In Photos: The Secret World Of Modern Slavery

Young-soon, 80, former prisoner and forced labourer in North Korea

I knew Song Hye-rim from school. One day, she told me she was moving into the ‘great leader’ Kim Jong-il’s residence. A few months later, my family and I were sent to Yodok, a prison camp. My parents and my eight-year-old son died of malnutrition there, and the rest of my family were either shot or drowned. Nine years later, after my release, I was told we’d been imprisoned because I knew about Kim Jong-il’s relationship with Song. Song Hye-rim and Kim Jong-il’s illegitimate son, Kim Jong-nam, was assassinated earlier this year.

Photo: James Whitlow Delano for the Guardian