Reddit reviews Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag

Also, your entire family will be sent to a concentration camp if you escape (or try to). I've always wondered why North Korean athletes don't try to seek asylum during international sporting events, I'm assuming this is why.

Also, obligatory North Korean reading list for those who are interested:

• Escape from Camp 14 (My favourite)
  
  
• This is Paradise! - My North Korean Childhood
  
  
• Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag
  
  
• Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

If you're interested in this, Aquariums of Pyongyang is another good account, I think he might have even been in the same camp. The author lived a privileged life in Japan and then North Korea until his family was accused of crimes agains the state and sent to the camp. He was 10 years old when he entered and spent 10 years there before being release. After release, he managed to escape to China and then South Korea.

It's a pretty fascinating account as it covers life in North Korea for higher ups, in the camps, and the difficulties of getting the hell out.

Edit: They are nothing if not efficient

I don't know if you've read it, or if anyone will read this comment in general, but get your hands on a copy of Aquarium's of PyongYang An incredible, and incredibly sad, first hand account of North Korean gulag from the eyes of someone who lived it.

I highly recommend this book:

...which goes directly to the regime though, right?

This guy epitomizes 'evil'. He has created 'Hell on Earth' and is probably the most bizarre person in the history of humanity. Read this; no it's not fiction