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Brutal North Korean Labor Camps Hold 200K

Prisoners face 15-hour days, malnutrition, executions: Korean bar

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 20, 2009 9:44 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Some 200,000 political prisoners are held in North Korean labor camps, where they work up to 15 hours a day before dying of malnutrition by about age 50, the Washington Post reports. Testimony from survivors and former guards has been newly published by the Korean Bar Association, and new satellite photos corroborate their stories. But the subject has been pushed off the table in diplomatic meetings by fears of the belligerent regime's acquiring nuclear weapons.

Prisoners subsist on corn and salt; they are forced to watch executions as “lessons”; guards are free to “beat, rape, and kill” inmates, some of whom are imprisoned on guilt by association. But South Korea appears “stuck in a deep quagmire of indifference,” the lawyers say—and “unfortunately, until we get a handle on the security threat, we can't afford to deal with human rights,” says a former US official.

A visitor looks at a collage made of pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at a unification observation post near the border village of Panmunjom, July 13, 2009.
A visitor looks at a collage made of pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at a unification observation post near the border village of Panmunjom, July 13, 2009.   (AP Photo/ Lee Jin-man)
In this April 25, 2002 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il claps as soldiers salute him during a military parade, celebrating the foundation of the armed forces in Pyongyang, North Korea.
In this April 25, 2002 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il claps as soldiers salute him during a military parade, celebrating the foundation of the armed forces in Pyongyang, North Korea.   (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara, File)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, center, visits the Taedonggang Tile Factory, North Korea.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, center, visits the Taedonggang Tile Factory, North Korea.   (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service)
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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
emptycalm
Jul 21, 2009 6:26 AM CDT
I always knew there had to be some dissent in that country. Seems they're all in jail though.
Alexandria
Jul 21, 2009 3:11 AM CDT
It appears we don't care though. I know many Americans who do care, but most newspapers or magazines don't write about North Korea and their labor camps. In fact, people only started to listen up when North Korea started talking about nuclear weapons and then when two journalists were taken. Before that, hardly anyone said anything.

 
North Korea • political prisoner • Kim Jong Il • labor camp • prison camp

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