Yodok Concentration Camp - Prisoners (Witnesses)

Prisoners (Witnesses)

• Kang Chol-hwan (in Yodok 1977–1987) was imprisoned as 9-year-old child because his family returned from Japan and was considered politically unreliable.
• An Hyuk (in Yodok 1987–1989) was imprisoned at the age of 18 because he illegally left North Korea.
• Kim Tae-jin (in Yodok 1988–1992) was also imprisoned at age 18 because he illegally left North Korea.
• Lee Young-kuk (in Yodok 1995–1999), former bodyguard of Kim Jong-il, was kidnapped from China and imprisoned because he illegally left North Korea and criticized the country.
• Kim Eun-cheol (in Yodok 2000–2003) was imprisoned at the age of 19 because he illegally left North Korea. He was part of a group of seven refugees repatriated by Russia; the United Nations granted them refugee status but failed to protect them.
• South Korean citizens Shin Suk-ja and her daughters Oh Hae-won and Oh Kyu-won (in Yodok since 1987, when the daughters were ages 9 and 11) were imprisoned because her husband Oh Kil-nam did not return from a stay abroad. The family had been lured from Germany on North Korean agents’ false promises two years prior. Kang Chol-hwan and An Hyuk testified to meeting Shin Suk-ja during their imprisonment.
• South Korean citizen Jeong Sang-un (in Yodok since 2010) is an unrepatriated Korean War prisoner and was imprisoned at age 84 for illegally leaving North Korea.