- As Food Situation Worsened Number of Political Prisoners increased
- Imprisoned without any hearing, nor legal evidence
- Main Causes of Death: malnutrition and work related accidents
- Runaways are immediately executed

After being released from a three-year imprisonment in 2003, Mr. Kwang-Il Chung defected to South Korea in 2004, and has settled since. His personal experiences with human right violations during imprisonment allowed him to establish the organization ¡®Democracy Network against North Korean Gulags,¡¯ of which he serves as its executive director. He shares how the rights of the North Koreans under Kim Jong-Il were trampled and suppressed.

Q: Has there been an increase of prisons and political prisoners since Kim Jong Il came
   to power?

A: Yes, there¡¯s been an increase of both. Since being named the next in command in 1980, the number of prison camps expanded. Four new prison camps were constructed at the time, and its purpose was to punish and confine up to 15,000 people who were against Kim Jong Il¡¯s succession.

Q: In your view, what is the reason for the increasing number of prisoners?

A: Ever since Kim Jong Il came to power, the food crisis became worse, and economic instability slowly increased. As a result, there has been no shortage of political prisoners. Until the 70¡¯s and 80¡¯s, capitalists, particularly those during Japan¡¯s colonialism, or supporters of southern soldiers during the Korean War, were considered political prisoners. However, in the 90¡¯s, with the March of Tribulation, social uneasiness became the general atmosphere. People started mocking Kim Jong Il¡¯s incompetency, and for such ¡®speech revolt,¡¯ many were sent to prison camps.

Q: Have you seen anyone who was confined for criticizing Kim Il Sung or Kim Jong Il?

A: Most came in for that reason when I was there. About 40% were critics, and the other 30% were nonconformists.

Q: Is there any legal evidence for ¡®speech revolt¡¯ as a crime?

A: Because people can¡¯t be prosecuted for saying the wrong things, they are sent to the prison camps. If there is a legal problem, they are sent to a re-educational facility. There are no court procedures. If a security agent arbitrarily decides that an individual is guilty of treason, the verdict stands. There can be no clause that can be used as legal evidence. 

Q: Does Kim Jong Il have the final word on the decision to carry out a sentence?

A: No one goes to a prison camp because he is sentenced. As I said earlier, there is no hearing to sentence a 3 year term. There is no law within the prison camp. If they think a 3 year term is needed for conversion, you¡¯ll be let go after the third year. Kim Jong Il doesn¡¯t make this decision, but the National Security Agency does. A prosecutor makes the decision according to each circumstance.

Q: Do you know any close aids of Kim Jong Il that came to the prison camp? If so, what were their charges?

A: The secretary of the ¡®Yang Gang Do¡¯ party, Byung Nam Kim, came in February of 2000. He was charged with party slandering. Honestly, the word ¡®party¡¯ is used synonymously with Kim Jong Il. A secretary of the ¡®Yang Gang Do¡¯ party has the influence equivalent to South Korea¡¯s provincial governors. Basically, he disgraced Kim Jong Il¡¯s reputation. Chang Nam Ahn, the minister of Justice, also came a year later in 2001. He served 2 years and was released. There are many who are arrested with bribery charges. Many higher officials give and take bribes; he was one of the unlucky cases to be brought in.

Q: Are these personnel of higher office reinstated after discharged?

A: I¡¯m not sure if they get their jobs back. I remember a man name Chul Ho Shin, who held a deputy-secretary position in Cheshin province. After being released he wasn¡¯t called back, and now he works as chief engineer at a company in Cheshin province.

Q: Is education of Kim Jong Il worship forced in the prison camp?

A: We labor 18 hours a day, and in the evening a 2 hour class is taught on politics. The class is taught to re-educate those who have different ideas or are against the ideology of the party or Kim Jong Il. The party¡¯s 10 systematic principles or ¡®Juche Idea¡¯ (official state ideology) is to be enforced and memorized. They simply beat the ideology into us.

Q: Are there any special celebrations for Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il¡¯s birthdays?

A: There is nothing special; we just take a day off. We are given every first and the fifteenth of the month off. Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il¡¯s birthdays are on the fifteenth and the sixteenth, so we automatically rest on those days.

Q: Did you witness a public execution?

A: When I was in Yoduk prison, there were 2 public executions. The two on the run were captured and shot. An escape is impossible and out of the question. There are three lines of electric fences around the prison, and in each 5meter space, a 10meter trap full with iron spike is placed. Some prisoners thoughtlessly run to the mountain slopes, but escape is not possible. Ho Suk Kim attempted his escape on March 5th of 2003, but was brought back within 10 hrs. He was bitten heavily by the military dogs, and was shot while the other prisoners watched. Head of security once said that he¡¯ll find and kill anyone who escaped. The prison is an impossible place to escape from.

Q: Are there any public executions except in the case of attempted escape?

No. The guards will take prisoners whose ideologies are different out at night. Maybe they are secretly executed. When I was there, about 40-50 were taken out and disappeared. If any complained, they were taken out at night. We wouldn¡¯t know what happened to them.

Q: Due to international pressure, public execution has decreased in North Korea. How about in the prison camps?

