The Aquariums of Pyongyang

Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag

By: Chol-hwan Kang, Pierre Rigoulot

Narrated by: Stephen Park

"Destined to become a classic" (Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking), this harrowing memoir of life inside North Korea was the first account to emerge from the notoriously secretive country -- and it remains one of the most terrifying.

Amid escalating nuclear tensions, Kim Jong-un and North Korea's other leaders have kept a tight grasp on their one-party state, quashing any nascent opposition movements and sending all suspected dissidents to its brutal concentration camps for "re-education."

Kang Chol-Hwan is the first survivor of one of these camps to escape and tell his story to the world, documenting the extreme conditions in these gulags and providing a personal insight into life in North Korea. Sent to the notorious labor camp Yodok when he was nine years old, Kang observed frequent public executions and endured forced labor and near-starvation rations for ten years. In 1992, he escaped to South Korea, where he found God and now advocates for human rights in North Korea.

Part horror story, part historical document, part memoir, part political tract, this book brings together unassailable firsthand experience, setting one young man's personal suffering in the wider context of modern history, giving eyewitness proof to the abuses perpetrated by the North Korean regime.

Critic reviews

"The Aquariums of Pyongyang is one of the most terrifying memoirs I have ever read. As the first account to emerge from North Korea, it is destined to become a classic."—Iris Chang, authorof The Rape of Nanking

"A triumph against silence."—Financial Times

"A chilling testimony.... Freezes the heart and seizes the soul."—Kirkus Reviews

Great book.

The story is well told and give a insider experience of a horrible place. Highly recommended

Must read

Chilling. Extremely well told. A reality of communism every freedom loving individual should know. Communism only survives at the expense of freedom.

Highly recommended

Imagine spending 10 years of your childhood in a gulag.. I recommend this book to anyone in interested in the human condition and wanting to learn more about North Korea. There is somewhat of a good ending for the author as well.

Stories from North Korea must be heard.

Read this.
I had read this book years ago, having been stationed in the US military in Seoul, fascinated then to learn more about the isolated north.
Americans and South Koreans are Free to express and tell our histories, but we need to realize what Kang Chol-hwan tells us, that It is important to try and express to the refugee how difficult it is for the free to understand how challenging it is for those from the north to transition after a life of indoctrination and isolation.
Park's reading is compassionate and clear. His English is impeccable with enough accent to add depth to Kang's story.

North Korea is a true Hunger Games world

scary stuff, especially since its all real and occuring right now. someone needs to enlighten these leaders and educate them to the current world.... or just, u know, get rid of them.