Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=10/22/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=NORTH KOREA / GULAG (L-O)

NUMBER=2-308956

BYLINE=STEPHANIE HO

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTERNET=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A U-S based human rights group says North Korea is holding tens of thousands of people -- including many political prisoners -- in slave labor camps. As V-O-A's Stephanie Ho reports from Washington, Pyongyang has repeatedly denied that there are any political prisoners in North Korea.

TEXT: The private U-S Committee for Human Rights in North Korea issued its first-ever report Wednesday -- titled "The Hidden Gulag -- Exposing North Korea's Prison Camps." The study combines testimony from people who escaped from the camps as well as satellite photos of the camps themselves.

The report's author, former United Nations human rights researcher David Hawk, says the findings directly counter North Korean government denials that it is holding any political prisoners. Mr. Hawk says the tens of thousands of Koreans imprisoned in various types of forced labor camps are victims of what the United Nations defines as arbitrary detention.

/// HAWK ACT ///

None of those so imprisoned, and most often for lifetime sentences, have undergone or been subjected to any judicial process. Virtually all of them are political prisoners.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Hawk says there are high rates of torture at the North Korean camps and never enough food. He adds that pregnant Korean women who escaped to China and then are recaptured are subject to forced abortions or their babies are killed, if the baby's father is suspected of being Chinese.

At other camps, inmates have been convicted of criminal offenses that would not be crimes in non-totalitarian societies.

/// 2nd HAWK ACT ///

Examples included in this report are those North Koreans imprisoned and condemned to hard labor under extremely dangerous and harsh conditions for singing South Korean pop songs or for having listened to South Korean radio or met South Koreans while they were in China.

/// END ACT ///

One survivor whose story was included in the study was 53-year-old Kim Yong, who spent six years in labor camps before escaping to South Korea in 1999. He spoke of brutality beyond his imagination.

/// KIM ACT IN KOREAN, EST AND FADE UNDER ///

Mr. Kim says his wrists still bear the scars of being hung from a bar on the ceiling for 48-hours at a time. He says he also has scars on his head from when he was beaten with a pistol handle.

The report's author, Mr. Hawk, challenged North Korea to invite international representatives to disprove the testimony of former prisoners. Until then, he said, he considers these testimonies to be authoritative and credible. (SIGNED)

NEB/SHO/KL/PT