A: Jail breaking is considered treason therefore public execution is still carried out. I heard the number has decreased outside the prisoner camp, but escapees are executed. Two prisoners, Kang Ho Choi and Ho Suk Kim, were executed in front of other cellmates to induce fear.

Q: Can you provide some details of your arrest in 1999.

A: I wasn¡¯t sent to the prison camp right after the arrest. I had a South Korean friend who I knew from trading business. Someone informed the intelligence that I was a spy. I was arrested in July of 1999, and I didn¡¯t know the reason for it. I was taken to the interrogation room, and for ten days I was questioned what my mission was. I had nothing on me. The interrogators said that they thoroughly searched and found out that my South Korean friend was intelligence, and that I had received a mission from him. I was scared to death and told them I never met such a person. Then, they brought in the informant into the room and I couldn¡¯t say anything anymore. I was caught lying.

Q: I heard that you were arrested in July of 1999 and transferred to Yoduk prison camp in April of 2000. What happened during those 8 months in between? 

A: I was tortured in my summer clothes until 27th of December. I nearly froze to death. Most of all, being confined in the basement was hardest to bear. At first, I thought of dying, but I decided to live when the interrogators promised to give me clothes and feed me if I acknowledged my crime; I falsely confessed. I said I never carried out the mission. Around February of 2000, an inspector came and courteously asked me to confess the truth. I was worn out from torture at the time, and eventually told that I falsely confessed. After hearing my confession, interrogators came in and beat me severely. I forgot they were in the same team. They wanted to make sure I didn¡¯t mix up the story. So, I decided to tell the truth and was later transferred to Yoduk prison camp.

Q: Is visitation allowed in the prison camp?

A: After confessing my lies, I was allowed to meet my parents in prison. But, when I was transferred to the prison camp, my families didn¡¯t know my whereabouts. There can be no visitation. You are sent straight to the prison camp after being examined, so nobody knows where you are.

Q: Food ration can be sparing, were you fed every meal?

A: About 600g of corn is distributed to each person, but the amount decreases if you are unable to work. If you can¡¯t fulfill the day¡¯s work schedule, you can¡¯t eat as much. Plus, 600g isn¡¯t enough in the first place. How can you function with that amount? One of the tasks in the camps requires prisoners to cut 800kg worth of grass and load it on an A-frame carrier. An individual is required to cut 350m©÷ of weeds with a hoe and pick all day in the sun like an animal. Logging is done during winter, and 7 stump of 4m length and 30cm width trees are required each day. There are no equipments, only axes. After the tree is cut, it is then carried for 4km, four times back and forth. Several drag the tree, and the frozen tree is easy to slide. Since the roads are slippery, many are pushed and pulled to the edge of the cliff and die. The worst part is the guards enjoying this tragedy. They bring some corn and say that if 5 people are killed, they¡¯ll let us eat the corn. The guards take pleasure in watching these accidents. I realized then that I wasn¡¯t considered human. In July, about 60kg of mulberry leaves are picked. The South Koreans can never imagine such things.

Q: Prisoners who are pregnant, sick, elderly, and children, were they managed separately?

A: At the time, there was no one pregnant. Patients were disposed because they can¡¯t work, and how would the elderly work? Likewise, rations were denied. It¡¯s a fight for survival in there. There were no children, only a 17-year old minor. However, there was no special treatment, everyone was treated the same.

Q: What was the main cause of prisoner¡¯s death?

A: Starvation, mostly from malnutrition, and many from tree carrying accidents.

Q: Were the guards given authority to torture?

A: There is no torturing in the prison camp, only punishments. If the guards were not in a good mood, people were punished by groups. A group of 30 were declined rations and heating was forbidden. Who will be blamed for such punishment? The others blamed and beat the one who caused it.

Q: Are there prisoners who commit suicide?

A: It¡¯s not possible. In there, you can¡¯t move on your own. Prisoners are grouped in three, and each look out for one other. Desire to live is greater than the will to die.

Q: Can early release be expected? Is so, under what circumstances?

A: Like what I said earlier, if Kim Jong Il allows it. Usually it is the high officials that are let out.

Q: After release, did you suffer from any aftereffects? What are some of the other casess?

A: I still have nightmares once in a while. I dream of episodes of my life in the prison camp. Recently, there was heavy snow, and I dreamt of dragging a tree. Others suffer from similar mental repercussions such as socio-phobia and paranoia. I heard and know many people who died from such aftereffects.

Q: You served a three year sentence. Did you know it in advance?

A: As I said, I didn¡¯t know. There wasn¡¯t any hearing.

Q: What kind of thoughts came to your mind during those times?

A: I thought if I was pardoned and released, I firmly decided not to meet any South Koreans, but to be loyal to the leader and the party. I was resolute. There were some who were released, so I also had hope of being released.

Q: However, you defected to the south right after you were released?

A: I was released on April 12, 2003 and defected on the 25th of the same month. In the prison camp I had no intention of doing so, but when I returned home, my house was confiscated, family was broken, and even my wife was forced to divorce me. Since I was framed as a spy, my wife had no choice. I couldn¡¯t live in this land. So I decided to start fresh, defected, and in 2004, I arrived in South Korea.