Kang Chol Hwan

This is what Kang Chol Hwan remembers from when he was 10 years old: "The key was to take advantage of the fall, when fruits and vegetables could still be found, to consume — like bears in hibernation — enough to get through the winter. That's the most important thing I learned ... There was no other way to survive." At 10, Kang and his family had already spent a year in Yodok, a North Korean labor camp, sent there because his grandfather, a manager at a state-owned agency, had been accused of disloyalty to the regime of the late dictator...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!