North Korea denies having prison camps, admits “reform through labor camps”

Choe Myong Nam, a North Korean foreign ministry official in charge of U.N. affairs and human rights issues, said at a briefing with reporters that his country has no prison camps and, in practice, “no prison, things like that.”

But he briefly discussed the labor camps. “Both in law and practice, we do have reform through labor detention camps — no, detention centers — where people are improved through their mentality and look on their wrongdoings,” he said. [AP]

The admission itself could be a reference to the labor-rehabilitation camps called kyo-hwa-so, local detention facilities called jip-kyul-so (collection facilities) or no-dong-dan-ryeon-dae (labor training centers), as described in The Hidden Gulag, Second Edition and recounted by survivors:

And here’s how the North Korean guards would “improve” the people sent there:

The North Korean official, Choe, does not appear to have admitted to the existence of the largest and most notorious camps, the kwan-li-so, the camps that are most clearly visible in the satellite imagery. Choe’s statement could even be read as an assertion that instead of the prisons that all other countries have, North Korea has a more humane substitute. Unfortunately, the reporters present forfeited the chance to ask questions that would have clarified the statement, so we’re unable to extract its full meaning.

Still, I do think the statement means something — if external pressure becomes more than Pyongyang can ignore, it can compel Pyongyang to lighten its load of lies just a bit. Perhaps with sufficient pressure, it could force Pyongyang to change its behavior in more material ways. It’s no cause for self-congratulation, but it is encouragement to keep the pressure on.

~  ~   ~

Update: Similar thoughts from Alastair Gale of The Wall Street Journal, who quotes Sokheel Park of LiNK:

“Whereas before they dismissed the issue out of hand as a political attack, now they realize they actually have to engage on it in some way. This is progress,” said Mr. Park.

Ultimately, the move appears to be tactical. North Korea appears to be trying take some of the heat out of the issue ahead of a U.N. General Assembly resolution on North Korean human rights, which will be voted on in the next few weeks, human rights workers say.

~  ~   ~

Update: More here, from the Christian Science Monitor.