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In North Korea, anyone who breaks the law or dares to question the authority of the leaders is condemned to a prison camp. There, prisoners endure grueling labor, starvation, and brutal beatings for even the smallest infractions.
A survivor of Auschwitz declared that the conditions in these camps rival, if not surpass, those of the Nazi concentration camps. A UN commission has also labeled North Korea's prison system a crime against humanity.
10. Jeong Kwang-il
Jeong Kwang-il, a trader by profession, made business deals with South Koreans in China, which, under North Korean law, was seen as collaborating with the enemy. Accused of being a spy, he was seized and sent to a prison camp. During his interrogation, the authorities sought to force a confession from him. He was beaten so brutally that all his teeth were shattered, and the back of his head was severely injured, leaving permanent scars.
Jeong endured a cruel form of torture known as 'pigeon torture.' His hands were shackled behind his back, and he was suspended by the handcuffs, with his feet hanging off the ground. This agonizing position left him dangling for days at a time. The pain was so unbearable that he later confessed it felt preferable to die. After 10 months of relentless torment, Jeong falsely admitted to crimes he never committed.
He was eventually sent to Yodok, one of North Korea's largest prisons, holding approximately 50,000 inmates. A sign at the entrance read: 'Let’s sacrifice our lives to protect the revolutionary leadership of Dear Leader Kim Jong Il.'
Many prisoners perished due to the brutal conditions at the camp. Each day began at 5:00 AM with a meager meal of rice, beans, and corn. Then, they were forced to work in grueling conditions. During the spring, they were made to tend to fields, covering an area of around 1,170 square meters (12,600 ft) daily. Failure to meet the quota meant receiving even less food.
The work during winter was even more grueling. Prisoners had to saw and transport enormous logs, each more than 4 meters (13 ft) long, over distances of more than 3 kilometers (2 miles). Many died from accidents, and those who were injured succumbed to starvation as they were unable to work.
Jeong spent three long years in the prison until a senior guard finally realized that he had been falsely accused. Upon his release, he found that his home had been destroyed and his family had vanished. Within a month, Jeong fled North Korea and made his way to South Korea.
9. Jihyun Park
Jihyun Park’s father fell ill, and he pleaded with his family to leave North Korea. Park’s mother bribed border guards to help them cross into China, where she found a broker who promised a better life. However, instead of a job, Park was sold to an alcoholic farmer as his wife for 5,000 yuan ($750). She endured six years of slavery, working 16-hour days. Her only source of joy during this time was her son, Chol.
She was arrested when her son was only five and deported to North Korea. There, she was sent to a labor camp where 'the conditions were unspeakable' and inmates were treated like animals. Park and the other prisoners were tasked with clearing hills to make way for crops. They were not given shoes, and the rough stones on the ground tore at Park’s feet, leaving them broken and calloused. Her wounds became infected, and gangrene set in.
Park was eventually released because the guards decided it would be easier for her to die outside the camp. She slowly healed from her injuries, although she still walks with a limp. After escaping to China, she found her son, who had been left to starve. She fell in love with another defector, and the three of them were granted asylum in the United Kingdom.
8. Kang Cheol Hwan
Kang Cheol Hwan’s grandfather was branded a traitor to the people, and his entire family was sent to a prison camp. Kang was only 10 years old when he arrived at Yodok. The first thing he noticed was the other children: they were nothing but skin and bones, looking 'worse than beggars.'
Kang was immediately sentenced to grueling labor. He was forced to carry massive logs on his shoulders for miles to the camp. If a prisoner failed to meet the expected work quota, the guards would order others in the work group to beat the offender.
Prisoners had no choice but to obey a guard’s command. Disobedience meant being sent to a prison within the prison camp, where detainees were kept in a cramped cell for six months. The conditions were horrific, as they were forced to sit in freezing, muddy water. Very few survived this brutal treatment.
Kang witnessed the escape of two soldiers, both of whom were captured and hanged. Thousands of prisoners were made to line up and march past the hanging bodies, ordered to throw rocks at them while shouting, 'Down with the traitors of the people!' Those who refused to throw stones were beaten by the guards.
