and six photos of the family from Yodok in 1991.<ref name=AI/> Some of the photos were published.<ref name=KH>{{cite web | title= Groups gather in Japan to save S. Korean prisoner in N. Korea | work=The Korea Herald | date=September 6, 2011| url= http://res.heraldm.com/content/image/2011/09/06/20110906001073_0.jpg | accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref> [[North Korean defectors]] and former Yodok prisoners [[An Hyuk]] and [[Kang Chol-hwan]] stated that Shin had attempted suicide several times, but was still alive at the time of their 1987 release.<ref>{{cite web | title=아내•두 딸을 북한에 두고 탈출한 오길남 박사| work=Monthly Chosun Ilbo |date=March 9, 2009| url= http://www.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/09/03/2009090300464.html | accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref>
In 1986, Oh Kil-nam requested political asylum in Denmark on his way to Germany. The following year, Shin and her daughters (then 9 and 11 years old) were deported to [[Yodok camp]], apparently because her husband did not return to North Korea.<ref name=AI2/> Official North Korean intermediaries gave Oh letters from Shin and her daughters in 1988 and 1989, and an audio tape with their voices and six photos of the family from Yodok in 1991.<ref name=AI/> Some of the photos were published.<ref name=KH>{{cite web | title= Groups gather in Japan to save S. Korean prisoner in N. Korea | work=[[The Korea Herald]] | date=September 6, 2011| url= http://res.heraldm.com/content/image/2011/09/06/20110906001073_0.jpg | accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref> [[North Korean defectors]] and former Yodok prisoners [[An Hyuk]] and [[Kang Chol-hwan]] stated that Shin had attempted suicide several times, but was still alive at the time of their 1987 release.<ref>{{cite web | title=아내•두 딸을 북한에 두고 탈출한 오길남 박사| work=[[Monthly Chosun]] |date=March 9, 2009| url= http://www.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/09/03/2009090300464.html | accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref>


''[[Korea Times]]'' reported in September 2011 that Shin and her daughters were alive and had been relocated to another prison camp. The report also stated that she denied having written a pledge of allegiance to [[Kim Jong-il]].<ref>{{cite web | title= 'Daughter of Tongyeong'| work=The Korea Times |date=September 22, 2011| url= http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2011/09/137_95256.html | accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref>
''[[Korea Times]]'' reported in September 2011 that Shin and her daughters were alive and had been relocated to another prison camp. The report also stated that she denied having written a pledge of allegiance to [[Kim Jong Il]].<ref>{{cite web | title= 'Daughter of Tongyeong'| work=The Korea Times |date=September 22, 2011| url= https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2011/09/137_95256.html | access-date=September 27, 2011}}</ref>


== Campaigns on Shin Suk-ja's behalf ==
== Campaigns on Shin Suk-ja's behalf ==
In 1993, [[Amnesty International]] started a campaign to free Shin and her daughters from Yodok camp. On the basis of all the available information, Amnesty International believes that Shin Sook Ja and her two daughters were detained because of Oh's request for political asylum abroad. Amnesty International designtated Shin and her daughters as [[prisoners of conscience]] and called on the North Korean authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally.<ref name=AI/>
In 1993, [[Amnesty International]] started a campaign to free Shin and her daughters from Yodok camp. On the basis of all the available information, Amnesty International believes that Shin Sook Ja and her two daughters were detained because of Oh's request for political asylum abroad. Amnesty International designated Shin and her daughters as [[prisoners of conscience]] and called on the North Korean authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally.<ref name=AI/>


In April 2011, human rights activists in Shin's hometown started the "Daughter of Tongyeong Rescue Campaign",<ref>{{cite web | title= A City Waiting for Its Daughter Back | work=Daily NK |date=September 9, 2011| url= http://dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=8160| accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref> which received some media attention in South Korea and worldwide<ref name=KH/> and as of September 2011, had collected more than 70,000 signatures to free Shin and her daughters.<ref>{{cite web | title= Shin Suk Ja Movement Gaining Traction | work=Daily NK |date=September 25, 2011| url= http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk03500&num=8209| accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref>
In April 2011, human rights activists in Shin's hometown including [[Kim Sung-uk]] started the "Daughter of Tongyeong Rescue Campaign",<ref>{{cite web | title= A City Waiting for Its Daughter Back | work=Daily NK |date=September 9, 2011| url= http://dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=8160| accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref> which received some media attention in South Korea and worldwide<ref name=KH/> and as of September 2011, had collected more than 70,000 signatures to free Shin and her daughters.<ref>{{cite web | title= Shin Suk Ja Movement Gaining Traction | work=Daily NK |date=September 25, 2011| url= http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk03500&num=8209| accessdate=September 27, 2011}}</ref>


