Eyewitness: A Litany of North Korean Crimes Against Humanity Prima Facie Evidence

By Sang Hun Kim

There has been information about shocking crimes against humanity by North Korean authorities over many decades. The information has been in the form of books, reports, and research papers for experts, news media, professors, government policy-makers, activists, etc. Thus, the information has failed to reach the attention of the general public of the human society in general. The present book has been designed to give such information to ordinary people on the streets and a book to be the first of a series of similar information to follow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Sep 12, 2014
• ISBN: 9781482827064

Sang Hun Kim

The author is a South Korean national and has been a human rights activist in South Korea for over the past thirty-five years, in general, and a North Korean human rights for the past eighteen years, in particular. He was one of the founding members of Amnesty International Korean Section in 1976 and today a representative of an NGO in Seoul, North Korean Human Rights: the 3rd Way. He is also the chairman of the board of directors of Database Center of North Korean Human Rights.

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Copyright © 2014 Sang Hun Kim. All rights reserved.

ISBN

978-1-4828-2705-7 (sc)

978-1-4828-2706-4 (e)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

09/09/2014

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Eyewitness:

a Litany of North Korean Crimes against Humanity

Chonkori Prison (First in a Series)

On the basis of:

- a total of 8,934 overall testimonies about human rights situations in North Korea,

- general testimonies of 81 former prisoners of Chonkori prison and

- in-depth interviews with 14 former prisoners of Chonkori prison—

North Korean Human Rights: the 3rd Way

Seoul, Korea

[e-mail]

Table of Contents

Foreword

THE VOICE OF VICTIMS

I. Introduction

1. Political Prison Camps (Kwaliso)

2. Ordinary Prisons

II. The Process of Imprisonment

1. Arrest and Forced Repatriation from China

2. Detention and Preliminary Investigation

3. Trial

4. Treatment of Prisoners at Prisons

III. Chonkori Prison

1. Location

2. Prison Facilities

3. Imprisonment Procedures

4. Sanitary Conditions

5. Medical Care

6. Feeding

7. Operation of Prison

8. Supply of Daily Necessities

9. Prison visits

10. Discipline Sessions

11. Prisoner Informants

12. Secret Execution

IV. Type of Work

1. Work Unit

2. Logging unit

3. Work at a Copper Mine

4. Other Type of Work Sites

V. Punishment

1. Torture and Atrocities

2. Sexual Violence

3. Punishment Chamber

VI. Disposal of Dead Bodies

VII. Conclusions

Epilogue

Annex I

Annex II

Foreword

Sang Hun Kim,

Representative,

North Korean Human Rights: the 3rd Way

An abundance of objective information worldwide and several thousand testimonies by North Koreans have now confirmed the reality of the gravest possible crimes against humanity. These crimes have been perpetuated on prisoners of North Korean secret political prison camps and within all public internment facilities, not for duration of weeks or months, but over the agonizing period of many decades. Many North Koreans perish as a matter of course in the daily operation of such camps and facilities, up to and including the publication date of this book at the end of 2012. The reality of regime barbarity is to such an extent that North Korean authorities can hardly be said to constitute a legitimate government, but rather a criminal gang.

The failure of the international community to bring to an end such crimes against humanity in North Korea is deeply deplorable indeed. It is second only to the malaise of apathy that South Koreans have manifested toward their own sisters and brothers in the North who have suffered such prolonged and cruel violence.

Thus, some activists have been compelled to develop new strategies 1) to break out of the current human rights impasse at the international level, and 2) at the same time, to awaken the South Korean conscience to the grim realities in the North, with the goal of spurring them to action.

The first strategy, going forward, involves the shifting of emphasis from written information and documentation of North Korean human rights abuses to the production of audio-visual presentations, such as authentic video clips, documentaries with the use of re-enacted scenes, computer graphics, drawings, etc. Without question, audio-visual presentations are exponentially more powerful than written documents in moving hearts and minds in the 21st Century. Although this new method will surely be more costly, there is every indication that by making this strategic shift, we can do a better job of getting on the world’s ‘radar screen,’ thereby generating greater support worldwide to halt the crimes against humanity committed by North Korean authorities.

The second strategy involves undertaking completely objective research and studies in this field that are entirely free from political bias. To achieve this goal it will be vital to identify all contributing causes to the oppression that exists in the North. Imperative for such an undertaking will be the dispassionate review of the recent history of Korea, rejecting political filters from either end of the ideological spectrum.

During the 30 years of various military governments that dominated South Korea’s landscape between the years 1960 to 1993, government proponents defended torture and justified violations of human rights in the interests of so called anti-communism and state security. Today’s adherents to the same strong-armed legacy of yesteryear, without reflection or contrition for their earlier support of human rights violations, are most vehemently advocating for human rights in North Korea. However, under close inspection, this advocacy is nothing more than a cynical political expediency, a way to denounce the policy of reconciliation with North Korea. The political forces that supported torture yesterday, yet cynically appear to advocate for human rights in North Korea today, have caused many young South Koreans to view advocacy for North Korean human rights as a mere extension of the fanatical anti-communism propaganda that was rampant during the three decades of military governments