Repression and Punishment in North Korea

By Miyabi Sato.

*The first part of this essay is an analytical summary on the article of "Repression and Punishment in North Korea: Survey Evidence of Prison Camp Experiences" by Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland (2009). The second part portrays the author's personal analysis and brief opinion on the situation of the country and the prison camps.

The North Korean regime can be described as one of the most totalitarian regimes within the 21st century. The Kim family has been in power since 1948, when Kim Il Sung imposed a dictatorship, and is currently being ruled by Kim Jong Un. The latter has clearly no intention of stepping down in favour of the promotion of democracy. To make matters worse, an unmistakable example which reflects the situation in the country is the North Korean penal system.

Despite the country being extremely hermetic, different sources including technology in the way of satellite imagery, and most importantly, the testimony of refugees who fled North Korea, have allowed us to build a picture of the North Korean penal system. Those who have escaped the totalitarian regime have witnessed the unlimited extent of human rights abuses in the country. On general terms, this system is often depicted as a Soviet-style gulag, with a prevalent arbitrary judicial system where severe atrocities against the prisoners take place.

In addition, the penal system has been a crucial element in the government’s response to the changes in economy and the social life of the country. Harsh conditions in the 1990s including famine due to a lack of know-how-to from the government to address the country’s problems caused a collapse on the food economy; a death toll of about 3-5% of the population; and consequently a problem for the overall economy. In response to this situation, many small scale households tried to enter the entrepreneurial world, for subsistence. The financial decline was a process of marketization from below that reduced the state control of the economy. However, the government lacked a proper response for this situation.

Furthermore, the penal system does not only include political prison camps. There are four different centres which seek to fulfil different purposes: kwan-li-so, kyo-hwa-so, jip-kyul-so, and ro-dong-dan-ryeon-dae.

The North Korean Penal System

Firstly, Kwan-li-so, also known as the political penal-labour camps, are the facilities for those who have committed serious political and ideological crimes, including imprisonment of suspects. These citizens are considered to be a direct threat to the regime. In contrast to other systems, the prisoners are sent to this facility under high level of NSA discretion. This judicial process tends to affect their immediate generations of family members through the concept of group punishment. These inmates are often incarcerated on lifetime sentences at hard labour in mining or logging, and are subject to starvation rations.

Kyo-hwa-so, translated as correctional centres or penitentiaries, is the penal system directed to those who commit political, economic or ordinary crimes. It is becoming more frequent for these types of camps to be the final destination for North Koreans who fail in their attempt to flee the country, and are usually repatriated by Chinese authorities. In the past, these camps were created to “rehabilitate” prisoners through labour. Nonetheless, since the conditions within these facilities are extremely depriving, and there is a constant lack of food, many prisoners are unable to survive there for more than a year.

Ro-dong-dan-ryeon-dae, labour-training centres, are organised on the municipal level and are commonly directed towards those who have been caught trying to cross the border or repatriated from China. In these facilities, there is more freedom and inmates have the opportunity to sometimes recover from an illness at their homes.

Furthermore, jip-kyul-so, or the collection centres hold those accountable for serious misdemeanour and economic crimes. They can be condemned for up to six months. Since North Koreans have learned to survive by creating an illegal food market, the famine has shifted into a state of constant hunger, although many still starve or suffer opportunistic diseases. Nowadays, these regional camps are increasingly used to punish North Koreans for economic crimes, such as unauthorized trading in food.

Who gets arrested and imprisoned?

The surveys revealed that North Korea’s detailed system of political loyalty categories is strongly related to the prison system. The regime is classified in three main groups: “core”, “wavering”, or “hostile” citizens. Depending on the group to which they belong, there is a higher probability to end up arrested. In other words, the targets of the arbitrary extortion are often members that belong to the “hostile” group since the state applies discriminatory measures towards them in the way of food rations, and thus, making them dependent on the markets. Part of the intimidation strategy does not only consist of detention but what occurs when inmates are imprisoned. Typically the NSA is responsible for detaining and questioning political crimes, while the PSA is in charge of economic and border crossing crimes.

The Nature of Punishment

The 2004 criminal procedure law was intended to prevent any arbitrary detention without a proper jurisdictional procedure from happening. Nevertheless, this law was applied completely differently since it allows more discretion for prosecutors and courts to charge and sentence defendants for crimes that were similar to those in the law. The survey reflected that most of the respondents were not granted a fair trial (only 13/102 had received a trial).

