"The labor training corps is where all the North Korean escapees and petty criminals are sent to, where pregnant women are forced to have abortions...
Washing your face and brushing your teeth are unimaginable luxuries, and you cannot even go to the toilet by yourself...
The North Koreans are aware that there was a war in Afghanistan, but they don't know that the Taliban was conquered...
They are not interested in the Arirang mass gymnastics performance and don? even know that South Korea is hosting the World Cup."

The only way to glean any real information about North Korea is through the North Korean defectors. But these days, it is difficult to run into them, even in the area along the Sino-Korean border. There are a number of reasons, such as alleviation of the food crisis and strengthened border patrol. But these days, most North Koreans can afford to bribe the border patrol guards instead of crossing the border in secret, meaning that it is difficult to single them out from among the Chinese population from appearance alone.
So this time round, it was quite a task trying to meet a North Korean defector. Then by chance, I was able to meet a North Korean who had crossed the border into China at the end of January. The North Korean was a young man in his early twenties, and it was not the first time he had escaped his country. He had been caught before, and until recently, he was serving a sentence of forced labor at the labor training corps, which is pretty much like a rehabilitation center in South Korea. In North Korea, people sentenced to less than two years for violence, theft, slander, border violation and so on are sent to the labor training corps. North Korean defectors arrested and deported are charged with border violation and sent to the training corps. The labor training corps is where detainees receive ideological training through grueling physical labor.
Thanks to this North Korean defector, I was able to take a peek into another peculiar way of life in North Korea. And through my observations, I was able to discover a budding awareness of human rights in a land that appears so hopeless and bleak. First I asked for a description of the labor training corps.
※ In order to protect the interviewee, I have refrained from recording any details such as names of places that may give away the interviewee's identity.

"What is the official name of the training corps?"
- It is called the labor training corps of each district's People's Committee. For example, the "Labor Training Corps of North Hamgyeong Province People's Committee."

"Who has jurisdiction over the training corps?"
- The training corps is under the surveillance and supervision of the security bureau of each city or county, which is in turn under the administration of the Ministry of Social Safety (equivalent to South Korea's Police Agency). And the defense bureau of each city or county (equivalent to South Korea's intelligence service) posts one security agent at each training corps. The commander of the training corps is dispatched by the People's Committee (equivalent to the district office in South Korea) and the secretary by the Party Committee. And the on-site supervisors are made up of ex-servicemen who never made it to the top of the military ranks.

"How did you end up in the training corps?"
- For being a jobless bum and a border transgressor. Mainly for violating the border, meaning escaping North Korea.

"A jobless bum would mean being unemployed. You mean people are sent to the training corps for being unemployed?"
- That's right. In North Korea, the government designates a workplace for every person for easier surveillance, regardless of whether there is work to do at the workplace. And if you do not report for work at your designated workplace for more than three months, they send you to the training corps for disobeying state orders. For being a jobless bum alone you will be detained for about ten days.

"So you have to report for work even if there is no work to do and no salary?"
- There aren't that many operating factories in North Korea right now, so even if you report for work, there isn't much to do, and naturally no pay. Even so, you have to report for work if you're assigned a workplace.

"About how many people are detained in the training corps?"
- The corps where I was sent to was very crowded. People keep coming and going, but we maintain an average of about 120 per corps.

"How many of them are women?"
- Quite a lot, but still less than half. There used to be more, but these days, the number of women has decreased because there are less women defectors.

Training corps a place for escapees and petty criminals

"Are all the people at the training corps people who escaped from North Korea?"
- No. There are a variety of offenders.

"What kind of criminals?"
- Generally petty criminals. Besides the defectors, there are a lot of jobless bums, and others found guilty of assault, traffic violations, illegal cohabitation, rape, and so on.

"What do you mean by illegal cohabitation?"
- For example, when a man kidnaps a woman and forces her to live with him or when a married man or woman cohabits with someone other than his or her spouse.

"So if an unmarried couple wishes to live together, that would not be illegal cohabitation?"
- That's right.

"All of the detainees are petty criminals?"
- If you are guilty of more than petty crimes, you are sent to the concentration camps or prisons.

