Now the publisher of the book and its author say Shinwho claims to have been born in and escaped from a North Korean prison camphas revealed that parts of the story he told weren’t true.
Shin’s accounts of his time in the gulag have been widely reported in interviews with media including CNN. He also wrote an opinion piece describing his experiences for CNN Digital.
Blaine Harden, author of the book “Escape from Camp 14,” said in a statement on his website over the weekend that Shin had changed “key parts of his story.”
“On Friday, Jan. 16, I learned that Shin Dong-hyuk, the North Korean prison camp survivor who is the subject of ‘Escape from Camp 14,’ had told friends an account of his life that differed substantially from my book,” Harden said. “I contacted Shin, pressing him to detail the changes and explain why he had misled me.”
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In his Facebook post, Shin said he was not sure if he would be able to continue his efforts to end political prison camps in North Korea.
“But instead of me, you can all still fight,” he said. “I still have faith in you.”
CNN’s Carma Hassan, Brian Walker, Paula Hancocks, KJ Kwon and Madison Park contributed to this report.