Repression as a Barrier to Collective Action

In both surveys there is a staggering negative attitude toward the totalitarian regime, since 87% of respondents disapproved the situation in their original country. They do not believe the situation of the country is improving.

An important aspect of the marketization process is the fact that the ability to control the flow of information is decreasing. Foreign media is becoming more accessible and inhibitions on the consumption are on the decline. All in all, the survey shows that the repression is highly effective and that the government is eager to carry on imposing severe restrictions on its citizens. As regards to the future of the country, many respondents supported the idea of a possible unification while admitting that collective action was currently minimal.

A model of repression in North Korea

The prevalent tendency is that the criminal economic activities are rising and “labour training” is becoming more institutionalised and applied for these lower-level crimes. There are two ways to torture prisoners in the camp, one is through violence and the other is through food. Consequently, the centrality of terror is vital in order to maintain the regime’s power. The surveys also indicated that corruption was increasing in the country. In addition, the survey suggests that as long as the penal system becomes more extreme and painful, arbitrariness and corruption will not fade away.

PERSONAL OPINION

Personally, I find it abhorrent that the international community has the knowledge and the means to identify what is happening, yet no real action is being brought to fight and condemn the North Korean Regime. The question is until what extent should the realist national interest prevail over the rest of interests? The main actors that could or should react towards this totalitarian regime sit still. China remains silent and obedient because they would rather avoid further problems in the region. Meanwhile, South Korea is focused on pursuing an economic growth in the country, and the mentality gap is growing until the point that it is very hard to believe the North and South were once unified. Also, the US and Japan know that an intervention would involve serious harm on political, economic, and social levels in all Pacific Asia and therefore, they opt for an impassive attitude.

However, we must not forget that we are not only talking about one or two lives, if not around 150,000 to 200,000 citizens who are treated under inhumane conditions for unjustified reasons in prison camps, as well as a whole nation of 24 million inhabitants who are subject to repression and starvation. It is obviously not easy to bring immediate action, especially due to the hermetic measures within the country. Nonetheless, if we, as a global community, carry on blindfolding ourselves and acting as if there are more important subjects on stake, then we must accept the consequences of our inactions. Perhaps in the future, scholars will study this despising situation (60 years of dictatorship and abuse) and wonder what every one of us was doing during these atrocities. It is not due to a lack of means or sources that this issue does not cease to exist. In fact, it is because it is easier to look the other way, and think of these human beings belonging to a faraway world, rather than drawing the attention of the international community to actually perform something meaningful and stop the constant violation of human rights. Many may think it would be an exaggeration to compare it with the Nazi genocide. Despite this, I believe the indoctrination and manipulation of the minds of the North Koreans is on the same or worse level than Nazism.

On a side note, I think the core of the regime’s power is located in the collective punishment which enhances guilt by association. This means that up to three following generations (including those to be born) may be punished by what their ancestors did. In my humble opinion, this can only be identified as a mechanism of utter hate. It is a way of controlling society and playing with the mental health of the citizens. Hence, confessions of prisoners admitting something unreal such as having a CIA agent inside their bodies or being animals are achieved under severe torture.

The Kim dynasty might eventually fade but with a lack of social change, the ideologies will probably remain. Quoting Victor Hugo, “There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come”. I will side in favour of believing that the idea of a better future for North Koreans should exist, and the only step towards this is through consciousness and collective action. North Koreans must understand that there is a better life outside of the “unbreakable walls” they are surrounded by. After all, one of the most important things to remember is that it is better to respect somebody than fear that person. While fear will progressively be overcome, respect remains unchangeable. Hopefully this fear will be conquered by North Koreans and the rest of States in the near future.

For the scenario of North Korea to change, I can only see two slightly convincing scenarios. On the one hand, if North Korea’s expansionist regime commits a mistake and severely attacks or infringes the national sovereignty of either China, or South Korea or Japan provoking an international conflict. On the other hand, if the economy ends up weakened until the point that a new economic system and a search of new international actors are required, a slight transition towards democracy would then be attainable.

In a sea of uncertainty, the only truth is that a change must happen for humanity’s sake.

[Photograph sources]

Photograph 1 retrieved from New York Times Article "Dealing with North Korea's Brutality" (23/11/2014). Source: Kyodo News, via Associated Press.

Photograph 2 retrieved from "North Korea Now":

http://www.northkoreanow.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/opening.jpg

Photograph 3 retrieved from "Security Ledger":

https://securityledger.com/2015/01/n-s-a-breached-north-korean-networks-before-sony-attack-ny-times/