"Do they give you enough to eat at the training corps?"
- Gruel made from corn powder. They give you so little that you can see the bottom of your bowl.

Life at least better than during the March of Great Suffering

"How can you survive on so little?"
- During the March of Great Suffering, many people starved to death while serving on the corps, but things have improved a great deal since then. If you are suffering from malnutrition, they let you out on bail to recuperate at home.

"So people don't die in the training corps?"
- Almost none at all these days. But those who do not have homes to return to sometimes die while in the corps. I saw someone like that once.

"Are there severe beatings?"
- Beatings still occur.

"How are the inmates beaten?"
- At first only lightly, but when that doesn't work, they thrash you with clubs.

"It must be cold in the winter. How do you sleep?"
- The sleeping quarters are heated, so it's not so cold that you freeze to death. But when you are sent away to work in another area, it's a different story. You have to sleep in tents at night, and it's so cold that surviving the night is worse than slaving during the day. Once I was sent to the coast, where I had to sleep in a makeshift room in a cave. It was a coastal area and firewood was too expensive, and I nearly did not survive the experience.

"How long were you there?"
- About one and a half months.

Impossible to wash up at the training corps

"How do you wash your face and brush your teeth at the training corps?"
- Washing up is allowed, but most people are so tired that they don't bother.

"How can you not be bothered to wash yourself?"
- You think they send you to the training corps to have a good time? If they see that you have strength left to wash your face and brush your teeth, they'll make up something for you to do, like digging a hole in the ground and filling it up again.

"So you mean they allow you to wash up but don't give you the time to do it?"
- That's right. The hard labor is killing... When the degree of labor goes as high as it can get, the fatigue is so overwhelming that you just wish you could drop dead.

"So you naturally wouldn't have time to bathe, right?"
- Of course there's no bathing time when working away from the headquarters, but back at the headquarters, they heat up water for bathing every Saturday. But there's never enough water, so the weaker ones take off their clothes only to put them back on because those in front use up all the water.

Tough life for those with no money, no connections and no strength

"Who do you mean by the weaker ones?"
- Those with no money, no connections, no strength.

"Aren't there a lot of sick people in there?"
- The working conditions are the pits, dogs eat better than us, and everyday there is backbreaking labor. So every one of us is sick, but unless you have a contagious disease, a weak constitution or a severe injury, they don't even regard you as a patient.

"About how many of the inmates are severely ill?"
- About 10%. But those who are really sick and have a home to go to are given sick leave.

"So the severely ill patients are released?"
- Yes, but it? just a temporary bail; you have to go back.

"You mean you have to go back as soon as you recover?"
- The security agents have you on probation, and so as soon as you're well, you have to go back to finish serving your sentence.

"So you mean that even if you are sent back home for more than a year due to severe illness, you have to go back to the corps to serve your remaining sentence?"
- Yes, but you are let off if you become handicapped due to severe injuries or you contract a long-term illness such as tuberculosis or hepatitis.

Women defectors who are pregnant forced to have abortions

"Then what about pregnant women?"
- If the woman is pregnant with a Chinese baby, she is sent straight away for an abortion, and then she has to come back to serve her sentence. If the baby is Korean, the woman is released.

"So they let a pregnant woman give birth as long as she is not carrying a Chinese baby?"
- That's right.

"How can you tell whether the baby is Chinese or Korean?"
- Generally, if a woman found guilty of crossing the border to China becomes pregnant, she is considered to be carrying a Chinese baby.

"You mean all pregnant woman deported from China are assumed to be carrying Chinese babies?"
- Yes.

"Have you seen someone having an abortion?"
- They send the women to the hospital to have the abortion, so I haven't seen it before.

"Have you ever met a woman who was forced to have an abortion?"
- There were quite a few, but the men group together and keep to themselves, so I wasn't close to any of the women.

"What happens to people who die while in the corps?"
- They bury the body in the mountains.

"Are the families informed?"
- Yes.

Rampant bribery no exceptionin the labor training corps

"Are there a lot of cases of bribery in the training corps?"
- A lot. As I mentioned before, there are a lot of people supervising the corps like the commander, security agents, on-site supervisors and so on. Because of the complicated organizational structure of the corps, various relationships are formed within the organization. For example, between the convicts and the workers. And bribery arises from these relationships.

