Bestsellers on North Korea (part2)

By Jacob Lotinga

Yesterday, I explored how North Korea escape narratives became bestsellers. Today, I ask: have human rights abuses been tackled as a result of the escape narratives, or have these stories become a form of grim escapism?

First, a recap: the list of published escape narratives by, or about, defectors, has run into double figures; Michael Breen, author of “The New Koreans,” proposes they can even be divided into subgenres. Several have become bestsellers. Spotting a formula that works, risk-averse publishers want more. With over 30,000 North Korean defectors processed through official channels as of May 3rd (according to one news report that cites South Korea’s Unification Ministry), there is potential for hundreds of gripping narratives to make our shelves groan ― but are they helping?

The scale of suffering at the hands of North Korea’s regime and human traffickers in China boggles the mind. According to Amnesty International, 100,000 people ― children included ― languish in prison camps and detention facilities with “dire” conditions: torture is rampant, public execution common; inmates die of malnutrition.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division, says: “The UN Commission of Inquiry really left no doubt that North Korea is in a league of its own when it comes to systematically suppressing human rights and basic liberties.”

It’s time to ask whether the escape-from-North-Korea genre is helping ― or merely generating an appetite for more among publishers and readers.

Travel literature editor Jennifer Barclay, author of “Meeting Mr Kim,” says: “I think it's extremely unlikely that the North Korean authorities would care whether a few thousand Westerners believe what they read in a book.”

Breen agrees that escape narratives are not likely to embarrass Kim Jong-un into behaving better ― though he adds that North Korea’s government is highly sensitive to human rights reports by the UN and the US State Department.

North Korea escape narratives help indirectly, says Breen: “The books give their authors credentials that allow them to address all kinds of venues and to help activists on human rights raise both awareness and funds.”

Paul French, author of “North Korea: State of Paranoia,” agrees that the narratives raise awareness of human rights abuses in the closed state.

But French adds that escape narratives encourage little sympathy for North Korea, as they’re couched in first-person narratives. Thus, when charities, the government or the UN ask for donations or taxpayers’ money for aid to the DPRK, we are unlikely to agree.

“Ultimately,” Breen tells me, “the only hope for human rights is for North Korea to become a democracy.”

The problem, he adds, is that this requires regime change, which nobody wants to do forcibly because of the potential unintended consequences.

Barclay notes the positive impact of escape narratives: “If it helps a few thousand people to care more about the situation in Korea, and to see the truth behind the rhetoric, then the books are doing a good thing.”

North Korea escape stories, says Breen, “appall” people in China; this sentiment may eventually prompt policy change: “A decision by Beijing to stop sending North Korean escapees back could trigger the end for North Korea’s horrendous government.”

Einstein once said imagination was more important than knowledge. Imaginatively, we can keep travelling to North Korea’s gulag, peering inside this Orwellian state with the help of escape narratives. But we know the vast scale of abuses; more must be done.

Robertson, of Human Rights Watch, says: “There must be accountability for the grave and systematic crimes committed under Kim Jong-un’s rule, and we will not rest until those responsible for the grievous abuses against the North Koreans are held accountable.”

Jacob Lotinga is an author based in Sheffield, U.K. Write to jblotinga@yahoo.com.