Filed under: North Korea | Tags: Concentration Camp, English, espionage, euna lee, government, human rights, hunger, Kim Jong Il, labor, laura ling, missile, North Korea, nuclear, police, prison, starvation, torture, treatment, trial, TV
Some speculators are claiming that Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the two American journalists captured by North Korean guards back in March, and who recently went on trial for espionage, will not actually go to a typical “hard labor camp”. Their sentence, handed out early this week, put a 12-year incarceration in front of their eyes. As scary and ominous as that may sound, I’ve been hearing a lot of talk of them actually not having to serve the full sentence, or the sentence as we imagine it. As these girls are journalists, North Korea might have several options. First, they might consider treating them well, knowing that upon any release in the future, they will tell their story to the world. That, of course, will only be the case if they are ever released. This Asia Times article claims that they might even be sent to a state guest house where their “hard labor” will consist of using their training and skills to help the North Korean government, TV stations, or English training.
So who really knows? Time will tell. And time will also tell how far America is willing to go in protecting these girls. I hate to imagine the day when a decision must be made as we’re staring at a scale with two American girls on one side, and a potential global nuclear threat on the other. At the moment it seems all the United States is trying to do is keep these two issues as separate as possible.
Filed under: North Korea | Tags: Concentration Camp, David Hawk, detention center, execution, freedom, Gulag, handcuffs, human rights, hunger, North Korea, police, prison, rations, starvation, torture
In order to further describe the labor/re-education camps in North Korea, I’ve taken some excerpts from “The Hidden Gulag” by David Hawk of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. You can find this report online at their website.
“There were no public executions during this time at Kwan-li-soNo. 14, but many prisoners died of malnutrition and disease, some twenty-five were executed by guards, and even more died from mining accidents. In one execution, a KIM Chul Min was executed for collecting, without authorization, ripe chestnuts that had fallen to the ground from a tree at the mine entrance. Another hunger-crazed prisoner, KAL Li Yong, died after having his mouth smashed by a feces-covered stick for having stolen a leather whip, soaked it in water, and then ate the softened leather. Kwan-li-so No. 14 Kaechon”
“Rations were meager: only some 450 grams (16 ounces) per day of rice mixed with beans. Many prisoners died in the winter from malnutrition, scabies and other skin diseases, and paratyphoid. Prisoners were beaten by guards. Other infractions and mistakes resulted in longer prison sentences. Those who attempted and failed to escape, or who initially succeeded in escaping but were caught, were brought back for public execution, after which their corpses would be displayed for a day.”
“The torture at Moonsu was particularly severe. Accused of deliberately infiltrating the security service, Kim was forced to kneel for long periods with a wooden bar placed behind and between his knees and calves. He was suspended by his handcuffed wrists from his prison-cell bars, and he was submerged up to his waist for long periods in tanks filled with cold water.”
“CHOI Yong Hwa assisted in the delivery of babies, three of whom were promptly killed, at the Sinuiju do-jip-kyul-so(provincial detention center) in mid-2000.
■ Former Detainee #8 witnessed six forced abortions at Chongjin do-jip-kyul-soin mid-2000.
■ Former Detainee #9 witnessed ten forced abortions at Onsong ro-dong-dan-ryeon-dae(labor-training camp) in mid-2000.
■ YOU Chun Sik reported that four pregnant women at the bo-wi-bu (National Security Agency) police station in Sinuiju were subjected to forced abortions in mid-2000.
■ Former Detainee #21 reported two baby killings at the Onsong In-min-bo-an-seong(People’s Safety Agency) police station in late 1999.
■ Former Detainee #24 helped deliver seven babies who were killed at the Backto-ri, South Sinuiju In-min-bo-an-seongpolice detention center in January 2000.
■ Former Detainee #25 witnessed four babies killed at Nongpo In-min-bo-an-seong police detention center in Chongjin in late 1999, and another six pregnant women subjected to forced abortion.
■ Former Detainee #26 witnessed three forced abortions and seven babies killed at the Nongpo jip-kyul-so(detention center), Chongjin City, in May 2000.”
Filed under: North Korea | Tags: Concentration Camp, death, euna lee, Hitler, journalists, Kim Jong Il, labor camp, laura ling, North Korea, prison, torture, trial
Yesterday the North Korean government sentenced Laura Ling and Euna Lee to 12 years in a hard labor camp. If this sentence is carried out to its full extent…this means a really bad future for these two girls. Keep them in your prayers. These labor camps, as told in “Eyes of the Tailless Animals” are some of the worst places on earth. Torture, lack of food, lack of medicine, and many accounts of mistreatment and death are just some of the things that happen at these “camps”. They have been likened, and in some cases seen as worse, than Hitler’s concentration camps.
Read the LA Times article here
Keep these two girls in your prayers. Euna is a mother of a 4 year old, and both girls have families back home in America.
Filed under: North Korea | Tags: book, China, christianity, christians, Concentration Camp, Europe, Eyes of the Tailless Animals, guards, Hitler, human rights, North Korea, prison, Soon Ok Lee, torture
“When the soldiers shot prisoners during public executions…some of the female prisoners lost their minds and became psychotic. They cried, laughed, sang, or fainted. Their reaction was considered as disagreement with the Party or a lack of a firm belief in Communism…After public executions, all twenty solitary confinement cells were full of prisoners who reacted to the horror.”
We’re in the middle of reading this book. It’s called “Eyes of the tailless animals.” It is the memoirs of a North Korean woman who was in a prison camp. It is really graphic and disturbing, but it’s amazing that this is still happening today. You only hear about these kinds of things happening in concentration camps during Hitler’s reign. But what is happening in North Korea seems even worse at times. After visiting concentration camps in Europe as a kid, it is easier to relate to what is going on in the book. I would really suggest reading the book if you are interested. You can buy it on amazon. I’ll post a link at the bottom of this.
I was in China a couple of years ago listening to a North Korean woman talk about what they did to people in North Korea. She was saying that the guards would take Christians to steel factories and actually throw them into the molten slag (combination of impurities leftover from the making of steel or iron). I couldn’t believe it. I don’t know what could possibly make another person do that to another person.
Sorry, kind of a depressing post. Despite all of these things though, the church continues to grow in North Korea!
