The gulags of Kim Jong-un

An estimated 180,000 people suspected of political wrong-doing or wrong-thinking – including family members “guilty by association” – are incarcerated in North Korea’s kwanliso penal camp system

Kwanliso hard labour camps

Type of hard labour

Estimated population, offenders and families

Kwanliso 14: Officials perceived to have performed poorly, criticized regime or conducted “anti-government” activities. Total control zone – prisoners work until death

Coal mines, factories producing military uniforms, tyres, cement, agriculture 50,000

CHINA 

NORTH KOREA

Kaechon

Yodok 

Pukchang

Pyongyang

100km 62 miles

Hoeryong 

Chongjin

Hwaseong

Demilitarized Zone

Seoul

SOUTH KOREA

Kwanliso 18: Oldest North Korean prison camp, opened in 1958 Total control zone

Coal, cement, pottery, roof tiles, alcohol 10,000

Kwanliso 15: Total control zone Four in 10 deaths from malnutrition Coal and limestone mining,
sweets, alcohol, cigarettes, noodles, sheep/duck farms 45,000, including up to 6,000 Christians

Kwanliso 16: At 550 sq km, camp is country’s largest Labour types unknown 20,000

Kwanliso 25: Single building prison complex  Kalmaegi bicycles 5,000

Kwanliso 22: Total control zone Reports that up to 30,000 prisoners died of starvation in 2012
Corn, water melons, potatoes, cooking oil, soy bean paste, cigarettes 50,000

Sources: Amnesty International; David Hawk, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea,
Human Rights Watch; Open Doors Christian mission