3 Quotes by Kim Yong

Unbelievable incidents of cannibalism are too numerous to list in their entirety, but the common theme among these events is that people will do unthinkable things when they are famished to death. People will turn into animals to survive. (2009: 58)

In North Korea everyone knows that a labor camp is a place where life is suspended. One does not live there, one slowly dies there. I as simply another dead soul in Camp No. 14. (2009: 79)

It was an ordinary day - peaceful and quiet. For some reason, my wife hand-washed the Nissan bright and shiny, early that morning. I remember thanking her for it. My son had already gone to school, but my wife and daughter were still at home and saw me off in front of the house. Our white dog was wagging his tail as I drove the car past the alley. In my mind, they are forever living that day. (2009: 162)