Professor Alleges North Korean Plan to Destroy Gulags With Dams
Yonsei University Professor Hong Seong-Phil, quoted in The Korea Times, alleges that “dams are under construction near six gulags in North Korea to destroy evidence of possible genocide there.” I’ve heard this theory repeated for a number of years, but I don’t happen to believe it. Maybe there’s new imagery that Google Earth does has not yet published to support this theory, but I sure don’t see the evidence for it yet.
Furthermore, the theory doesn’t sound plausible to me. First, most of the camps, to specifically include Camp 15, lie along fairly small rivers that couldn’t build large reservoirs, and in any event, the camps are too large and spread-out to be washed away in one fell swoop. Most of Camp 15’s facilities are flood-prone, however, and do lie along a narrow mountain valley. There is a small reservoir upstream from them, although again, this couldn’t possibly wash the entire camp away.
Camps 16 and 22 do not lie along rivers of significant size. The place I believe to be Camp 25 lies along a small river, but it’s directly upstream from Chongjin. It’s unlikely that the camp — which appears to have concrete walls and guard towers — would be destroyed by a flood, and a flood in that location would also destroy downtown Chongjin.
Camps 14 and 18 are the only two of the five largest camps that lie along a large river, the Taedonggang, but the only large dam upstream from those camps, if breached, would also wash away several sizable towns and one of North Korea’s largest functioning thermal power plants. There is one water project directly upstream from the camps, but it appears to be a big dig to cut off an oxbow bend, and it was completed three years ago. And of course, if Camps 14 and 18 were flooded, that same surge of water would hit Pyongyang within hours.
Again, maybe there’s more recent evidence for this theory that supports it. I’m just not convinced.
[Comment is an off-topic and gratuitous; therefore, deleted. Welcome to the moderation queue. – Joshua ]
Joshua, are you aware of civil society groups in South Korea (or anywhere else) that are already looking forward to the end of the DPRK by proposing that the camps (or some of the camps) in North Korea be preserved as historical monuments?
I’m thinking about the debate that occurred in China over the remnants of the Unit 731 research compound outside of Harbin, which the Japanese attempted to destroy during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. Once the Chinese Communist Party ascended into power, there was a big (mostly local) debate about whether to finish the job and destroy the place totally, or preserve it. Public health and economic development argued that it should be destroyed, but the historical imperative won out and now China’s applying for a world heritage classification. But I suppose there are other parallels that could be drawn as well.
Interesting post.
Wouldn’t flooding unearth evidence like bodies? If they wanted to destroy evidence of the camps’ existence, blowing them up would be more precise and cheaper than building dams to flood them.
“the newly liberated DPRK citizenry, who will demand justice and revengeâ€
I don’t know about that. Concepts like justice and revenge require a certain perspective on life. For starters, it requires them to recognize that Dear Leader has committed atrocities against them. I think a lot of North Koreans will struggle with that concept.
The mere idea of a monument implies that something unusual happened, something worth remembering. These people are so isolated from the modern world, and have been told so many lies about it, that they may not realize the things they’ve suffered are not normal.
Gary, I strongly disagree.
North Koreans may be ignorant of what lies beyond their country’s borders, but they are still human. They have pride, egos, feelings, and emotions. They know what revenge is, and many of them have relatives who died due to the great famine. They can see through the propaganda (“we will one day eat beef with rice soup, wear silk clothes, and live in houses with tile roofs”). And with the spread of ROK pop culture, they are increasingly aware that the South Koreans have more food, more money, and more comfort.
And they do know from state propaganda what “revenge” is. They’ve been inculcated w/ the idea of paying Japan and United States back for crimes against the Korean people. They know, and are taught, that their grandfathers sought revenge against the Japanese when the Japanese colonial period ended (although Kim Il-Sung’s role is highly exaggerated).
Many know the Korean Workers’ Party has screwed them over, and the Great Confiscation’s aftermath, with open cursing of the authorities, burning of old won notes (a crime punishable by death as the notes had the likeness of Kim Il-Sung, and it’s a crime there to deface his likeness), etc., showed that people can resist and they know when they’ve been had. They haven’t yet reached a point when they’d be willing or desperate enough to rise en masse (and also due to the far-reaching intimidation factor the security forces enjoy), but they will want to get their fingers around the necks of those whom they feel responsible for their suffering. And I am not referring to Japanese imperialists, Yankee oppressors, or South Korean puppets.
I would imagine that the answer to the preserve or don’t preserve question may be as simple as the answer to who wins the South Korean general election immediately preceding the fall of the Kim Jong Il regime.
Well, I certainly didn’t mean to suggest the North Koreans weren’t human. And I’m sure a lot of them will react as you say. But I think you overlook the relatively privileged class of North Korea, the ones in Pyongyang with adequate apartments. I’ll put it this way: If 10% of people in the former East Germany can answer in a poll that their life was better under communism, then I think we can expect 10% of North Koreans to resist the change from the status quo to whatever the post-Kim Jong-Il world will be.
And knowing the Korean Worker’s Party has screwed them over doesn’t mean they’ll embrace the USA or Japan or ROK or whoever as liberators. They could want revenge against the old boss and still resist the new boss.
When the Kim dynasty finally ends, and North Korean society can speak freely, I think there will be very wide differences of opinion about what their people’s future should be. That is all.