"Could you give us an example?"
- While I was serving my sentence, the commander's war comrade came to the corps as a convict.

"So what happened?"
- Naturally he became squad leader as soon as he arrived. So to make life easier at the corps, you have to pull strings and use connections. If you don't have connections, you have to find some other method, and of course the method used by those who have the money would be bribery.

"I see."
- And these days, the employees at the training corps are not given more pay from the government even though they are civil servants. They get more food rations than average people, but it's still not enough. That's why bribery is even more rampant. But there isn't much the government can do even if such cases are reported. So bribery has became more and more widespread, and is very serious these days.

"What kind of privileges do you get in return for bribes?"
- When the people who have bribed the guards ask to take a break because of a neck ache or a headache, the guards are more accommodating. They turn a blind eye.

"Are bribery cases ever discovered?"
- Yes, they're discovered quite often.

Perfectly healthy people can buy sick leaves

"You don't get punished when you're discovered?"
- Only light punishment. That's why these days, those who are really sick are left to die in the training corps if they don't bribe the officials, while perfectly healthy people can buy their way out with a sick leave.

"I see."
- And even if the employees are discovered for taking bribes, they bribe the supervisors above them to cover things up. So those who take bribes are rarely punished.

"What about the one who gave the bribes?"
- If that person is not a convict in the training corps, he will be charged and convicted and sent to the training corps. Very unfair system.

"How do they treat the women?"
- Those who can flirt don't have it that bad. Of course, they must have the looks to make it work...

"So the women who don't have the looks get beaten?"
- If you don't have the looks and you're disobedient, of course you get beaten up.

No right to remain silent in North Korea

"Can you tell us in detail what kind of behavior earns you a beating?"
- For example, we get up every morning at 5:30 and jog around the town shouting the slogans meant to rebuild our ideology. Those who don't shout out these slogans, those who can't sing songs like "Our General is the Best" during training, or those who are bad at memorizing Kim Jong Il's sayings... They get beaten. So there is no right to remain silent in North Korea.

"Don't you feel discontented that you have to be beaten for such reasons?"
- Of course. I found it unbearable. Labor is the duty of the DPRK people (as stated in the DPRK Constitution), but the Constitution doesn't state that it is also the people's duty to sing (of course, the law is unimportant in North Korean society). And songs that North Korean defectors dislike on top of that! The defectors have had a taste of life outside North Korea, and so we've all renounced our old beliefs. They know this all too well, but they can't kill us, so they reserve particularly harsh treatment at the training corps for the defectors.

Not even allowed to go to the toilet by yourself

"How do you use the bathroom?"
- The toilets are the old type, with a hole in the ground. (Flush toilets are rare in North Korea.) They have separate toilets for men and women, but we have to line up and go in a group, and we have to run there and run back.

"What if you need to go to the toilet by yourself?"
- You can't go by yourself. They wait until there are at least five persons to justify a trip to the toilet, and there's always a guard who accompanies the group.

"Can families and friends come to visit?"
- Regulations forbid visits, but families are allowed to bring food. But even this is impossible without bribing the guards.

"Are there a lot of kotjebis?"
- Yes, they are on the increase these days.

"So the food shortage has worsened?"
- I think food prices will rise quite a bit this summer.

"How much is 1kg of rice these days?"
- About 60 won for 1kg of rice and 30 won for corn. The bigger problem is that even though food rations have improved compared to this time last year, the government has banned market distribution.
※ The price of 1kg of rice was 45 won in March 2001, and 60 won in June 2001.
So the price of rice in January 2002 is similar to that of June 2001.

"They have prohibited markets?"
- Not completely, but there are more restrictions.

Propaganda claims that the terrorist attack in the US was a good thing

"Have you heard about the terrorist attacks in the US?"
- You mean about the buildings that collapsed in the US?

"That's right. How did the North Koreans respond?"
- North Koreans just parrot what the government says, so we all say that it serves the US right. Some people are disappointed with the US because they had considered the US powerful enough to withstand terrorism by a single individual.

"Then do you know about the war in Afghanistan?"
- Yes.

