Competition and family
There is a situational irony in Shin's home, because although the mother works hard to provide for both of them, Shin resents his mother because they still don't have enough, and thus he views her as a competitor for food. This scarcity is intentionally caused by the government. Shin is only one person without any knowledge of life outside North Korea, so he doesn't see the painful irony that his mother's cruel life implies. She is mean to him, but again, he life is such a nightmare that what else could realistically be expected?
Brainwashing and tattling
To make matters worse, Shin is trained from a young age that if he should ever hear anything in his home that sounds even remotely anti-government or anti-labor camp, that he should tell on his own family. This ironic brainwashing proves to be effective, because he does tell on his own mother and brother. This weakens his own home, but he hopes it will help him get ahead. In reality, the culture of betrayal works against him, and the guard quickly betrays the informant and sends him to prison.
The positive pig assignment
After a brutal stay in prison where Shin had to watch his own mother and brother be executed and publically humiliated by the state, finally he earns his escape from prison and returns to the labor camps. This time, he is given one of the hardest jobs, working on the pig farm. Ironically, he loves that assignment because the harder work means more food in exchange, so he feels he will finally get a chance to eat. He is starving. Before long, they whisk him away, and he isn't even allowed to get well.
The escape plan
It is ironic that Shin would plan his escape so similarly to his mother and brother given that he is the reason their escape plan led to their execution. He is an ironic character because he doesn't understand why they should escape until he sees the horror of the camps for himself. He wants to escape and understands why it would be better to find himself in, say, China, but only after having brutally betrayed someone for doing the same thing.
The method of success
When he finally attempts escape, that is also full of irony. He escapes with the person he was employed to monitor, and he escapes only because that guy died on the electrical fence creating a route of passage. He vaults the dead guy's body and escapes. This ironic symbol points to the deaths of his mother and brother, and it points to Shin's corrupted character, because he will escape even over a dead body, without remorse. Later, he has remorse and guilt, but not until he reflects on his life from the safety of new places.
