North Korean Concentration Camp Drawings

The above drawings were done by North Korean refugees who were helped to escape from the DPRK by the Life Funds For North Korean Refugees non-government organization. These NSFW illustrations depict torture, human rights violations and the daily despair of living in Camp 12 Chongo-ri Kyo Hwa So. The Chongori reeducation center is located in the North Hamgyong Province and has a very high death rate. The following description of this camp is from the Chosunilbo:

One defector who had a hair's breadth escape from Chongori, has said, "Chongori is a living hell. Yoduk (the notorious prison camp) is a much better place."

At Chongori, inmates are doomed to die of malnutrition. Forced to work for 14 hours a day, they are given only two whole potatoes and a handful of cornmeal a day. Few inmates stick it out for more than three months, no matter how healthy they are, because beatings are a daily routine there, he said.

Located in Tokyo, Japan Life Funds For North Korean Refugees helps North Korean refugees escape to Japan and other countries and start new lives. Among other things, this NGO also provides food shipments via balloon deliveries and through its own local networks from South Korea to North Korea. Find out more information at their official Japanese website and please donate to help this organization.

See also:

North Korean Poet's Rhymes of Murder, Despair

Rimjin-gang's Underground North Korea News Update

Canadian DPRK Documentary "The Defector"

Rimjin-gang's Underground North Korea News Update

Reporting from the inside of North Korea, the very brave underground news team known as the Rimjin-gang has released a new report written in June 2011 and published in December 2011. In this news update it is shown that people who carry oversized luggage or look too shabby are not permitted to enter train stations in Pyongyang. The reason for this is to "depict the showcase city, Pyongyang, as a beautiful and rich capital to the outside world." A reporter who goes by the name of Gu Gwang-ho writes:

"Soldiers standing at the entrance checkpoint are the military police of the People’s Army. Whenever they find a person with a shabby appearance, wearing a backpack or carrying a large piece of luggage, they stop them at the entrance of the station to prevent them from travelling to the city center."

"Many passengers carry a look of resignation as it happens very often. But sometimes we see people express their anger openly which turns into an acrimonious quarrel."

In another report also written in June, 2011 and published in December 2011, Gwang-ho writes about a growing economic inequality between the upper class and the middle class of The Worker's Paradise. According to Gwang-ho:

"Our country’s TV news often shows a gap between the rich and the poor in the capitalist countries, lashing out with militant slogans, and always ends up in defending the superiority of socialism."

"But the scenes that I witness in every day life are nothing more than a gap or a disparity in the society. The gap lies between the privileged class and the ordinary citizen. Of course the TV and the party papers never mention about this because the gap shall not exist in our country. "

About the Rimjin-gang: This is an anonymous group of North Korean reporters living in North Korea. They are risking their lives in order to publish real news stories, photos and videos about the many social problems inside The Hermit Kingdom. These reporters are working closely with Asiapress Publishing in Osaka, Japan. They published this very shocking video back in December 2010:



Asiapress Publishing also has published a hardcover book in English entitled "Rimjin-gang News From Inside North Korea." This book includes 495 pages containing more than 180 photos(B&W). Order your copy here.



See also:

North Korean Documentary "Kimjongilia"

North Korean Laborers in Siberia