Escape from Camp 14: Chapter 23 Summary & Analysis

A few years after the events of the last chapter, Shin stands in front of a small audience in Los Angeles, speaking—as always—about Camp 14. As an employee of LiNK, Shin travels around the country speaking about his experiences. LiNK has encouraged Shin to speak in crisp, well-organized English, so that he can move as many people as possible. But Shin’s speeches are poorly organized, and he has to use a translator to communicate with his audiences. His descriptions of Camp 14 are brief and detail-free—some people even find them boring.

Harden has asked Shin why he finds it so hard to talk about his life. Shin explains that he still has nightmares about his mother’s death. When LiNK tries to convince him to go to therapy, he refuses. He also refuses to consider attending college. In general, his adjustment to life in America isn’t easy. Doctors diagnose him with post-traumatic stress disorder. He struggles to understand money. He bonds with his LiNK coworkers, and says that he “loves” them. In general, however, Shin suffers from intense shame and self-loathing.

Shin begins living with a pastor’s wife named Kyung Soon Chung, who cooks for him and essentially acts as his mother. He befriends Kyung’s children, both in their twenties. Shin learns to love Kyung, and accept her love. He often asks her, “Why are you so nice to me?” and confesses that he’s done horrible things during his time in Camp 14. Over time, however, he becomes more confident, and begins to embrace Christianity. He tries to study English, but quickly drops out of his program. His LiNK coworkers and supervisors say that he wasn’t ready to adjust to a new life in the U.S.

California is one of the few places in America where a Korean can get by without speaking a word of English—there’s a huge Korean population there. Shin learns enough English to get by in Los Angeles, but little more—he spends most of his time speaking Korean.

During Shin’s second year in California, he meets Harim Lee, a young woman from Seoul who moved to Los Angeles with her family at the age of four. Harim worked as a translator for an NGO, and in the middle of college, she decided to join LiNK. She prayed that she’d get a chance to meet Shin. When they finally meet, they like each other right away. This creates a problem, though: LiNK refugees and interns aren’t allowed to date each other. Shin and Harim ignore the rule, but Shin eventually decides to quit LiNK anyway. He quits partly because of the no-dating rule and partly because he feels his supervisors are expecting too much of him—he doesn’t want to learn English. It’s unclear what Shin wants to do with the rest of his life, or if he has any idea at all.