1.   Savagery in the North Korean concentration camps

    There are reportedly twelve political prison camps in the mountains of North Korea that have remained hidden under strict orders from KIM Il-sung and KIM Jong-il. The dire conditions in these camps are such that KIM Jong-il himself expressed concern for how their disclosure may mar the image of KIM Il-sung in the eyes of the international community. KANG Chul-hwan and AHN Hyuk, defectors from the North, co-authored in 1993, Festival of the Great King, a true story of their experience in the concentration camps. The truthfulness of their testimony was confirmed two years later in 1995 when a former security guard of a concentration camp, AHN Myung-Chul, published They Are Crying for Help. These two books and the testimonies by families of those who returned to North Korea and were later executed in concentration camps reveal the following facts.

    First, the prisoners are labeled 'anti-revolutionaries' or 'human garbage' and forfeited their social and political life. They suffer from extreme hunger, forced labor and random exercise of violence by the security guards. The survival of these prisoners are constantly threatened under such conditions. It is no exaggeration to say that they are treated worse than the beasts.   

    Second, KIM Il-sung once ordered that anti-revolutionaries and their families should be exterminated down to their third generation descendants. These revolutionaries refer to the so-called dissenters and enemies of class. By KIM's orders, those classified as anti-revolutionaries and their families are condemned as political prisoners.

Third, political prisoners and their families are incarcerated in secret without the due process of a trial with a lawyer defending them.

    Fourth, the prisoners are completely deprived of freedom of contact with the outside world. Therefore, no one, including family members and close friends let alone those outside the country, knows their whereabouts. The concentration camp is a 'black hole' and a swamp of terror.

    It is unbelievable that such crimes are being committed at the brink of the new millennium, and disregard for people's lives, rape and murder of prisoners are indeed the most criminal among them. What is worse, the horrendous deeds are carried out slowly to subdue prisoners to obedience by playing on their survival instinct. One can but be enraged at such destruction of human dignity and life![1] Note the emphasis on humanism in the philosophy of HWANG Jang-yop. I will discuss this extensively in the latter part of the paper. North Korean security guards who dare commit such inhumane savagery cannot be human beings.

    Fifty years have passed since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was first promulgated. Thirty years have passed since International Covenant of Human Rights, the codified version of The Declaration, went into effect. North Korea is a signatory of the Covenant (since 1981). Article 10 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states: "All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person." This means that a person is entitled to humane treatment even in imprisonment. Therefore, an individual should not be unfairly treated on account of their having or not having "social and political life" found in the doctrines of Juche Ideology.

    Initially, North Korea was not the cruel nation that we know today. I would like to ascertain this point by examining the history of concentration camps and Juche Ideology. My ultimate goal is to make a strong  argument for the abolishment of concentration camps.

 

2.  The history of North Korean camp system

A.       Special labor camps (1947)

    Three years ago, Mr. Hagiwara Ryo disclosed that there were seventeen special labor camps in North Korea as of October 1947. He found a document in the United States' archive, which verifies the fact.[2] "The Process and Guidelines for Executing Forced Labor," jointly announced by the Chiefs of Internal Affairs and Judicial Affairs of the North Korean Peoples' Committee on October 30, 1947, shows that there were seventeen such special camps throughout North Korea: six in North Hamkyong Province, nine in South Pyong'an Province, one in North Pyong'an Province, and one in Hwanghae Province.[3] These camps were different from the present political prison camps (concentration camps) in several aspects: First, prison term and assignment of camp were determined by trial. Second, the prisoners had limited freedom to go on leaves, receive visits by family and relatives, or go to see the movies with the permission from the superintendent. Third, they were paid for their labor. Finally, their social security number and citizenship were maintained.

    I studied a map of North Korea and found out that six camps out of seventeen remain designated as workers districts. Aoji and Yondeung, well known for coal mines, are among the six. It appears that the prisoners here are forced to work in coal-mining. Some of the seventeen camps were also located in plain regions such as Kaechon and Sariwon. The camps in the plain and mountainous regions appear to be the prototypes of present-day concentration camps. However, special labor camps set up before the establishment of Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea appear to be similar to prisons in other countries. In other words, they were completely different from the concentration camps in which defectors such as Chul-hwan KANG and Hyuk AHN had been confined.

