[imText1]A claim has been made that the North Korean authorities have built tunnels in political prison camps in order to massacre prisoners if needed.
Song Yun Bok from the Japanese NGO No Fence revealed today that, “The North’s regime has been preparing a massacre in the event there is a situation unfavorable for them,” and added, “They have built tunnels everywhere in camps to slaughter some 200,000 prisoners.”
The claim came during North Korean Freedom Week in an event held by the Democracy Network against the North Korean Gulag.
He went on, “In order to prevent them from carrying out such an act, neighboring countries including South Korea must put pressure on the regime. If we leave the political prison camps as they are, the Holocaust could be repeated.”
At the event, which was held at the Korean National Assembly complex, five former North Korean political prison camp inmates testified about their experiences in the camps.
Kim Hye Sook, who was imprisoned in the No. 18 Buchang Camp for 28 years, said, “When I was 13, I was imprisoned without knowing why,” and she added, “Due to a lack of food, 50 percent of prisoners died of malnutrition.”
Shin Dong Hyuk, who was born in the No. 14 Kaecheon Camp, testified that, “My parents married as a reward, and then I was born in 1982. In other words, I had to live there as a prisoner from birth.”
He added, “After escaping the prison camp and seeing that people in North Korean society didn’t need to bow deeply to the police and could talk and laugh, I thought it was heaven. But after entering South Korea I realized that North Korean society itself was a hell.”
Throughout North Korean Freedom Week protests and exhibitions about the North Korean human rights situation and citizens abducted to the North are scheduled in many parts of Seoul.
