Summary

Shin had a 50 year-old cell mate who had been incarcerated there for many years. His name was Kim Jin Myung. He asked Shin to call him “Uncle.” Shin continued to suffer from the burns and infection from his torture for several more weeks. Shin curled up on the floor to die. Then, Uncle began tending to him, and Shin recovered. Uncle was the first person to show Shin real kindness and caring; Shin was grateful for it. Uncle knew the history of North Korea and told Shin a lot of stories which Shin began to savor. At one point the guards tried to cajole Shin into spying on Uncle and getting him to say something that they could hold against him. But, Shin liked the old man’s stories and didn’t want to lose him. Uncle assured Shin that they both would...