Interrogation

• I suffered from the torture of "motionless sitting" during interrogation. Anyone who moved, however slight the movement might be, was handcuffed and chained to high grids with arms spread wide, and then beaten. They employed an iron rod that is normally used for cleaning a gun, to hit bones such as the wrist, knee, or ankle. In this way they could inflict extreme pain with little effort.
• Detainees were often not allowed to sleep and forced to stay unclothed even in extremes of temperature.
• The sanitation level of cells in the detention facility was horrendous. When detainees were forced to sit still, lice crawled on their faces. And one could not wash his face until sent to prison or released.
• If two people talked, they were ordered to stand facing each other and forced to slap each other's face.
• Interrogation was such a painful process for me that I decided to injure myself to escape it. I swallowed a nail, hoping I would be sent to a hospital for surgery. The painful stay in the cell made me think that the pain of a surgical operation would be nothing by comparison. If only I could stay away from the cell, even for a few days! You can imagine my disappointment when the nail came out in my stool.

Political prison camp

• I was imprisoned in No. 15 political prison camp, which is in Yodok County, towards the northeastern part of the country. It was March, 1988.
• Though my health was very unstable due to malnutrition, I was forced to do hard labor. In April I was ordered to carry humus soil down a mountain, using an A frame carrier. I was very weak, and I put less soil on the frame than some other prisoners. Seeing this, a "lead" prisoner kicked me hard, making me roll down the mountain. As I cursed at him, I got dragged to the guards' quarters, where I was severely beaten with oak-wood clubs. I was knocked unconscious due to the brutal beating and was brought back to my cell later by fellow prisoners...