North Koreans unaware of the collapse of the Afghan government or the World Cup in South Korea

"So you also know that the Afghan government collapsed during the war?"
- Oh, I didn't know that. It wasn't in the papers. (I don't think it was.) But then, doesn't North Korea always report only things to its advantage?

"Then do you know about the World Cup games to be hosted in South Korea?"
- North Korea kept its people in the dark about that. It was the same back when South Korea was hosting the Seoul Olympics.

"Did you come across anyone criticizing the regime while at the labor training corps?"
-Not outright, but I've seen people secretly criticize the government.

Awareness of human rights budding among the North Korean people

"How, for example?"
- The more outspoken ones say, "If only Seongdo (name of the man who was charged with receiving funds from South Korean intelligence agents to subvert the regime and shot to death in Musan in 1998 - editor) had stayed alive a little longer..."

"Any other examples?"
- Some people compare our human rights situation to capitalist countries. They don't seem to fear the security agents anymore, and group together to whisper among themselves, "It's better to live as a prison inmate in another country than as a party official in ours," or, "In other countries, even elementary schools have computers for their students, but here, even college students rarely get to touch a computer." They say all this knowing that such comments are considered criticism of the regime.

"It seems that there is a big change in the North Korean people's awareness of human rights."
- Yes. The defectors who have seen the outside world have been a big influence.

"Have you heard about the situation in other areas?"
- According to an ex-schoolmate who is studying in a university in Pyeongseong, there is a continuous stream of murder cases in that city. And I heard that in Sariwon, North Hwanghae province, people even employ killers (professional killers hired to assassinate people. - editor).

"Why are there so many murder cases?"
- For money. From now, even party officials can be killed for money, and who's to say that even top leaders wouldn't be killed if the money is right?

"I think I understand what you mean. But there isn't anybody who criticizes Kim Jong Il, is there?"
- That's right. No one explicitly criticizes Kim Jong Il.

North Korean people not interested in the Arirang mass gymnastics performance

"What about the people's response to the Arirang performance?"
- I haven't heard about any particular response. You can call it Arirang or anything else, it's just something that happens every year. It's just that it's going to be a much grander affair this year since Kim Jong Il's 60th birthday.

"Any big news in North Korean society these days?"
- Before I crossed the border into China, there were widespread rumors that a top leader had defected.

"What's the situation like for North Korean defectors?"
- There is very tight border patrol and social control these days. From April 15 onwards, they are going to strip all defectors of their citizenship and send them to prison.

Almost no missionaries helping North Korean defectors these days

"What about in China?"
- China has turned its back on North Korean defectors altogether. There are almost no missionaries left in China and almost no North Korean defectors seeking shelter in the churches.

"Are there a lot of North Korean defectors who get arrested?"
- I heard that in all the rural areas, they still give 100 Yuan on the spot to anyone who assists the arrest of North Korean defectors. So it's rare to spot North Korean defectors in the villages, when once they crowded with them. There are some who were arrested three times in a single year (I met them in the labor training corps.).

* * *

On January 8, the international human rights organization 'Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF)' reported that new-born babies are systematically murdered in the concentration camps in North Korea. HRWF President Willy Fautre quoted the accounts of several North Korean defectors in emphasizing this fact again at the third International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees. In response,NorthKoreashot down such claims as "utter fabrication and trickery" through its Pyongyang News Agency, and went on to give the worn-out statement that "in the Republic (DPRK) which upholds the people and values human beings above all else, there could never be such a thing as concentrations camps." That such claims are outright lies has been proven once again through this interview.

Furthermore, no matter how big a fuss the South Korean authorities make over linking the Arirang performance and the World Cup, it is all for naught since the North Korean people are uninterested in the former event and not even aware of the latter. The North Korean regime has provided its people with information about the terrorist attacks in the US in order to propagandize 'The decline of imperialism,' but it has held back information proving that despotic governments will surely fall. Through past articles in the series <So Speaks the North Korean People,> we were able to detect the idea of a massive uprising carefully gaining force among the North Korean people. We also learnt that the North Korean defectors who return to their homeland with experience of the outside world are playing an important role in this changing awareness. No matter how hard Kim Jong Il struggles to stop up the holes in his dam, the holes will keep appearing everywhere. And one day, the dam will surely collapse. / by Editor