A political prison camp originally thought to have been closed has been reopened since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un took power in 2011. In addition, power struggles since Kim Jong Un’s ascension to the leadership have led to the expansion of other previously closed or downsized camps.
A source with knowledge of the country’s political prison camps told Daily NK on Jan. 2 that “Camp 17 [Gaechon], which had been closed, was reopened in November 2014 on the orders of the Supreme Leader [Kim Jong Un]. Upon taking office, Kim executed a number of his political opponents and reopened the camp to house the many family members of those who had been purged.”
The source explained that the aftermath of Kim Jong Un’s purges led to the reopening of previously closed political prison camps.
According to a 2013 report by the Korean Institute for National Unification (KINU), Prison Camp 17 was closed sometime around 1983.
However, the source explained that “whenever a new leader came to power, the rules changed. These power shifts led to new camps.”
“Just as when the Dear General [Kim Jong Il] began implementing his Songun policy after succeeding the Dear Leader [Kim Il Sung], the Ministry of State Security’s political prison camps and forced labor camps grew in size, and the political prison camp system expanded as a result,” the source said, referring to Kim Jong Il’s “military first” policy. “This pattern has been repeated under Kim Jong Un, resulting in the need for an additional prison camp to accommodate [all the new victims] of his consolidation of power and rule changes.”
The source added: “Whenever there is a change in leadership, we see a ‘purging of the ranks’ and a new batch of political prisoners and other tainted individuals who need to be contained. If these people are simply left alone in society, they could become the seeds of resistance growing under the leader’s nose, so they need to be taken care of.”
Similarly, under Kim Jong Un, Camp 18 (Pukchang) in South Pyongan Province, which had previously been downsized, has expanded significantly, surpassing its size before Kim came to power.
“The number of prisoners and the scale of Camp 18’s operations had been declining until 2013. However, following Kim Jong Un’s early purges – including the execution of Jang Song Thaek – the number of prisoners at Camp 18 began to rise again. It is known among the North Korean population that many cadres and their families with ties to Jang Song Thaek were sent to Camp 18 after Jang’s downfall.”
Camp 18 holds those responsible for failure of 2019 US-DPRK summit
Camp 18, in particular, holds not only prisoners linked to Jang Song Thaek but also those deemed responsible for the collapse of the 2019 US-DPRK summit in Hanoi.
“Camp 18 has a special area for prisoners linked to Jang Song Thaek and the failed Hanoi summit. This area is known to be a total control zone where prisoners held there have no chance of returning to the outside world,” the source said.
According to the source, from mid-2013 to 2020, the operation of Camp 18 was split between the Ministry of Social Security, North Korea’s national police agency, and the Ministry of State Security, the country’s secret police. The Ministry of Social Security now runs the entire camp.
North Korea’s political prison camps are usually divided into two main zones: “revolutionary zones” and “total control zones.” Prisoners in the former are released after serving their sentences, while those in the latter are deprived of the right to return to the outside world. The Ministry of Social Security usually administers the revolutionary zones, while the Ministry of State Security usually administers the total control zones.
Previously under the joint management of the Ministry of Social Security and the Ministry of State Security, Camp 18 recently came under the management of the Ministry of Social Security, giving ordinary prisoners new hope that they might one day be released back into society. However, prisoners within the total control zone of Camp 18 remain imprisoned with no chance of release.
“Kim Jong Un has ordered officials to keep the camps running even without prisoners. High-ranking officials tend to follow the party’s instructions closely, even if it results in more cadres and guards maintaining the camps than there are prisoners,” the source said.
According to Daily NK’s ongoing research on political prison camps from 2020 to the present, there are an estimated 200,000 to 240,000 prisoners held in camps across the country.
Translated by Matthew Eteuati, Jr. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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