Kaechon internment camp

The Kaechon political prison camp, also known as Camp 14, was established in 1959 and is located in the center of the country, approximately 40 miles north of Pyongyang, in South Pyongan Province. Situated on the north bank of the Taedong River, the camp is directly across the river from the Pukchang political prison camp (Camp 18) and near Mount Purok. The Kaechon political prison camp is located 12 miles to the southeast of the Kaechon reeducation labor camp. The DPRK government maintains different systems of labor camps – the kwan-li-so, or political prison camps, and the kwo-hwa-so, or reeducation labor camps – among other types of detention facilities. Kaechon is approximately 60 square miles in area and is said to hold 15,000 prisoners, all serving life sentences. The camp appears to have been operating since at least the 1960s. Like all political prison camps in North Korea, Kaechon is designed to segregate from the general prison population those considered “enemies of the State” and “unredeemable” because they have committed political crimes and to punish them for those crimes through unending hard labor. Those sent to the camp include officials perceived to have performed poorly in their job, people who have criticized the regime, and anyone suspected of engaging in anti-government activities. However, some Kaechon prisoners are victims of the regime’s “three generations of punishment,” in which three generations of a prisoner’s family are also sent to the camp and may die there without having committed a crime themselves. Kaechon is essentially one large total control zone, meaning all prisoners are serving life sentences. Economic activities that employ prisoners as slave labor include mining, textiles, farming, and raising livestock. Induced starvation is common among prisoners, who are driven to catch and eat rodents, frogs, and snakes. Human rights situation Witnesses have reported that prisoners interred in the camp are required to work for long periods, often from 5:30 to midnight. Even 11-year-old children have to work after school and thus rarely see their parents. Other reports describe prisoners being beaten and severely punished for minor infractions. Food rations are scant, consisting of salted cabbage and corn. The prisoners are emaciated; they lose their teeth, and their gums blacken. Many die of malnourishment, illness, work accidents, and the after-effects of torture. Many prisoners resort to eating frogs, insects, rats, snakes, and even cannibalism in order to try to survive. Eating rat flesh helps prevent pellagra, a common disease in the camp resulting from the absence of protein and niacin in the diet. In order to eat anything outside of the prison-sanctioned meal, including these animals, prisoners must first get permission from the guards. BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR