Kaechon concentration camp (also spelled Kaech'ŏn or ''Gaecheon'') is a prison in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

with many political prisoners. The official name is Kyo-hwa-so (Reeducation camp) No. 1. It is not to be confused with

Kaechon internment camp Kaechon Internment Camp (, also spelled Kae'chŏn or ''Gaecheon'') is a labor camp in North Korea for political prisoners and descendants of alleged criminals. The official name for the camp is Kwan-li-so (Penal-labor colony) No. 14. The camp i ...

(Kwan-li-so Nr. 14), which is located to the south-east.

Location

The camp is located in Kae'chŏn county, P'yŏngan-namdo province in

. 39°30'10"N 125°45'35"E It is situated on the outskirts of Kaechon city, around east of the city center, behind a little hill.

Description

Kaechon concentration camp is a large prison compound, around 300 m (1000 feet) long and 300 m (1000 feet) wide, surrounded by a 4 m (13 feet) high wall with barbed wire on top. The prisoners, around 4000 men and 2000 women (in 1992), are political prisoners mixed with common criminals. Theoretically prisoners should be released after reeducation through labor and serving their sentence. But as the prison sentences are very long and the conditions are extremely harsh, many do not survive their prison sentences. Ji Hae-nam estimates that during her sentence of two years around 20% of the prisoners died.

Purpose

The main purpose of Kaechon camp is to punish people for less-serious crimes, whereas political crimes (e. g. criticism of the government) are considered a severe offense. But the prisoners are also used as slave workers, who have to fulfill high production quotas in very difficult conditions. For this purpose there is a shoe making factory, a leather and rubber factory, a clothing factory and other factories in the camp.

Human rights situation

The human rights situation in the camp is described in detail by

Lee Soon-ok Lee Soon-ok (born 1947 in Chongjin, North Korea) is a North Korean defector and the author of '' Eyes of the Tailless Animals: Prison Memoirs of a North Korean Woman'', her account of being falsely accused, tortured, and imprisoned under poor ...

in her testimony to the

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

. She explains how the prisoners have no rights and how they are treated at the mercy of the guards.

Forced labour

The prisoners are forced to work around 18 hours per day at the camp's factories. If someone does not work quickly enough, he or she is beaten. Sometimes prisoners sleep at their workplaces to fulfill the production quota. All this involves frequent work accidents and many prisoners are crippled from the work or from torture.

Health and sanitation

Prisoners are forced to sleep in a room with 80 to 90 people in 30 square metre (322 square feet) flea-infested rooms. Prisoners are only occasionally allowed to use the toilet (one for about 300 people) and may only take a shower after several months. Diseases like

paratyphus Paratyphoid fever, also known simply as paratyphoid, is a bacterial infection caused by one of three types of ''Salmonella enterica''. Symptoms usually begin 6–30 days after exposure and are the same as those of typhoid fever. Often, a gradual ...

are common, resulting from the bad nutrition.

Malnutrition

Food rations are 100 grams of broken corn three times a day and a salt soup. In case of rule violations food rations are reduced. Lee Soon-ok reported that prisoners even killed rats and ate them raw in order to survive.

Torture

There are 78 punishment cells in the camp, each 60 cm (24 inches) wide and 110 cm (43 inches) high, where prisoners are locked up for several days. Afterwards many of them are unable to walk and some even die. Prisoners are often beaten, kicked or whipped. Lee Soon-ok was tortured being forced to drink a large quantity of water until she fainted (

water torture Water torture encompasses a variety of techniques using water to inflict physical or psychological harm on a victim as a form of torture or execution. Forced ingestion In this form of water torture, water is forced down the throat and into the st ...

) and almost died. During her sentence she witnessed many types of torture.

Homicides and Infanticides

Pregnant women are forced to have abortions by injections. Lee Soon-ok witnessed babies born alive being murdered directly after birth.

Executions

As with all the prison camps, public executions are commonplace and usually done in front of all of the prisoners.

Prisoners (witnesses)

(1987–1992 in Kaechon) was imprisoned on alleged embezzlement of state property, when she refused to put material on the side for her superior. She was sentenced to 13 years in a prison camp, but released earlier under a surprise amnesty. * Ji Hae-nam (1993–1995 in Kaechon) was imprisoned on disruption of the socialist order, as she sang a South Korean pop song and was denounced by a neighbor. She was sentenced to 3 years in a prison camp, but released after 2 years and 2 months.

External links

United States Senate Hearings: Testimony of Ms. Soon Ok Lee
– Lee Soon-oks testimony to the US Senate Judiciary Committee June 21, 2002
Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
– Overview on North Korean Prison Camps with Testimonies and Satellite Photographs
Daily NK: North Korean crimes against humanity
– Collection of testimonies
Witness reveals horror of North Korean gulag
- Report on prison camps, The Guardian, July 19, 2002
A survivor: Soon Ok Lee – 7 years of torture in N. Korean prison camp
– Report on Lee Soon-Ok, MSNBC, October 28, 2003
Satellite imagery and witness accounts of North Korean political prison and reeducation camps

Bibliography

*Lee, Soon Ok. Eyes of the Tailless Animals: Prison Memoirs of a North Korean Woman. Living Sacrifice Book Co, 1999,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaechon Concentration Camp Concentration camps in North Korea Kaechon Buildings and structures in South Pyongan Province