A line of starving prisoners forms to endure another day’s hard work in rare photos taken at North Korean prison camps.
Satellite images of T’osŏng-ni, a labour camp only a few miles from the Chinese border, reveal the shambling figures of prisoners, standing in formation alongside stacks of grain.
Another picture appears to depict inmates in an area surrounded by factories.
Kim Doohyun, a North Korean escapee, has information about the camp and said that the captured prisoners were subject to severe forced labor.

Satellite images of T’osŏng-ni, a labour camp only a few miles from the Chinese border, reveal the shambling figures of prisoners, standing in formation

They are surrounded by warehouses and industrial workshops.

Another picture shows prisoners standing alongside stacks in wagons and a flatbed truck.
He explained that prisoners may be used to aid nearby farmers.
They must align themselves and move in the same way as shown in these images when going to work.
‘Also, their uniforms are grey and they wear the same colour hats – and you can see that the top of their heads looks a little bit white in the image.
‘The image of the prisoners shows clearly that T’osŏng-ni is still operating.’
Kim stated that prisoners without food are at risk of starving if they don’t get it from their family.
He stated that families can provide food for prisoners, however, not all food sent to prison will be given to the family. Some food is retained by officers.
It is more difficult to live in prison if prisoners aren’t supported or have no family.
An estimated 2,500 people are imprisoned within T’osŏng-ni.
Anti-Slavery International states that North Korea’s prisoners begin to work at four o’clock in the morning and end by midnight. They are typically required to complete 12-hour shifts with no breaks.
The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), which released the pictures, detailed T’osŏng-ni in a new report.
This describes the way that prisoners make uniforms, winter coats and boots for North Korea’s security forces.

The T’osŏng-ni labour camp is just a few miles from the Chinese border

Diagram showing layout of labour camp with fences, guard posts and trucks for shipping the grain stacks.
Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of the facility said that prisoners at it and in other North Korean prisons are subject to a vicious cycle of forced labor and induced malnutrition.
“Conditions at Camp are horrible and forced labor has been documented.”
As brutal as it is, T’osŏng-ni is one of the less severe camps.
It is also called a “kyo-hwa” or reeducation center and it can be used to prosecute lesser crimes.
The most serious crimes – political crimes – are punished at ‘kwan-li-so’ camps, which the regime denies exist.
Mr Kim’s father was sentenced to eight years in prison and the family had requested he be transferred to T’osŏng-ni, which was local to them.
But he was too weak and unable to work, so he was denied entry by guards.
Kim said that they didn’t accept his father’s death because they thought he would soon die.

This facility is North Korea’s most famous gulag.

A red perimeter line is marked with guard towers. Green dots are the entrances to the jail.
“It is true, my father almost died from the torture that he received in the detention center.
“He was down to 6lbs, and the Kyo-hwa so wouldn’t mind disposing of the body.
Two years after Mr Kim was sentenced, his father passed away.
Scarlatoiu claimed that we can now see prisoner faces thanks to satellite imagery.
He stated, “It’s not technology that has improved.
“Open-source imagery resolution is less than that of classified imagery for national security purposes.
“That being said, resolutions in public domain have continued to improve and will continue to do so.”
Joseph Bermudez from North Korea, a North Korean expert, wrote the report. Satellite images now have sufficient detail to allow for human discovery.

An angle that is wider shows the location of the grain loading area in the prison
He stated, “This evidence can be used in court.”
It is possible to use this evidence to convict those responsible for these problems if we add it to interviews with detainees.
“That’s what we want to do.”
Kim cautioned that Mr Kim’s photo of prisoners was only a small part of what was happening.
He said, “My story isn’t unique. It didn’t occur 100 years ago or 200 years ago.”
“At this moment in time, thousands of North Koreans like my father or our family are suffering this kind of oppression & human rights violations.