PRESS CONFERENCE
Kang Chol-Hwan,
Former DPRK Concentration Camp Inmate and Reporter, Choson Ilbo

The speech and Q & A will be in Korean with English interpretation.

Tensions between North Korea and its neighbors have risen considerably in the last few weeks after Pyongyang test-fired medium-range missiles and carried out an underground nuclear test. The rest of the world can only guess at the reasoning behind these moves, but two popular theories include a desire for attention from the new U.S. administration and the start of a gradual shift in power to a new leader.

Seemingly caught in the middle have been two U.S. journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, of Current TV, who were arrested amid unclear circumstances along North Korea's border with China. Earlier this month, the two were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor after being convicted of a "grave crime" against North Korea.

No matter that they might be pawns in an international power game, the situation they now face is very real and it's one that Kang Chol-Hwan knows very well. When he was 9 years old, Kang was sent to the notorious Yodok concentration camp where he lived for 10 years until his release.

Kang later fled North Korea and now works as a reporter for the Choson Ilbo. He is also co-author of the book "The Aquariums of Pyongyang."

Join us on July 7 to hear a rare first-hand account of life in a North Korean concentration camp and get Kang's take on what is happening in North Korea today.

Kang Chol-Hwan