Oh Hae-won

Oh Hae-won (also spelled Oh Hye-won; born 17 September 1976) is a South Korean prisoner of North Korea, imprisoned in Yodok concentration camp since the age of 11 with her mother Shin Suk-ja and sister Oh Kyu-won after her father Oh Kil-nam defected from North Korea. Amnesty International named her a prisoner of conscience and started several campaigns for her release. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations on May 2, 2012 adopted a resolution requesting the immediate release of Oh and her sister.
Early life in Germany
Oh was born on September 17, 1976 in Kiel as the first of two daughters to Oh Kil-nam and Shin Suk-ja, two South Korean immigrants, who married in Germany four years earlier. Her father Oh Kil-nam graduated in economy, while her mother Shin Suk-ja was working as a nurse in Germany.
Oh lived in Kronshagen near Kiel and attended elementary school until December 1985. Together with her sister Kyu-won she learned to play the violin from Ivan Petrov, the then-conductor of the Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra.
Move to North Korea
Persuaded by North Korean agents her father Oh Kil-nam decided to go to North Korea and so the whole family arrived in Pyongyang in December 1985. There they were all taken to a nearby military camp for indoctrination for three months. After that her parents were employed for a radio station broadcasting propaganda to South Korea.
Detention in Yodok camp
Campaigns for Oh Hae-won’s release
Response from the North Korean Government

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