In July 2011, SAGE Korea led by South Korean activist Kim Sung-uk held a special event calling for the release of Shin, along with her daughters.
⚫
In November 2011, Amnesty International included Shin and other prisoners in Yodok camp in the "Write for Rights" letter-writing campaign.<ref>{{cite web | title= North Korea: Thousands held in Secret Camps | work=Amnesty International, November 2011| url= http://www.amnestyusa.org/writeathon/caseindex.php?i=9 | accessdate=November 8, 2011}}</ref> A month later, the [[Korean Central News Agency]], North Korea's state news service, described the campaign for Shin Suk-ja as "a smear campaign", "prompted by black-hearted intentions".<ref>{{cite web | title= S. Korea's Anti-DPRK Human Rights Campaign Slammed | work=Korean Central News Agency |date=December 12, 2011| url= http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2011/201112/news09/20111209-10ee.html | accessdate=January 27, 2012}}</ref>

⚫
In November 2011, Amnesty International included Shin and other prisoners in Yodok camp in the "Write for Rights" letter-writing campaign.<ref>{{cite web | title= North Korea: Thousands held in Secret Camps | work= Amnesty International, November 2011 | url= http://www.amnestyusa.org/writeathon/caseindex.php?i=9 | accessdate= November 8, 2011 | url-status= dead | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20111120214330/http://www.amnestyusa.org/writeathon/caseindex.php?i=9 | archivedate= November 20, 2011 }}</ref> A month later, the [[Korean Central News Agency]], North Korea's state news service, described the campaign for Shin Suk-ja as "a smear campaign", "prompted by black-hearted intentions".<ref>{{cite web | title= S. Korea's Anti-DPRK Human Rights Campaign Slammed | work=[[Korean Central News Agency]] | date= December 12, 2011 | url= http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2011/201112/news09/20111209-10ee.html | accessdate= January 27, 2012 | url-status= dead | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20141012021146/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2011/201112/news09/20111209-10ee.html | archivedate= October 12, 2014 }}</ref>


==Death report==
==Death report==
In a May 2012 response to an inquiry by the United Nations, a North Korean replied that Shin had died of hepatitis. The ambassador also stated that Shin and Oh's daughters had renounced their father for "abandoning" his family. Oh replied in a press conference that he did not believe the report, citing [[North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens|cases in which abducted Japanese citizens had been falsely declared dead]] by North Korea.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/05/116_110578.html |title=North Korea says detainee died of hepatitis |author=Kim Young-jin |date=8 May 2012 |work=The Korea Times |accessdate=8 May 2012}}</ref>
In a May 2012 response to an inquiry by the United Nations, a North Korean official replied that Shin had died of hepatitis. The ambassador also stated that Shin and Oh's daughters had renounced their father for "abandoning" his family. Oh replied in a press conference that he did not believe the report, citing [[North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens|cases in which abducted Japanese citizens had been falsely declared dead]] by North Korea.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/05/116_110578.html |title=North Korea says detainee died of hepatitis |author=Kim Young-jin |date=8 May 2012 |work=The Korea Times |access-date=8 May 2012}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
{{Portal bar|North Korea|Biography}}
* [[Human rights in North Korea]]
* [[Human rights in North Korea]]


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==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.amnestyusa.org/writeathon/caseindex.php?i=9 North Korea: Thousands held in Secret Camps] - Amnesty International: Write for Rights letter-writing campaign for Shin Sook-ja and other political prisoners in Yodok camp
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111120214330/http://www.amnestyusa.org/writeathon/caseindex.php?i=9 North Korea: Thousands held in Secret Camps] - Amnesty International: Write for Rights letter-writing campaign for Shin Sook-ja and other political prisoners in Yodok camp
* [http://hrnk.org/wp-content/uploads/The_Hidden_Gulag.pdf Committee for Human Rights in North Korea] - Overview on North Korean Prison Camps with Testimonies and Satellite Photographs
* [http://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/HRNK_HiddenGulag2_Web_5-18.pdf Committee for Human Rights in North Korea] - Overview on North Korean Prison Camps with Testimonies and Satellite Photographs


