Chongjin concentration camp

Kwan-li-so (Penal-labour colony) No. 25 Chongjin (), often known outside North Korea as Chongjin concentration camp (; also spelled Ch'ŏngjin), is a political labour camp (kwalliso) in North Korea located in the North Hamgyong Province. Satellite images show a major expansion of the camp after 2010.*

Location The camp is located in the city of Chongjin in the North Hamgyong province of North Korea. It is situated in Suseong district (Susŏng-dong) of Songpyong-guyok, around northwest of the city center and west of Susŏng River (Susŏngch'on).

Description Chongjin camp is a lifetime prison. Like the other political prison camps it is controlled by the state security agency. KINU White paper on human rights in North Korea 2009 (Chapter G. Human Rights Violations Inside Political Concentration Camps (Kwanliso), page 131) But while the other camps include many vast prison-labour colonies in remote mountain valleys, Chongjin camp is only one big prison building complex similar to the reeducation camps. The camp is around 500 m (1500 ft) long and 500 m (1500 ft) wide, surrounded by high walls and fences, and equipped with guard towers.One Free Korea: Camp 25 in Chongjin (satellite images with annotations) The number of prisoners is estimated to be between 3000 and 5000.

Purpose The main purpose of the camp is to isolate political prisoners from society. KINU White paper on human rights in North Korea 2009 (Chapter G. Human Rights Violations Inside Political Concentration Camps (Kwanliso), page 125, page 127) The prisoners are exploited for hard labour to be performed in the prison factories. Popular North Korean consumer products like Kalmaegi bicyclesAndrei Lankov: North of the DMZ, essays on daily life in North Korea (McFarland Publishers, 2007), page 144 are manufactured by prisoners using hand tools. KINU White paper on human rights in North Korea 2009 (Chapter G. Human Rights Violations Inside Political Concentration Camps (Kwanliso), page 125)

Human rights situation Ahn Myung-chul (a former prison guard in Hoeryong concentration camp) described Chongjin camp as a top-level political prisoner camp, KINU White paper on human rights in North Korea 2009 (Chapter G. Human Rights Violations Inside Political Concentration Camps (Kwanliso), page 127) therefore harsh conditions can be assumed.

Camp expansion Detailed analysis of satellite images shows a major expansion of the camp perimeter in 2010. The size of the camp increased 72 percent, from to now . Along the new fence line, 17 additional guard posts were erected. In the eastern part of the new perimeter, several new buildings were erected from 2011 to 2013, possibly to be used as prisoner housing.

Prisoners (witnesses) There are a few first-hand witness accounts on the camp; however, there are some reports that North Korean defectors are prisoners in Chongjin camp. KINU White paper on human rights in North Korea 2009 (Chapter G. Human Rights Violations Inside Political Concentration Camps (Kwanliso), page 118, page 136) Amnesty International 2004: Starved of rights, section 6.5 The impact of famine and the food crisis on woman Lim Kook-jae, a South Korean abducted to North Korea in 1987 aboard the Dong Jin 27, died in Chongjin camp, according to a human rights organization.“Abducted South Korean Dies in a North Korean Political Prison Camp”, The Daily NK, October, 14 2008 Jin Gyeong-suk was also detained at Chongjin camp in 2004 and died there the following year. Many pastors and presbyters, dissident Korean-Japanese, and people expelled from Pyongyang with their families are detained in Chongjin camp, according to the 9th International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees.

Chongjin concentration camp

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