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| NK defector Shin Dong-hyuk |
North Korean gulag survivor Shin Dong-hyuk took to his personal Facebook account to state that the account of his escape was the truth.
Shin was criticized for inconsistencies portrayed in "Escape from Camp 14," the best-selling book based on the high-profile defector's story.
"The greatest horror is hiding myself and losing my soul — I will not hide out of the fear of what the world says and what the North's dictator says," Shin wrote, posting photos of his ankles on his personal account.
"I will show each and every scar that I have from the torture from the prison camp, starting with the marks on my ankles that show how I was hung upside down."
Shin previously admitted that some details in the book were false — including testimony regarding having watched his mother and brother be executed in Camp 14, which he later clarified as Camp 18.
Also in his original account, Shin said he had suffered torture at age 13, which was later corrected to be age 20.
Shin said, "To those who have supported me, trusted me and believed in me all this time, I am so very grateful and at the same time so very sorry to each and every single one of you."
He asked for the public to take the time to read his posts on Facebook, stating that he will continue to upload evidence of the human rights infringements that take place in the secretive state.
"Before you call me a liar, take a little time to read my explanation," Shin wrote.
"And tell the leader of North Korea that Shin Dong-hyuk will be leading an investigative team to the political prison camp where I was born, so open the door!"
Shortly following Shin's confession, the writer of the book, Blain Harden, wrote in a new forward that though there are necessary revisions, the core argument of his publication still stands to depict Pyongyang's institutional "depravity."
"It is not fiction," Harden wrote.
"It is journalism and history built around one young man's memory, as refracted through a collapsed scheme to hide from trauma, torture, and shame."
Shin also explained on his personal Facebook his emotional account of the whole situation.
"My mother and brother died in front of my eyes, and they were killed because of me, and I still live with this pain today," he wrote.
"So I beg you, everyone — don't accuse or judge before you know the whole story."
Shin wrote, "I still hate thinking or reflecting back on this but I know I need to share these photos and tell the horrible deeds that the regime did and is doing."
"These scars may fade but they will never completely disappear from me," he said.