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
⚫
| NAME = Shin, Suk-ja
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = [[South Korea]]n [[Political Prisoner|political prisoner]] held in [[North Korea]]
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1942
| PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Tongyeong]], [[South Korea]]
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
⚫
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shin, Suk-Ja}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shin, Suk-Ja}}

[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:Amnesty International prisoners of conscience]]
[[Category:Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by North Korea]]
⚫
[[Category:Human rights in North Korea]]
[[Category:North Korean prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:North Korean prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:People from Tongyeong]]
[[Category:People from South Gyeongsang Province]]
[[Category:People from South Gyeongsang Province]]
[[Category:Political repression in North Korea]]
[[Category:Political repression in North Korea]]
[[Category:Possibly living people]]
[[Category:Possibly living people]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of North Korea]]
[[Category:South Korean expatriates in Germany]]
[[Category:South Korean expatriates in Germany]]
⚫
[[Category:South Korean emigrants to North Korea]]

[[de:Shin Suk-ja]]
[[ja:申淑子]]

Revision as of 18:28, 1 May 2024

In this Korean name, the family name is Shin.
Shin Suk-ja
Born1942 (age 81–82)
Tōei, Keishōnan-do, Chōsen (today South Korea)
Known forPrisoner of conscience in North Korea
SpouseOh Kil-nam
ChildrenOh Hae-won (1976)
Oh Kyu-won (1978)
Korean name
Hangul
신숙자
Hanja
Revised RomanizationShin Suk-ja
McCune–ReischauerShin Sukja

Shin Suk-ja (also spelled Shin Sook-ja; born 1942) is a South Korean woman who is currently imprisoned, along with her daughters, in North Korea after her husband Oh Kil-nam defected from North Korea to Denmark, having been given a political asylum. The case received international attention, including Amnesty International's naming her a prisoner of conscience and campaigning heavily for her release; this appeal remains ignored by North Korean authorities.

Early life in South Korea and Germany

Shin was born in Tongyeong (Tōei), Gyeongsangnam-do (Keishōnan-dō), Chōsen in an area now part of South Korea. She attended elementary and middle school there. From 1958 she studied nursery at Masan Nursing School.[1] In 1970 she left South Korea for Germany, where she worked as a nurse in Tübingen. There she met Oh Kil-nam, a South Korean economics student, marrying him in 1972.[2] Later they moved near Kiel (Germany), where she gave birth to her daughters Oh Hae-won (on September 17, 1976) and Oh Kyu-won (on June 21, 1978). The family lived in Kronshagen near Kiel until 1985.[3]

Move to North Korea

Oh became involved in political activism against the South Korean government in the early 1980s.[4] He was influenced in this by a number of famous South Korean leftists in Germany, including Song Du-yul and Yun Isang; they later suggested that he could help his motherland by working as an economist in North Korea.[5] His activism also attracted the attention of North Korean government representatives, who further attempted to entice him to defect, claiming that his wife could receive free treatment for her hepatitis in Pyongyang. Over Shin's objections, the family moved to North Korea, arriving on 8 December 1985. Instead of receiving the promised medical treatment, he and his wife were reportedly held at a military camp and forced to study the Juche ideology of Kim Il Sung. They were then employed making propaganda broadcasts to South Korea.[6] While there, Oh claims to have met South Korean abductees who were also employed making propaganda broadcasts, including two of the flight attendants from the Korean Air Lines YS-11 hijacking.[7]

Later, the North Korean authorities sent Oh Kil-nam back to Germany to recruit other South Korean students for North Korea, telling him his family could not go along.[8] Oh said later that Shin hit him in the face when he said he would come back with some South Koreans, and that she then told him, "we have to pay the price for our wrong decision, but you shouldn't follow an order that victimizes others and just run away. Our daughters shouldn't become the daughters of hateful accomplices. If you escape this country, please rescue us, but if you fail, believe that we're dead."[1]

