Donghyuk Shin

May 2014 Honorary Degree Recipient

Doctor of Laws (honoris causa)

Donghyuk Shin has faced unimaginable adversity. Mr. Shin is the only person known to have been born into and escaped from a North Korean prison camp. The first 23 years of his life were spent in a world of forced labour, hunger and horrendous human rights abuses.

Mr. Shin has become the foremost activist for human rights in North Korea during the nine years since his escape, and he is a winner of the UN Watch’s Moral Courage Award. His story, as told in Blaire Harden’s book Escape from Camp 14, has shifted the global discourse about North Korea, shining a light on the human rights abuses so prevalent within the regime. At Dalhousie, he inspired students who, after reading about his experiences, held a peace march and launched a social media campaign to raise awareness of human rights violations in North Korea. They then fundraised to bring Mr. Shin to Halifax, where his speech to an over-capacity crowd drew international attention.

Mr. Shin continues his fight for his people, inspiring students, activists, leaders and citizens around the globe, through his NGO Inside NK, which aims to educate people around the world about the human rights situation in North Korea.