Remember the innocents who dreamed of freedom
Almost all of those who have died in pretrial centers and prison camps are nameless, forgotten, and buried without markers. (Image: iStock.com/Drazen)
Countless numbers of North Koreans have disappeared into the gulag where they are never heard from again.
This article delves into the shocking reality of North Korea as revealed through the testimony of one survivor, Lee Seon-ok
Punished for crimes they did not commit
In April 2012, at a trial at the North Hamgyong provincial security service’s pretrial detention center, Kim Young-ho and his family of nine were sentenced to prison under Article 63, “Treason Against the Fatherland.”
Their crime was that they tried to leave North Korea.
Kim lived in Yeonsa County in the province. The sequence of events that led to his decision began with a tragic incident. While she was tending to a farm animal, Kim’s mother-in-law was struck by a cow, rupturing her internal organs.
When she died before they could reach a military hospital, Kim became enraged and killed the cow. For this crime, he was sentenced to two years in prison.
Kim was even unable to attend his mother-in-law’s funeral.
The imprisonment left his family in unbearable poverty and suffering. His wife and children endured just two years of extreme hardship. By the time of his release, Kim had become disillusioned and decided to defect.
His sister-in-law, Kim Eun-ha, 20, having lost her mother, conspired with him, hoping for a life where she could “live like a human being.”
They were caught by the security service during their attempt to escape and ended up in a situation from which they could never return.
A family destroyed by a dream of escape
Seventeen-year-old Kim Soon-mi was tried in December 2011 with her mother and aunt under Article 63 and sent to a camp of no return.
They were not even apprehended trying to escape. Their crime was to have dreamed of freedom. Their plan was nothing more than a verbal promise that had not been acted upon. Yet this was enough for them to be branded traitors.
Soon-mi was an ordinary girl who had lived in Onseong County in North Hamgyong Province all her young life. Seeing Soon-mi’s potential as a violinist, her mother decided to defect. She got the idea from the escape of Soon-mi’s male cousin who had already reached South Korea.
The plan was for the family, including the cousin’s wife, to leave together. But it was tragically shattered when the cousin’s wife reported them to the security service.
Soon-mi, her mother and aunt were arrested before they took a single step.
They were subjected to six months of grueling interrogation and then transferred to the provincial pretrial detention center, where they were tried and sentenced.
The hell of pretrial detention
The North Hamgyong provincial pretrial detention center where these victims found themselves is the last stop before hell.
Countless innocents have been held here, charged with treason, and sent to political camps to spend the rest of their lives in forced labor.
From 2010 to 2012, between eighty and one hundred people were detained and investigated each year at the center. Most were charged with attempting to defect or with espionage for maintaining contact with defectors.
The process from detention to camp takes one to two years, during which time prisoners receive treatment that is far from human. They are already branded as criminals and deprived of legal protection. No one is held accountable if they die.
Each day is filled with pain and fear. Prisoners hear the screams of people in nearby cells. Those denying their charges or protesting during the pretrial period are subjected to extreme violence. Under the orders of the head of the center, some are tortured continuously for 24 hours and given meals consisting of little more than a spoonful of rice and broth. Some die within a month.
The head taunted prisoners, saying, “Do you think you can go home and avoid the labor camp? Let’s see how long you can endure this.”
Guards, motivated by personal rage, devise cruel methods of torture, forcing prisoners into painful positions such as standing upside down or kneeling with their hands above their heads. Over time, the prisoners reach a state where they no longer feel pain, their souls broken by the relentless suffering.
Almost nobody who enters the pretrial detention center is likely to survive and return to the world. One rare survivor who did, Lee Seon-ok, is determined to give voice to them.
She says the world cannot ignore the tragic fates of innocents like Kim Young-ho and his family, and 17-year-old Soon-mi and her family. Almost all of those who have died in pretrial centers and prison camps are nameless, forgotten, and buried without markers.
“The international community must bring Kim Jong-un and other perpetrators to justice,” she says.
Despite the horrific reality, she expresses gratitude for the experience that has given her the opportunity to testify. “I am thankful that I survived and can share the story of those who perished,” she says. “I hope that their voices will be heard and that no one will endure such a fate again.”
“The only way to expose such abuses and prevent such tragedies from recurring is to remember and testify to the lives and deaths of those who suffered,” she says.
For ten years, Seiul served in the North Korean People's Army (KPA), including the 9th Corps. After completing his military service, he taught mathematics at Cheongjin Mining and Metallurgy University. In 2008, he defected to South Korea, where he founded the National Association of North Korean Defectors, an NGO that aims to promote democratization in North Korea and improve human rights. He majored in computer technology at Pyongyang University of Automation, a top state institution known for cyber training and producing hackers for the KPA.
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