Oh Kil-nam's defection

In 1986, Oh Kil-nam requested political asylum in Denmark on his way to Germany. The following year, Shin and her daughters (then 9 and 11 years old) were deported to Yodok camp, apparently because her husband did not return to North Korea.[2] Official North Korean intermediaries gave Oh letters from Shin and her daughters in 1988 and 1989, and an audio tape with their voices and six photos of the family from Yodok in 1991.[4] Some of the photos were published.[9] North Korean defectors and former Yodok prisoners An Hyuk and Kang Chol-hwan stated that Shin had attempted suicide several times, but was still alive at the time of their 1987 release.[10]

Korea Times reported in September 2011 that Shin and her daughters were alive and had been relocated to another prison camp. The report also stated that she denied having written a pledge of allegiance to Kim Jong Il.[11]

Campaigns on Shin Suk-ja's behalf

In 1993, Amnesty International started a campaign to free Shin and her daughters from Yodok camp. On the basis of all the available information, Amnesty International believes that Shin Sook Ja and her two daughters were detained because of Oh's request for political asylum abroad. Amnesty International designated Shin and her daughters as prisoners of conscience and called on the North Korean authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally.[4]

In April 2011, human rights activists in Shin's hometown including Kim Sung-uk started the "Daughter of Tongyeong Rescue Campaign",[12] which received some media attention in South Korea and worldwide[9] and as of September 2011, had collected more than 70,000 signatures to free Shin and her daughters.[13]

In July 2011, SAGE Korea led by South Korean activist Kim Sung-uk held a special event calling for the release of Shin, along with her daughters.

In November 2011, Amnesty International included Shin and other prisoners in Yodok camp in the "Write for Rights" letter-writing campaign.[14] A month later, the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea's state news service, described the campaign for Shin Suk-ja as "a smear campaign", "prompted by black-hearted intentions".[15]

Death report

In a May 2012 response to an inquiry by the United Nations, a North Korean official replied that Shin had died of hepatitis. The ambassador also stated that Shin and Oh's daughters had renounced their father for "abandoning" his family. Oh replied in a press conference that he did not believe the report, citing cases in which abducted Japanese citizens had been falsely declared dead by North Korea.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Campaign seeks to save SK woman from NK prison camp". The Dong-a Ilbo, August 6, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  2. ^ a b "North Korea: Fear of "disappearance" of Shin Sook Ja (and her daughters), p. 5 - 8". Amnesty International, January 1994. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  3. ^ "Save Oh Sisters!!". Free the NK Gulag (NGO). Archived from the original on April 24, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  4. ^ a b c "2.2. Shin Sook Ja and her daughters", North Korea: Summary of Amnesty International's concerns, Amnesty International, 1993, archived from the original on 2013-01-12, retrieved 2010-02-25
  5. ^ "아내·두 딸을 북한에 두고 탈출한 오길남 박사", Chosun Ilbo, 2009-09-03, retrieved 2010-02-25
  6. ^ Harden, Blaine (2010-02-22), "A family and a conscience, destroyed by North Korea's cruelty", Washington Post, retrieved 2010-02-25
  7. ^ Um, Han-Ah (2007-10-05), "Fate of Abducted Korean Airlines Passengers Still Unclear", Open Radio for North Korea, archived from the original on 2011-07-27, retrieved 2010-07-07
  8. ^ "'Please fight for my wife, daughters'". The Korea Times, August 17, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Groups gather in Japan to save S. Korean prisoner in N. Korea". The Korea Herald. September 6, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  10. ^ "아내•두 딸을 북한에 두고 탈출한 오길남 박사". Monthly Chosun. March 9, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  11. ^ "'Daughter of Tongyeong'". The Korea Times. September 22, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  12. ^ "A City Waiting for Its Daughter Back". Daily NK. September 9, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  13. ^ "Shin Suk Ja Movement Gaining Traction". Daily NK. September 25, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  14. ^ "North Korea: Thousands held in Secret Camps". Amnesty International, November 2011. Archived from the original on November 20, 2011. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
  15. ^ "S. Korea's Anti-DPRK Human Rights Campaign Slammed". Korean Central News Agency. December 12, 2011. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  16. ^ Kim Young-jin (8 May 2012). "North Korea says detainee died of hepatitis". The Korea Times. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
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