The Hidden Gulag series by David Hawk (for HRNK) has been a benchmark in the field of human rights research on North Korea, primarily because of its synthesis of former prisoner testimony and satellite imagery of North Korea’s prison camps. At the time (in the early 2000s), this was a union that was much more difficult to bring about than it appeared.

Previously, the only way to obtain open source satellite images of North Korea was through two private commercial satellite companies. Before these could even be obtained, however, Hawk needed to know where to look. Former North Korean prisoners in Seoul had to identify where the prison camps in North Korea were located. In order to do this, they used old declassified military maps of North Korea, which Hawk had to order and then ship to South Korea. It was only after these maps were shipped back to the United States with the camp locations marked that modern commercial satellite footage could be ordered. This new footage was then sent back to South Korea, where camp locations would be confirmed by the former prisoners. Often times, the imagery would slightly miss the mark, showing imagery of the nearest town rather than the camp itself, in which case the process had to be repeated.

North Korea is obviously an isolated nation, and it is important to recognize the unique ways in which information flows out of it. In the past, North Korea had an almost complete and total information blackout. As a result, human rights researchers such as David Hawk found themselves in the “odd situation, only being able to find out about human rights violations...between two to five years after violations occur,” when the prisoners finally escape. As a result, “we’re constantly playing catch-up,” Hawk laments. This flow of new information is one reason it is important to have new updates to Hidden Gulag. 

In the past few years, however, the flow of information out of North Korea has become more substantial. For instance, cell phones are often smuggled into North Korea and are used by media and escapees alike in order to contact those still residing in North Korea. Defections, despite recent regime crackdowns, have become much more efficient. When a defection is purchased, one can arrive in South Korea in a matter of months, weeks, or even days, depending on the price paid to brokers for the defection. All of this, when combined with the precise and instantaneous nature of satellite technologies, has made the process of obtaining information from inside North Korea much easier for those like David Hawk.

In the most recent update, Hidden Gulag IV: Gender Repression & Prisoner Disappearances, Hawk was able to confirm the addition of a women’s section to Jongo-ri, a prison that was male-exclusive at the time of the previous Hidden Gulag updates. HRNK and David Hawk also worked with AllSource Analysis (ASA), a satellite imagery analysis company, to supplement Google Earth and former prisoner testimony. ASA provided high-resolution image maps of North Korea’s prison camps, something not available on Google Earth.

Going forward, satellite imagery technology, combined with analysis from HRNK’s partner, ASA, will only become more precise, allowing Hawk and others to do more accurate work, and help provide a clearer picture of the human rights abuses inside North Korea. If you’re interested in David Hawk’s work for HRNK, watch this excerpt from our interview with him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgsTlbJr5Bg.

To access the Hidden Gulag series and other HRNK publications, click here.
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By HRNK Research Intern Christopher Motola 

The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) was the first organization to combine satellite imagery and escapee testimony to report on North Korea’s vast system of unlawful imprisonment, in the first Hidden Gulag report by David Hawk, published in 2003. HRNK has continued to use satellite imagery in its investigation and monitoring of North Korea’s political prison camps, most recently through a partnership with Colorado-based satellite imagery company AllSource Analysis (ASA).

Now it appears that HRNK’s satellite imagery-based reporting has become so well-known that it is being used by conspiracy theorists keen on concocting bizarre stories. It seems that satellite images from HRNK’s Hidden Gulag reports were used as “evidence” to “prove” that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been secretly building… concentration camps in America (!). Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) published an article stating that James Meigs, then editor-in-chief of Popular Mechanics, noticed the images used by conspiracy theorists were actual images of forced-labor and political prison camps in North Korea.[1] The article reports that “the images, according to Popular Mechanics, were taken from a Washington D.C.-based human rights group’s report exposing North Korea’s hidden prison camps.”[2] The image is on page 118 of The Hidden Gulag. The image has absolutely nothing to do with the imaginary “FEMA camps.” It is actually an image of Kyo-hwa-so (Political Prison Camp) No.1 in Kaechon.

Conspiracy theorists further claimed that “there is a minimum of one confirmed concentration camp built on American soil in rural Wyoming.” They stated that such pictures were “accidentally released by the Department of Homeland security.” The fact is that these images were simply taken from The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps. Though the images were slightly altered, they were initially published by the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea to raise awareness of North Korea’s gulags.[3] An estimated 400,000 people have died in North Korea’s political prison camp system since its establishment in the 1950s. Currently, there are 120,000 prisoners held inside the camps, in some instances members of three generations of the same family, detained together pursuant to yeon-jwa-je, a system of guilt-by-association inspired by feudal practices.
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Greg Scarlatoiu, HRNK’s executive director said: “In a strange kind of way, the misuse of our satellite imagery by conspiracy theorists is troubling, but at the same time testament to the quality, breadth and depth of our public information campaigns. By the time your work has become the stuff of conspiracy theories, you know you must be doing something right…” Scarlatoiu further added: “In recent months, we have seen bizarre claims by self-proclaimed ‘Korea watchers,’ who have placed HRNK at the center of ‘conspiracy theories’ ranging from goofy to loopy. Individuals who seem to have become mentally unhinged went as far as to claim that the DMZ landmines that maimed two South Korean servicemen in early August were planted not by the Korean People’s Army, but by… human rights groups keen on regime change…”

By HRNK Intern Suhwan (Alma) Seo


[1] Mark Potok & Don Terry, “Margins to Mainstream,” Southern Poverty Law Center, October 27, 2015, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2015/margins-mainstream.

[2] Link to the Popular Mechanics article: http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a12805/4312850/.

[3] Additional images taken from HRNK’s reports on North Korea’s prison camps were altered and used to show “evidence” of camps in Wyoming: http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_FEMA02.htm. These images depict the following prison camps in North Korea: 1) Kyo-hwa-so No. 1 Kaechon (p. 118 of Hidden Gulag); 2) Kwan-li-so No.22 Haengyong (p.114 of Hidden Gulag); 3) Kwan-li-so No. 18 Bukchang (p. 103 of Hidden Gulag); and 4) South Sinuiju Detention Center (p. 119 of Hidden Gulag).