Summary Victim Sook-ja Shin and her daughters, Hye-won Oh and Gyu-won Oh, have long been detained in a political prison camp since Shin’s husband Oh Gil-nam escaped from North Korea in 1986. Time and Venue Time(Period) : 1987~until recently(presumption) Venue : No.15 Yodok political prison camp, Yodok County, South Hamgyong Province Types of Human Rights Infringement Type of Rights : Individual dignity, personal freedom Type of infringement : Illegal detention Detailed Acts : Political prison camp 1. Process of Defecting to N. Korea November 29, 1985 : Stayed at the North Korean Embassy in East Germany (I-sang Yun, Du-yul Song, and Jong-han Kim recommended Gil-nam Oh to defect to North Korea, promising to offer him a professorship and top-quality medical care for his wife.) December 10, 1985 : Departed for Pyongyang via Moscow and arrived in Sunan Airport in Pyongyang on December 13, 1985. Life in Pyongyang

Upon arrival in Pyongyang, however, they realized that the reality of North Korea was much different from what they had heard of and thought about. The Oh family underwent brainwashing process for three months at the Dongbookri guesthouse in Pyongyang. In October 1986, the Workers’ Party in the North ordered Oh to go to Europe and bring two South Korean students studying there to North Korea. Prior to Oh’s trip to Europe, Shin strongly urged her husband to disobey the order. She asked him to escape North Korea first and rescue her and their daughters within three months. In this way, Oh parted with his family. 2. Process of Detention and Imprisonment in a Political Prison

Camp in N. Korea December 13, 1985 ~ March 1986 : The Oh-Shin family was brainwashed while staying at the Dongbookri guesthouse in Pyongyang for about three months. (Detention started.) March 20, 1986 : An apartment in Changwang Street in Pyongyang was assigned to the family and they began to live there. From May, 1986 : Gil-nam Oh and Sook-ja Shin worked at ‘Mt. Chilbo Liaison Office’ as broadcast agents for propaganda toward South Korea. November, 1986 : Gil-namOh left for Denmark after receiving agent training but escaped from Copenhagen Airport. 1986 : Sook-ja Shin, Hye-won Oh and Gyu-won Oh were forced to move from an apartment in Changwang Street in Pyongyang to 8 ban, Hyongsan-ri in the Hyongjesan District. 1987-until recently : Sook-ja Shin, Hye-won Oh and Gyu-won Oh have been imprisoned in No.15 Yodok political prison camp in Yodok County, South Hamgyong Province in North Korea. 2011 : It is assumed that the three are detained in a special restricted area in Wonhwa-ri, Pyongwon County, South Pyongan Province Detention in Pyongyang and Imprisonment in a political prison camp

In November 1986, Gil-nam Oh went to Denmark and escaped from Copenhagen Airport dramatically. Following the incident, his wife and two daughters who were left behind in North Korea were forced to move to 8 ban, Hyongsan-ri in the Hyongjesan District. In late 1987, they were imprisoned in No.15 Yodok political prison camp in Yodok County, South Hamgyong Province in North Korea. Testimonies of former prisoners at No.15 Yodok political prison camp

Of former prisoners who were detained in No.15 Yodok political prison camp in the 1980s and 1990s, at least five people, including Chol-hwan Kang, 00 Bae, 00 Kim and 00 Lee, say that they lived with Shin’s family in the same camp for a certain period, testifying that the three women were alive at the time. 3. 2011 Update on Imprisonment of Shin’s Family As the Sook-ja Shin case has received wide coverage in the South Korean media of late, internal sources in North Korea suggest that Shin and her daughters were released from Yodok camp and are now detained in a special restricted area in Wonhwa-ri, Pyongwon County, South Pyongan Province Victims Sook-ja Shin

Female, Born on January 1, 1941, in Tongyong, South Gyongsang Province in South Korea. She was dispatched to University Hospital of Tubingen in West Germany in March 1970 to work as a nurse. In 1972, she met Gil-nam Oh(born in 1942 in North Gyongsang Province and living in South Korea at present), a South Korean student studying in Germany at the time, and married him. The couple had two daughters, Hye-won Oh and Gyu-won Oh. In 1987, she was imprisoned in No.15 Yodok political prison camp in Yodok County, South Hamgyong Province in North Korea. She is still under detention in North Korea. Hye-won Oh

First daughter of Gil-nam Oh and Sook-ja Shin. Born in 1977 in Tubingen, Germany. In 1987, she was imprisoned at the age of 10 in No.15 Yodok political prison camp in Yodok County, South Hamgyong Province in North Korea. She is still under detention in North Korea Gyu-won Oh

Second daughter of Gil-nam Oh and Sook-ja Shin. Born in 1980 in Tubingen, Germany. In 1987, she was imprisoned at the age of 7 in No.15 Yodok political prison camp in Yodok County, South Hamgyong Province in North Korea. She is still under detention in North Korea. Gil-nam Oh

Born in 1942 in Euisong County, North Gyongsang Province, South Korea. He went to University of Tubingen to study in 1970 and sought political asylum in Germany in 1980. He obtained a doctorate in economics at the University of Bremen, Germany, in 1985. He was persuaded by I-sang Yun, a South Korean composer living in Germany, to defect to North Korea in December 1985 with his family. Under the order of bringing South Korean students studying in Germany to North Korea, Oh was to infiltrate into Denmark but escaped from the airport in November 1986. He was granted political asylum in Germany again the same year. He came to South Korea in 1992 and lives there now. (His wife is Shin Sook-ja and he has two daughters, Hye-won Oh and Gyu-won Oh.) Suspect(s) North Korean government, State Security Agency, No.15 Yodok political prison camp Information Provider Gil-nam Oh, five former prisoners at No.15 Yodok political prison camp