 

B.        Concentration camp where Ali Lameda was detained

   A Venezuelan poet, Ali Lameda, who was invited to Pyongyang by the North Korean government in 1966 to translate KIM Il-sung's works into Spanish was arrested in September of the following year. After investigations that spanned a whole year, he was found guilty in a one-day court trial. Until he was released in 1974 thanks to international campaigning, he had been incarcerated in Sariwon Camp. He confided that for seven years including the interrogation period, he was imprisoned in isolation. His testimony was published by Amnesty International in 1979,[4] and the existence of political prisons in North Korea and their horrifying conditions were disclosed to the world for the first time. According to his testimony, six to eight thousand people were incarcerated in the camp in Sariwon. Inmates were engaged in hard labor twelve hours a day, mainly in the manufacturing of jeeps. Needless to say that they received no wage.

    Based on piecemeal information gathered from the laborers, Lameda surmised that about 150,000 inmates in total were kept in about twenty camps in different parts of North Korea. There were camps in the mountains such as the one in which KANG Chul-hwan and AHN Hyuk were detained, and others were in the cities such as Sariwon. However, whether they are camps in the cities or in the mountains made no difference in the harshness of treatment of the inmates. We need to pay special attention to the fact that it was 1967 when the poet was arrested, which adds to the value of his camp experience and testimony. The camp where Lameda served his undeserved sentence was essentially no different from today's concentration camps. It was in fact the prototype of concentration camps that emerged throughout North Korea when KIM Il-sung's so-called Juche Ideology was in the transformation to the monolithic ideology.

 

C.        Concentration camp where KANG Chul-hwan was kept in confinement (1977~87)

    During KANG Chul-hwan's detention in 1980, KIM Jong-il's place as KIM Il-sung's successor was consolidated. In 1982, four more concentration camps were built to accommodate five to six thousand men who opposed this decision.[5] According to KANG, there are "absolute control areas" and "revolutionizing areas". Once taken into the "absolute control area", one can give up all hopes of coming out alive. This is why detainees in the "revolutionizing area" live in constant fear of being transferred to the "absolute control area". In the vicinity of Yodok Camp (a revolutionizing area) in South Hamkyong Province, there is an "absolute control area", namely Yongpyong Camp.[6] It is located just beyond a hill from the camp where KANG used to stay. We need to pay attention to the fact that there are two different kinds of concentration camps.

    KANG Chul-hwan, AHN Hyuk, and AHN Myung-chul tell us the truth about today's concentration camps in North Korea. We may conclude, then, it was the latter years of the 1960's when the atrocities of the concentration camps were actually aggravated.

 

3.  The history of Juche Ideology

    KIM Il-sung held that he himself created Juche Ideology[7] on the basis of his speech titled, "Eradicating Dogmatism and Formalism by Consolidating Juche" (December 28, 1955). In the speech, KIM Il-sung stressed that North Korea was carrying out revolutionary tasks for herself and not for other countries. He also asserted that "Chosun's revolution is the Juche of the party's ideological activities".[8] In order to accomplish this revolution the people must know the history, geography, and cultural heritage of their nation. While the principles of Marxist-Leninism must be strictly observed, they should be creatively adapted to the nation's specific situations and unique national character. It is worth mentioning that KIM described the anti-Japanese partisan struggle as an excellent model. The Chollima Movement was launched in this spirit. Publication of such remarkable books as History of the Philosophy of Chosun (1960) and History of Chosun Culture reflects the same ideas. It is notable that in the History of the Philosophy of Chosun, KIM Il-sung's name never appears, and in History of Chosun Culture compiled by leading scholars in North Korea, the names of the co-authors are mentioned. In its preface, KIM Sok-hyong, chief of history division of the National Academy of Sciences, wrote: "Our culture is famous throughout the world for its sound socialistic content and elegant national form." Words like "elegant" disappeared when the monolithic ideology fully blossomed.

