David Cameron met with two defectors from the North Korean regime on 19 June, following the launch of a major report by Christian Solidarity Worldwide, called “North Korea: A Case to Answer, A Call to Act”. The Chairman of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, Stephen Crabb MP, also attended the meeting.

Speaking after the meeting David Cameron said:

 "I was honoured to meet Ahn Myeong-Cheol and Shin Dong-Hyok, and moved to hear at first hand their accounts of the horrors of the North Korean gulag. I am pleased that these brave North Korean defectors have chosen to tell their stories in the UK, drawing attention to their experiences and the plight of the estimated 200,000 political prisoners in North Korea. It is vital that news of their situation reaches the outside world. Today’s report from Christian Solidarity Worldwide helps tell their story, and the story of the many others whose human rights are abused every day by the North Korean regime.  It is time the world recognised and gave greater attention to what is happening to people in the gulags of North Korea, and spoke up for them. I am honoured to lend my voice to the campaign by Christian Solidarity Worldwide."

Ahn Myeong-Cheol was born in North Korea in 1969. He worked as a guard at four political prison camps in North Korea between 1987 and 1994. As such he is a key witness to the policy and practice relating to the camps. Mr. Ahn’s testimony of the deprivations and abuses suffered by the prisoners is significant as he worked in the harshest form of political prison camps. While a number of testimonies exist from the ‘revolutionizing re-education zones’ from which prisoners can be released, the ruthless control and permanent imprisonment mean that evidence from the ‘absolute control zones’ where Ahn worked is rare. Ahn describes how none of the prisoners in the camps he worked in survived and that the camps are designed and operate as death camps where prisoners are forced to labour until they die. Mr. Ahn defected from duty in September 1994 and arrived in Seoul in October 1994. In 1995 he published his observations and experiences in his Korean-language book, They are Crying for Help.

 Shin Dong-Hyok was born in Political Prison Camp No. 14 in 1982. Although policy dictates the prevention of reproduction in the camps, his parents were allowed to marry and occasionally see each other as an exceptional reward for outstanding work. As a child, he witnessed his fellow child prisoners being killed through accidents and beatings. In 1996, Mr. Shin was interrogated in an underground torture chamber about an escape attempt made by family members. He was later forced to watch his mother and brother being publicly executed for the attempt.  Mistreated, tortured, discriminated against as the son and brother of a traitor and suffering from constant hunger, Mr. Shin eventually found an opportunity to escape in 2005. He was badly injured and his companion died during the escape.  Mr. Shin worked for a year in China before he reached South Korea. Mr. Shin is unique in his testimony of escaping from the absolute control zone and in being born in the political prison camp. He still carries scars from the torture and escape.

To download the full report by CSW ¨ Click Here