How many people are in North Korean prison camps?

The UN Commission of Inquiry estimated in 2014 that 80,000 to 120,000 people were held in political prison camps (kwanliso). Many more pass through ordinary prisons and detention centers. There is no recent precise count.

Are North Korean prison camps still operating?

Yes. Satellite imagery shows several political prison camps still active, including Camp 14 (Kaechon), Camp 16 (Hwasong) and Camp 25 (Chongjin). Some older camps, like Camp 22 (Hoeryong), were closed.

Why are families sent to North Korean prison camps?

Under guilt by association, relatives of a person accused of a political crime can also be imprisoned, sometimes across three generations. This makes resistance extremely costly.

Learn · 7 min read · Updated 1 Oct 2026

North Korea's prison camps

North Korea runs political prison camps called kwanliso. The UN Commission of Inquiry estimated in 2014 that 80,000 to 120,000 people were held in them, and concluded that what happens there amounts to crimes against humanity: extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, rape and forced abortion. North Korea denies the camps exist. Satellite images show them clearly.

Two kinds of camp

Kwanliso (political prison camps) are for people the state calls enemies, and often their families. Many are "total control zones" where prisoners are never released. Prisoners mine coal, log, farm and work in factories on starvation rations.

Kyohwaso ("re-education" prisons) hold people convicted of crimes, including things like watching South Korean TV, trading without permission or trying to leave the country. Sentences have an end date, but survivors describe forced labor and death rates that look a lot like the political camps.

On top of that, there are short-term detention and interrogation centers, which is where people forcibly sent back from China usually go first.

How people end up there

Insulting the leader, practising religion, contact with South Koreans, or being related to someone who did any of that. Under the principle of guilt by association (yeonjwaje), the regime has sent the parents, children and siblings of an "offender" to the camps too. Shin Dong-hyuk, the subject of Escape from Camp 14, says he was born inside a camp.

The known camps

All of these are on the intel map with their approximate locations. Status is based on satellite imagery analysis and escapee testimony, so it lags reality by months or years.

Camp	Type	Province	Status
Camp 14, Kaechon	Political (total control)	South Pyongan	Operating
Camp 15, Yodok	Political	South Hamgyong	Reported closed or downsized, disputed
Camp 16, Hwasong	Political (total control)	North Hamgyong	Operating, the largest known camp
Camp 18, Pukchang	Political	South Pyongan	Reported closed or merged
Camp 22, Hoeryong	Political	North Hamgyong	Closed around 2012, fate of prisoners unknown
Camp 25, Chongjin	Political	North Hamgyong	Operating, expanded in the 2010s
Kyohwaso No. 1, Kaechon	Prison	South Pyongan	Operating
Kyohwaso No. 12, Chongori	Prison	North Hamgyong	Operating, holds many repatriated escapees

Some researchers, like the Transitional Justice Working Group, see signs that the political camp population has shrunk under Kim Jong Un while ordinary prisons have grown. The UN's 2025 report found that overall repression got worse over the decade since 2014, not better.

Who documents them

HRNK publishes satellite imagery analysis of individual camps (its Hidden Gulag report is the standard reference).
NKDB keeps a database of violations and a prison database built from tens of thousands of testimonies.
Korea Future documents the penal system case by case, naming perpetrators.
TJWG maps execution and burial sites for future accountability.

What to read

The Aquariums of Pyongyang (Kang Chol-hwan, sent to Yodok at 9) and Escape from Camp 14 (Blaine Harden) are the best known first-hand accounts. Note that Shin Dong-hyuk later changed parts of his story, though the core of what he described is consistent with other testimony. More in the library.

Quick answers

How many people are in North Korean prison camps?: The UN Commission of Inquiry estimated in 2014 that 80,000 to 120,000 people were held in political prison camps (kwanliso). Many more pass through ordinary prisons and detention centers. There is no recent precise count.
Are North Korean prison camps still operating?: Yes. Satellite imagery shows several political prison camps still active, including Camp 14 (Kaechon), Camp 16 (Hwasong) and Camp 25 (Chongjin). Some older camps, like Camp 22 (Hoeryong), were closed.
Why are families sent to North Korean prison camps?: Under guilt by association, relatives of a person accused of a political crime can also be imprisoned, sometimes across three generations. This makes resistance extremely costly.