Human experimentation in North Korea is an issue raised by some North Korean defectors and former prisoners. They have described suffocation of prisoners in gas chambers, testing deadly chemical weapons and surgery without anesthesia.
Hoeryong concentration camp was a prison camp in North Korea that was reported to have been closed in 2012. The official name was KwallisoNo. 22. The camp was a maximum security area, completely isolated from the outside world.
The human rights record of North Korea is often considered to be the worst in the world and has been globally condemned, with the United Nations, the European Union and groups such as Human Rights Watch all critical of it. Most international human rights organizations consider North Korea to have no contemporary parallel with respect to violations of liberty.
Kang Chol-hwan is a North Korean defector, author, and the founder and president of the North Korea Strategy Center.
Yodok concentration camp was a kwalliso in North Korea. The official name was Kwan-li-so No. 15. The camp was used to segregate those seen as enemies of the state, punish them for political misdemeanors, and put them to hard labour. It was closed down in 2014.
The Sŭnghori concentration camp was a labor camp for political prisoners which was located in North Hwanghae Province North Korea, about 70 kilometers from Pyongyang.
Lee Soon-ok is a North Korean defector and the author of Eyes of the Tailless Animals: Prison Memoirs of a North Korean Woman, her account of being falsely accused, tortured, and imprisoned under poor conditions for crimes against the state and her subsequent release from prison and defection from the country. Since leaving North Korea, she has resided in South Korea.
Kaechon concentration camp is a prison in North Korea with many political prisoners. The official name is Kyo-hwa-so No. 1. It is not to be confused with Kaechon internment camp, which is located 20 km (12 mi) to the south-east.
Kaechon Internment Camp is a labor camp in North Korea for political prisoners and descendants of alleged criminals. The official name for the camp is Kwan-li-so No. 14. The camp is commonly known as Camp 14. It is not to be confused with the Kaechon concentration camp, which is located 20 km (12 mi) to the northwest. Nearest train station is the Oedong station of the Taegon Line.
Pukch'ang concentration camp is a labor camp in North Korea for political prisoners. It is sometimes called Tŭkchang concentration camp. The official name is Kwan-li-so No. 18.
Hwasong concentration camp is a labor camp in North Korea for political prisoners. The official name is Kwan-li-so No. 16.
Chongjin concentration camp is a labour camp in North Korea for political prisoners. The official name is Kwan-li-so No. 25. Satellite images show a major expansion of the camp after 2010.
Chongori concentration camp is a reeducation camp in North Korea. The official name of the camp is Kyo-hwa-so No. 12.
Prisons in North Korea have conditions that are unsanitary, life-threatening and are comparable to historical concentration camps. A significant number of inmates have died each year, since they are subject to torture and inhumane treatment. Public and secret executions of inmates, even children, especially in cases of attempted escape, are commonplace. Infanticides also often occur. The mortality rate is exceptionally high, because many prisoners die of starvation, illnesses, work accidents, or torture.
North Korea's political penal labor and rehabilitation colonies, transliterated kwalliso or kwan-ri-so, constitute one of three forms of political imprisonment in the country, the other two being what Washington DC based NGO Committee for Human Rights in North Korea described as "short-term detention/forced-labor centers" and "long-term prison labor camps", for misdemeanor and felony offenses respectively. It is unknown if there are any operating as of 2023.
Shin Suk-ja is a South Korean woman who is currently imprisoned, along with her daughters, in North Korea after her husband Oh Kil-nam defected from North Korea to Denmark, having been given a political asylum. The case received international attention, including Amnesty International's naming her a prisoner of conscience and campaigning heavily for her release; this appeal remains ignored by North Korean authorities.
Kyo-hwa-so Hoeryong(회령교화소) is a "reeducation camp" in Hoeryong, in North Hamgyong province of North Korea. It is not to be confused with Haengyong political prison camp, which is located 10 km (6.2 mi) north-east of Hoeryong and is sometimes also called Hoeryong camp. It holds roughly 1,500 prisoners.
Hamhung concentration camp is a reeducation camp in North Korea. The official name of the camp is Kyo-hwa-so No. 9. The sub-facility for women is sometimes called Kyo-hwa-so No. 15.
Chungsan concentration camp is a reeducation camp in North Korea. Its official name is Kyo-hwa-so No. 11.