Kang endured ten years in the camp until his family was released. Five years later, he escaped with another former prisoner and made his way to China. From there, he boarded a ship to South Korea.
7. Kim Young-soon
When Kim Young-soon was a young woman, she had danced for Kim Il Sung, the founding leader of North Korea. One day, she was summoned by the secret police, locked in a room, and interrogated for two months about her knowledge of high-ranking party officials. She insisted she knew nothing, yet she was still taken—along with her four children and parents—to the Yodok prison camp.
Food was in short supply at the camp. Prisoners were given only meager portions of corn and salt. If anyone failed to meet their work quota, their food rations were reduced. In order to survive, inmates ate whatever they could find—rats, salamanders, and snakes—devouring them raw as there was no time or means to cook.
Food was always scarce, and malnutrition weakened everyone. Kim watched people 'drop down dead every day,' including most of her own family. She barely survived her nine years in the camp. Eventually, she was released after a visiting military official, who knew her brother, recognized her. She purchased fake documents and crossed into China, later making her way to South Korea.
Kim later learned the reason behind her imprisonment. She had once been close friends with Sung Hye-rim, Kim Jong Il’s first wife. The circumstances of their marriage were scandalous—Sung was already married with a child, whom she abandoned to be with Kim Jong Il, who was five years younger. The authorities wanted to keep her life a secret, so they imprisoned anyone who had known her.
6. Ahn Myong Chol
Ahn Myong Chol served as a prison guard for over ten years. He was trained to view the prisoners as subhuman and was instructed to kill any inmate attempting to escape.
If a guard succeeded in killing an escapee, they were rewarded. Many guards shot innocent people to gain favor, allowing them to attend college. Ahn witnessed one of his colleagues order a prisoner to climb the barbed wire fence. The colleague shot the prisoner and left to attend college.
The guards also killed for amusement. Ahn watched as two girls tried to retrieve a piece of noodle from a contaminated pond where garbage was dumped. A guard passed by, kicked the girls into the water, and they both drowned.
The most shocking event Ahn witnessed was when three dogs escaped their handler and attacked five children. Three of the children were killed instantly. The remaining two children were still alive when the guards buried them alive. The guards then rewarded the dogs by petting them and feeding them special food.
Ahn’s father made a few drunken, critical comments about the country's leadership, resulting in his family’s detention. Fearing he would also be taken, Ahn drove his truck to the shore and swam to China. He later made his way to South Korea.
5. Kim Kwang-Il
Kim Kwang-Il, struggling with hunger, couldn’t find enough food or money to survive. He gathered pine nuts and crossed the Chinese border hoping to sell them. Kim was caught and arrested. North Korean officials, suspecting him of smuggling, tortured him to force a confession.
Kim was forced to hold unnatural positions for hours on end. He had to pretend he was riding a motorcycle or acting as a plane. Prisoners were required to maintain these postures until their sweat filled a glass beneath them. Those who fainted during these torturous sessions were accused of feigning unconsciousness and made to start over. Unable to endure this agony any longer, Kim confessed. He was sentenced to six years in prison.
Kim was assigned grueling labor in the camp, such as moving heavy logs down from a mountain without the aid of any machinery or tools. The work was perilous, and the logs would sometimes crush the inmates, leaving many of them with broken bones.
The labor was so brutal that many people died. The bodies of the deceased were piled onto a cart, which was then hauled up a mountain. Once the cart was full, the bodies were placed into a large pot and set on fire. After they were fully incinerated, the ashes were gathered and used as fertilizer for the fields.
Kim was freed after serving 29 months. He eventually managed to escape and make his way to South Korea.
4. Lim Hye-jin
During her seven years as a prison guard, Lim Hye-jin witnessed numerous horrific events. One of the most devastating happened when she was just 20. Two brothers managed to escape, and in retaliation, seven of their family members were executed on the spot. Many more prisoners suffered brutal beatings as a form of collective punishment for the escape.
The brothers were eventually captured in China and brought back to North Korea. The guards savagely beat them before publicly beheading the men in front of the other inmates. As a further insult, the prisoners were ordered to throw stones at the lifeless bodies.