    Juche Ideology in its embryonic stage was a sound idealism. Amidst the heated ideological debate between Soviet Russia and China, Juche Ideology was polished and consolidated into an ideological foundation for North Korea to pursue its own communist road. The essence of this new approach was elaborated in the essay, "Let Us Protect the Spirit of Independence," in Rodong Shinmun in August 1966. In this article, "our own thought, independence in politics, self-sufficiency in economy, and self-protection in national security" were proclaimed as the Korea Workers Party's unchangeable goals. This paper was published at a time when ideological conflict between the former U.S.S.R. and China was increasingly aggravated. This had an adverse effect on the execution of The First Seven-Year Plan and thus North Korea's economy. The Plan was adopted at the Fourth Congress of the Party in 1961, and its execution had depended on the financial aid from Soviet Russia and China, neither of whom was willing to support North Korea in the midst of their debate.

    In the first chapter, "We must think with our own heads," there is a statement that reflects the difference between the Juche Ideology before and after its transformation into the monolithic ideology.

 

"A Communist should not be manipulated by anyone in his ideological beliefs. If he is controlled by others, he will not be able to think or act independently. Therefore, a Communist must be ideologically free by all means. He has to live with his own ideas and be fully conscious of Juche. A Communist must not dance to another's piping."

 

    Strictly abiding by this statement, it would be a contradiction to the Juche Ideology to deify KIM Il-sung or to put him on the pedestal above all others. In other words, transforming Juche Ideology into monolithic ideology was an erroneous move. This paper will show that until August 1966, Korea Workers Party endorsed Juche Ideology that was sound.

    In May 1967, however, the 15th session of the Party's Central Committee Meeting was held in secret. The Central Committee discussed the agenda, "Establishing the Party's Monolithic Ideological System," and passed it with much difficulty. It was an event that should not have taken place.

    Earlier in the fall of 1967, a major ideological inspection had taken place, resulting in the expulsion of the Central Committee members who opposed the deification of KIM Il-sung. North Korea was thus transformed from a nation of Juche that pursues the spirit of independence, to a nation of Juche that pursues KIM Il-sung worship. Mr. Hagiwara Ryo called this process "KIM Il-sung's coup d'etat".[9] At the Fifth Congress of the Party held in 1970, the transformation of Juche Ideology into monolithic ideology was proclaimed, followed by the announcement of "Ten Principles in Establishing Party's Monolithic Ideological System" in 1974. (KIM Jong-il is known to be the author of the Ten Principles). Finally, the deification of KIM Il-sung was complete. A few sentences in the "Principles" are enough to nauseate the reader, but I will quote one segment for reference: "Any attempt to slander the authority and dignity of our Great Leader Comrade KIM Il-sung must be treated as a national emergency. We must launch an uncompromising struggle against such attempts." (Principle No. 3, Item 5)

    I can almost see people being dragged to concentration camps for complaining about KIM's rule. In 1967 and 1968, such scenes took place not infrequently. In fact, many of the intellectuals among the returnees (from Japan to North Korea) were taken to the camps in 1967 for the so-called ideological education. One of KIM Il-sung's directives in 1968 clearly depicts what occurred in these years: "If class enemies revolt against camp authorities frequently, they must be crushed. Military forces must be mobilized if needed."[10] The change in the nature of the concentration camp system was brought about by this directive.

    Then, who was it that transformed Juche Ideology into monolithic ideology? It is my opinion that KIM Jong-il was the one who came up with the initial idea and carried it through. In the meantime, HWANG Jang-yop seems to have contributed a great deal to constructing a philosophy and a theory of the monolithic ideology. According to HWANG's memoir, he was indirectly criticized by KIM Il-sung's directive on May 25, 1967, and spent a year and half in desperate contemplation and reflection on ideology. In the winter of 1968, he converted to a "humanist committed to the good of man and mankind," and is reported to have written a poem titled "An Eternal Spring" in Moranbong Villa on April 25, 1969. In it, the poet praises the mankind addressing them as "great thee." If one substitutes KIM Il-sung's name in place of "great thee," the poem becomes an ode to KIM Il-sung, the divine and absolute. Following is a passage in the poem:

 

       How can we cling to the small "I"

       to forget thee so great?

