N. Korea's Hard-Labor Camps: On the Diplomatic Back Burner

07-19-2009 • Washington Post

Images and accounts of the North Korean gulag become sharper, more harrowing and more accessible with each passing year. Most work 12- to 15-hour days until they die of malnutrition-related illnesses, usually around the age of 50. Allowed just one set of clothes, they live and die in rags, without soap, socks, underclothes or sanitary napkins.