The disappearance of some 20,000 prisoners of conscience from North Korea’s concentration Camp 22 is suspected, as satellite photographs published over the summer indicate that the camp was razed last year.
The camp was geographically larger than Los Angeles and thought to have once held between 30,000 to 50,000 prisoners.
While an estimated 7,000-8,000 prisoners are believed by some observers to have been taken away at night via train to similar slave labour/death camps No. 16 (in a secluded mountain area in Hwasong County) and No. 25 (near the city of Chongjin), the rest remain unaccounted for.
In an August report, David Hawk of the Washington DC-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) commented on Camp 22’s rapid depopulation: ‘If even remotely accurate, this is an atrocity requiring much closer investigation.’
On the basis of testimony from former camp guards Ahn Myong-chol and Kwon Hyuk, worldwide attention has been focused on the horrors which took place daily at Camp 22, a literal killing field. Most shocking are claims of human vivisection and chemical and biological weapon experiments on prisoners.