       I will devote my life to thee

       Only for thee and thy will.[11]

 

    Now then, what has caused HWANG to depart from Marxism? He strove to realize his lofty idealism by pursuing the transformation of Juche Ideology to monolithic ideology.[12]

    Finally, I would like to add a few words about the close relationship between HWANG's Juche Ideology and the concentration camp system.

    A South Korean citizen who was formerly a key activist leader in the Juche faction(known as Jusapa in Korean) of student activist movement recently wrote:

 

"What attracted the South Korean student movement groups to Juche Ideology in the eighties was the former Korea Workers Party secretary HWANG's humanism, which is best summarized in the words, "Think of man, though our progress be slow." North Korea advocated the pursuit of social change with man at its center, in line with the socialism they proclaimed was uniquely their own. This was distinguished from the case of most other countries that strove for social change by social progress. It was emphasized that while other countries punish criminals and do little more, the North Korean socialist state helps the criminals realize their shortcomings and to become a new person, so that no one is left lagging behind. Because such was their propaganda, we put greater emphasis on how the North Korean government treated its people than on the immediate problem of food shortage. In such a society, the conditions in the concentration camps or reform centers can serve as touchstones. Information about North Korea has always been lacking, and we were naturally disinclined to trust the statements on North Korean issues published by the authoritarian South Korean government and anti-Communists. We now realize that we were thoroughly deceived not by the South but by the North."[13]

 

    The writer made many valuable points. He had believed that the humanistic philosophy of HWANG Jang-yop found in the words, "A slow learner is nevertheless a human being. Let us help him stand up again," was literally realized in the camps and the reform centers. The writer had not been able to believe that changing a person's ideological stance by means of forced labor meant pushing the inmates below human dignity and subjecting their lives at the whims of security guards. Such could happen only in hell. In fact, the conditions in North Korea's concentration camps are more serious than the Soviet gulags and the Chinese laogai. CHO's confession, "we were thoroughly deceived," shows the firmness of his former belief in the North Korean socialism as true to the humanistic socialism ostensibly advocated by the state. He had trusted that the rights of the inmates in the concentration camps would be observed in a humanistic communist society.

    We may thus conclude that HWANG Jang-yop's man-centered Juche Ideology played the "philosophical" role in concealing the nether conditions in North Korean camps. The points made by the former student activist leader is pertinent evidence to this conclusion.

 

4.       Responsibility of Hwang Jang-yop and Marxists throughout the world

    It is quite clear by now that the four characteristics (cruelty) of political prisons became more conspicuous after the formation of the monolithic ideology in 1967. The deification of KIM Il-sung signifies North Korea's shift to totalitarianism. Hannah Arendt once noted that totalitarianism comprised one-party rule, the secret police, and concentration camps.[14] With the establishment of the monolithic ideology in North Korea, this unholy trinity has consolidated and perpetuated itself in its cruelest form. The transformation of Juche Ideology to monolithic ideology was first conceived by KIM Jong-il and refined by HWANG Jang-yop, party secretary for ideological affairs, with his man-centered philosophy. KIM Jong-il and HWANG Jang-yop's joint effort produced the Ten Great Principles (1974).

    HWANG claimed that his idea has been misused by KIM Il-sung and his son, and the student activist mentioned above concurred with him after his conversation with HWANG. I, however, disagree. In his memoir, HWANG himself confessed that for his own safety and preservation of his idealist philosophy he took advantage of the confidence of the two KIM's.

    I can understand HWANG's genuine motive in departing from the cruelty of class struggle and in developing a human-centered philosophy. He has nevertheless contributed in deifying KIM Il-sung and has thus inadvertently contaminated his cherished philosophy. After he defected to the South, HWANG began to disclose secrets and to shed new light on the nature of the "Kim Dynasty," for which I give him credit to some extent. However, he should still seriously reflect upon himself for providing the tools to conceal the truth about the concentration camps and for supporting the "human trash theory" with his political life theory. The former student activist leader should also recognize that he was deceived not only by the two KIM's but by HWANG's philosophy as well. Only then, we may say that HWANG and the former student activist have shown sincere concern for the victims of the concentration camps.

