Chol-Hwan Kang

About the Author

Chol-Hwan Kang is a renowned North Korean defector and author whose harrowing experiences in one of the world's most oppressive regimes have profoundly shaped his literary voice. Born in Pyongyang to a family of Japanese-Korean descent, Kang endured a decade in the brutal labor camps of the North Korean gulag after his grandfather's arrest for suspected disloyalty. Escaping to South Korea in the late 1990s, he became a journalist and advocate for human rights, channeling his personal ordeal into powerful narratives that expose the regime's atrocities. His debut memoir, The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag, co-authored with Pierre Rigoulot, offers a stark, unflinching account of survival amid starvation, forced labor, and ideological indoctrination, earning international acclaim for its raw authenticity and urgent call for awareness.