Prison Camps · South Hamgyong Province · Kwanliso
Camp 15, Yodok (15호 요덕 관리소)
Political prison camp (kwanliso)
Reported closed or downsized, disputedOperated by: Ministry of State Security (Bowibu)
Camp 15 in Yodok County, South Hamgyong Province, is the most internationally documented North Korean political prison camp. It uniquely contained both a Total Control Zone and a "Revolutionizing Zone" (hyeokmyeonghwa guyeok) where prisoners could theoretically be released after ideological remolding. Prominent escapees Kang Chol-hwan (author of The Aquariums of Pyongyang) and An Hyuk were released from Yodok after serving sentences.
System Context & Human Rights Documentation
Political penal colonies like Camp 15, Yodok form the foundation of North Korea's state terror apparatus. Under the principle of three generations of punishment (yeonjwa-je), the relatives of those suspected of political crimes, including small children and elderly parents, are incarcerated without judicial trial. The 2014 United Nations Commission of Inquiry found that the crimes committed inside these camps (extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, rape, and forced abortions) constitute crimes against humanity.