    At this juncture I would like to say a few words to Marxists all over the world. Conventional socialism has inherited a negative legacy in the form of concentration camps, and still has difficulty getting rid of them. Perfect examples are found in the laogai of China and concentration camps of North Korea. The existence of concentration camps in the conventional socialist states is not different from the existence of penitentiaries in the capitalist states. However, the socialist society is built upon such ideas as: "One should not eat if one does not work." and "A person's ideology may be reformed through labor." Lenin once said that truth, if exaggerated, can become false. Concentration camps in China, Cambodia under Pol Pot, and North Korea are extreme cases, but as long as Marxists maintain their ideological beliefs, they should bear responsibility for the existence of concentration camps in those countries.

    I believe that Marxists, whether or not they espouse the traditional socialist ideology, must take on as much responsibility as do anti-Communists for the existence of concentration camps. Marxists all over the world are theoretically and ideologically responsible for these camps and should thus be in the vanguard of their abolition. I had earlier demanded of HWANG Jang-yop and the former student movement leader to critically reflect upon themselves, but this call actually goes out to all Marxists in the world. The self-criticism should begin from reading books like The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Bitter Winds by Harry Wu.[15] Books about the more cruel conditions of North Korean camps, Festival of a Great King, Yodok List, and They are Crying for Help should also be read.

    The self-criticism by Marxists will be complete only when the concentration camps disappear for good. Both former Marxists who have relinquished their beliefs and Marxists who have retained their ideological conviction, should together embark on this enterprise.

 

5.  Abolishing the concentration camps

    Despite the serious atrocities committed in these camps, they are maintained because their existence is the backbone of the North Korean form of socialism (Nation of Juche).

    There have been courageous people in North Korea who criticized the nation's socialist system. However, their bravery led to confinement of them and their families in the concentration camps. What sustain the North Korean system of rule by terror are those camps built in the deep of the mountains. Anyone with sincere love for mankind should try to understand the situation in these camps, to spread word about them and most importantly, to take action to eradicate such shameful institutions.

    The root of the human rights problem in North Korea is in the existence of concentration camps. The essays written by KANG Chul-hwan, AHN Hyuk, and AHN Myung-chul, will help the reader to fully understand what this signifies. Their writings are crucial and need to be published in different languages. AHN Hyuk, inspired by "Schindler's List", has been trying to make a movie based on his experience in the concentration camps, tentatively titled "Yodok List". Unfortunately, this enterprise has met little success. I take this opportunity to appeal to all those conscientious and thoughtful people in the world to assist in the translation of these painful life stories into foreign languages and in the production of movies based on them.

    It will be the last day of concentration camps when the horrible realities behind the closed gates are fully revealed to the world. There is no other way to bring about the end we are striving for. Whenever North Korean human rights issues are raised, the situation in the concentration camps must also be brought up. This is because the concentration camps sustain the current North Korean regime.

    I would like to make my final appeal to all the Marxists in the world. Please read the memoirs of those who had suffered in the camps, but please do not stop there. I urge you to take leading roles in abolishing this monstrous system. The movement at this stage may seem fragile, but once you realize the tragic truth inside the camps, you will be motivated to devote yourself to the cause. As a human being your heart will naturally ache with compassion and moral responsibility.

    I also appeal to senior citizens of the world who had loved North Korea before it effectively became the autarchy behind the iron curtains in 1966. It would be wrong of you to content yourselves with criticizing the sanctified Juche-monolithic ideology and to stop at that. You have not really criticized, unless your criticism of monolithic ideology is expanded into an active movement to abolish the concentration camp system.

    I cry out to all those who love North Korea. If you leave the concentration camp issue alone, your love for North Korea is not genuine. Please, open your eyes to the tragedy inside the North Korean concentration camps.