The Korean peninsula has always been a disputed piece of land, fought over by warring peoples. From the 1700s until the Sino-Japanese war of 1885, the area now known as Korea was controlled by China.[1]1 After the Japanese defeated the Chinese, they gave the peninsula its independence, but this only lasted for fifteen years. In 1910 Korea was annexed by Japan, and the Japanese stayed in control until the end of the Second World War. In 1945 the Korean peninsula was divided into north and south at the 38^th parallel, the lower half controlled by the US, the upper controlled by the USSR.[2]2

This was the first time in latter-day Korean history that the region had been divided, and the reason behind the split was simple- power giants the US and the USSR couldn’t play nice until both got their “fair share” of occupation zones. The original plan of the allied nations was that Korea would eventually be reunified and given its independence with a trusteeship (made up of China, the US, the USSR, and Great Britain) over Korea, but this proved impossible.[3]They gave up this plan in 1948 due to rising tensions between communist and democratic factions, meaning both the Soviet Union and the United States, and those within Korea. Thus the communist state of North Korea, officially known as The Democratic People’s Republic, came to be. of Korea

Despite North Korea’s name, the country is anything but democratic. Since its establishment in 1948, the people living above the 38^th parallel on the Korean peninsula have suffered. They lived under communist dictator Kim Il-sung till his death in 1994, and now the oppression continues under his son Kim Jong-il. Both father and son developed a cult of fear that helped them maintain absolute power, denying the people freedom of speech, the right to assemble and the right to a fair trial. Any violators of North Korean law face extreme punishments, from torture to death . Little was known about the plight of the North Korea people until recently, because the country had been closed off to the outside world, thus gaining its nickname “the hermit kingdom”. The world now knows that in 1998 there was a famine that wiped out 2 to 3 million Koreans, and to this day a large percent of the population is malnourished. 3 now know that most of the humanitarian aid being sent to North Korea is actually funding the DPRK's military, instead of being used to help the thousands of starving people in North Korea.

The oppressive government, combined with the dearth of food, has caused a mass exodus of people from North Korea which has steadily increased over the years. The refugees are so desperate to get food that they illegally cross the border into China, risking execution and torture if they are caught and returned to North Korea.[3]4 In 2001 there were a known 6,000 refugees in South Korea, and an estimated 300,000 North Korean refugees living in China, despite China’s policy that those found are to be handed over to the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republicgovernment. of Korea) [4]5 The number of North Korean refugees has since increased, but no official numeric estimate has been given on how many are living in China and South Korea today. These refugees have proved invaluable to understanding the current situation in North Korea, for many have testified of the hardships of living in Korea and of the oppression they felt from the government.

It was from these testimonies that the world first learned of the kwan-li-sos, prison camps located across the Korean wilderness that can be likened to the concentration camps of the Nazis during World War II and the gulags (labor camps) of Stalin. Many prisoners and guards from these camps escaped NK and are now living in South Korea, and in 2003 interviews were conducted to gather information on the North Korean prisons. These testimonies have since been verified through the use of satellite photos of the prisons, which have matched hand-drawn maps by the refugees. These former prisoners and guards have been able to point out from the photographs where they slept, where they were detained, and where they saw executions. [5]6 From their accounts it is estimated that between 150, 000 to 200,000 North Korans are being imprisoned in these camps, and all face routine torture and starvation.[6]7

 Describing the Issue: 

In North Korea almost any act can land you in a prison camp for life. People have been detained in a kwan-li-so for not properly dusting, and for spilling ink on, a picture of Kim Il-sung. Many prisoners were abducted by the government and put in a prison camp without any idea what their crime was, and most received no trial or any judicial process to determine innocence or guilt. Some are even taken into custody and tortured till they confess their crime, allowing the police to save their image as relayers of justice. The DPRK also believes in "guilt by association” or yeon-jwa-je, and imprisons the family of a wrongdoer for up to three generations. This practice was formed because in 1972 Kim Il Sung said “Factionalists or enemies of class, whoever they are, their seed must be eliminated through three generations.” So all you have to do is be born into the wrong family, and you are deemed an enemy of the DPRK and a "bad seed" that must be eliminated.

In a kwan-li-so prisoners are cut off from the outside world completely. The prisons are located in the northern provinces of North Korea, in the valleys between high mountains. The prisons are surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers, and part of the North Korean army patrols the perimeter, making it almost impossible to escape. Those who are sent to the prisons usually die there, either because they had a life sentence or from the harsh conditions. Prisoners are given very little food, and many escapees told of how they ate grass, animal food, rats, frogs, animal droppings and snakes so they could survive. Punishment for misbehavior at the kwan-li-sos includes reduction of food portions, beatings, and solitary confinement in small cells. Punishment for trying to escape is public execution.