The Hidden Gulag - US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea

The Hidden Gulag Second EditionWITNESS AND TESTIMONY: An Hyuk,Kwan-li-so No. 15 “Yodok” (1987–1989)An Hyuk was born in Manpo City, Jakangprovince, in 1968 into a loyal party family. Atthe age of twelve, he received a governmentscholarship to a school for physical education.In 1986, when he was nineteen, after skiing inHyesan near Mt. Paekdu on the Chinese border,An crossed into China largely out of curiosity.Arrested in China, he was repatriated to NorthKorea. He was detained for one year and eightmonths in solitary confinement in an undersized,underground cell in the Maram ku-ryu-jang (detentionfacility) at Yongsong, Pyongyang, and foranother year and a half at the Daesuk-ri singlesprison area at Yodok, one of the villages in the“re-revolutionizing” section of Kwan-li-so No. 15.While at Maram, An was subjected to sleepdeprivation and compelled to sit motionlessfor days. He saw only forty other detainees, butbelieves there were as many as 1,000. Amongthose in nearby cells were prisoners detainedfor spilling ink on or failing to adequately dustphotographs of Kim Il-sung, charges that,according to An Hyuk, even the prison guardsregarded as lacking seriousness. An relates thatwhen he was transferred to Yodok, the guardsthere told him that he had been sitting downfor too long and that it was time for him to dosome work. During his year and a half at Yodok,there were some 2,000 prisoners in the Daesuk-risection of the prison camp for unmarried prisoners.At Yodok, An’s first labor assignment wasconstruction work at a water-driven electricpower plant at the camp. His duties entailedbreaking ice and wading waist-deep into a frozenstream to gather stones, and laying boards tore-channel the water. It was literally a “murderous”construction project, as scores died fromexposure, and even more lost fingers and toes tofrostbite. His next work assignment was cuttingdown and carrying rare hardwood trees fromhigh mountains for export to Japan. Deathsresulted from injuries during this project as well.His last work project was gathering wild mushroomsin the mountains, also for export.In 1992, An escaped to Seoul along withhis former fellow prisoner at Yodok, KangChol-hwan. In 1995, Chongji Media in Seoulpublished his Korean-language prison memoirs,Yodok List.WITNESS AND TESTIMONY: KimTae-jin, Kwan-li-so No. 15 “Yodok”(1988–1992)Kim Tae-jin was born in 1956 in China, wherehis father worked in the Chinese military. Hereturned with his mother to North Korea in1961. After reaching adulthood, he worked ina leather factory in South Pyongan province.In 1986, he went to visit relatives in China andstayed for eighteen months before being arrested,60