Lim witnessed countless acts of cruelty, particularly against the female prisoners. A guard would target whichever woman caught his interest, and assault her with impunity. If a woman became pregnant from these assaults, she was forced to have an abortion. In some cases, if the pregnancy was too advanced, the guards would kill the babies either by beating them or burning them alive.
The cruelty extended beyond sexual violence. Lim once observed an interrogation in which a guard, angered by a female prisoner, stripped her naked and then set her on fire. The guard faced no punishment for this barbaric act. The guards were conditioned to view the prisoners as less than human—merely 'animals.'
Lim was caught engaging in trade in China and sentenced to a brief stint in prison. However, after being forced to march naked in front of male guards, she made the decision to escape. Lim successfully reached safety in South Korea.
3. Ji Hyeon-A
Ji Hyeon-A made three attempts to flee North Korea and each time was caught and sent back. During her third return, she was pregnant. In North Korea, mixed-race children are not accepted, and any woman found pregnant after being in China was forced to undergo an abortion. Ji was subjected to the procedure at a local police station without any form of anesthesia.
Afterward, she was sent to a labor camp where she saw other pregnant women endure horrific conditions. These women were forced into strenuous labor, and at night, Ji could hear their anguished screams as they miscarried their babies.
Ji witnessed a heartbreaking scene when a woman, after working a full day, gave birth to her child at eight months. Overjoyed, the mother held her baby, but her happiness was short-lived. A guard ordered her to drown the newborn. Despite begging for mercy, the mother was forced to comply with the order.
Ji was eventually released from prison. She managed to escape from North Korea and was joyfully reunited with her family.
2. Hyuk Kim
Hyuk Kim, a homeless 16-year-old, traveled to China in search of food but was caught, arrested, and sentenced to three years in prison. During his time in prison, he lost all sense of humanity, describing himself as 'like an animal. [...] No thinking. No free will. Just fear.'
His routine became mechanical. Breakfast was served at 7:00 AM, consisting of a handful of cornmeal and between 50 to 90 soya beans. He worked until noon, when he was given a small meal before returning to labor. Dinner came at 7:30 PM, followed by an order to memorize the camp's rules and regulations. If anyone made a mistake while reciting, the whole team had to stay up until they got it right. They usually went to bed around 10:00 PM.
Like all the other prisoners, Kim's mind was consumed by thoughts of food. Occasionally, he managed to catch a rat. He would skin it, dry the meat, and eat it raw. If he tried to cook the rats, the smell or the fire would attract the guards, who would beat him mercilessly.
Some prisoners found ways to obtain extra food by bartering. Cigarettes were highly sought after in the camp. Prisoners would scavenge for the guards’ half-smoked cigarette butts, collect the leftover tobacco, and roll new cigarettes. This act was incredibly risky, as anyone caught making or smoking these contraband cigarettes faced severe punishment from the guards.
Kim was eventually released after eight months and managed to escape to South Korea.
1. Soon Ok Lee
For 14 years, Soon Ok Lee served as the director of the Government Supply Office, overseeing the distribution of food and materials to the population. When North Korea's economy faltered, she was blamed for the widespread famine. Authorities tortured her for months in an effort to force a confession.
Soon was promised that her husband and son would be safe if she confessed. Once she did, her entire family was sent to a forced labor camp. The guards told the prisoners, 'You are not human beings. You must believe you are animals; otherwise, survival is impossible.'
Soon was assigned to work in an ironworks factory, where the heat was unbearable. The extreme temperatures caused her spine to shrink, curving her back and making her shoulder bones protrude. She was punished after attempting to hide a defective piece of clothing and was sent to the 'punishment cell,' a tiny space where she couldn't stand or lie down. After being released, she struggled to walk for weeks.
During her time in prison, Soon endured numerous instances of brutal torture. She was struck with a leather strap and kicked in the head. Her teeth were shattered, the left side of her face became paralyzed, and she suffered from constant, excruciating headaches.
After spending seven years in captivity, Soon was finally released. A few years later, she and her son managed to escape, making their way to South Korea through China.
