Human experimentation in North Korea: Difference between revisions

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The reports of North Korean human experimentation describe suffocation of prisoners in gas chambers, testing deadly chemical weapons, surgery without anesthesia, and damaging brain of people to use them as zombies for target practice.

Sources

Human experimentation was described by several North Korean defectors including former women prisoner Lee Soon Ok, former prison guards Kwon Hyok and Ahn Myung Chul and others ^[1] The testimonies were corroborated by documents brought from Korean Camp 22. Lee Soon Ok have escaped from life imprisonment in an "Absolute Control Area" through China to South Korea. In her testimony to US Senate ^[2] and her prison memoir Eyes of the Tailless Animals she recounted witnessing two instances of lethal human experimentation. A BBC television programme on February 1, 2004, with the title, Access to Evil in the This World series,^[3]^[4] detailed some of the allegations^[5]. The claims are supported by US State officials ^[6].

Testing deadly poisons

A former North Korean woman prisoner, Lee Soon Ok described that 50 healthy women prisoners were selected and given poisoned cabbage leaves, which all the women had to eat despite cries of distress from those who had already eaten. All 50 were dead after 20 minutes of vomiting blood and anal bleeding. Refusing to eat would allegedly have meant reprisals against them and their families.

Kwon Hyok, a former prison Head of Security at Camp 22, described laboratories equipped with gas chambers for suffocation gas experiments, in which three or four people, normally a family, are the experimental subjects^[7]^[8]. After undergoing medical checks, the chambers are sealed and poison is injected through a tube, while scientists observe from above through glass. In a report reminiscent of the earlier account of a family of seven, Kwon Hyok claims to have watched one family of two parents, a son and a daughter die from suffocating gas, with the parents trying to save the children using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for as long as they had the strength. The testimony by Kwon Hyok was supported by documents from Camp 22 about transfer of prisoners designated for the experimentation. The documents were identified as genuine by a London based expert on Korea and a human rights activist Kim Sang Hun ^[3]. They were later denounced as faked at a press conference in Pyongyang organized by North Korean authorities^[9]^[10]

Other experiments

Former prison guard Ahn Myung Chul has reported that prisoners were used for "medical operation practice" for young doctors. According to him, these doctors would practice surgery on prisoners, without anesthesia.^[11]. He also described deliberate efforts to study people resistance by starving prisoners to death. According to him^[12],

The people who carry out these executions and these experiments all drink before they do it. But they are real experts now; sometimes they hit prisoners with a hammer, on the back of the head. The poor prisoners then loose their memory, and they use them as zombies for target practice. When the Third Bureau is running out of subjects, a black van known as "the crow" turns up and picks out a few more prisoners, sowing panic among the rest. The crow comes about ones a month and takes forty or fifty people off to an unknown destination.

References

^ U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea - The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps (includes satellite photos of the known camps)
^ "Testimony of Ms. Soon Ok Lee". United States Senate. June 21, 2002. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
^ ^a ^b Olenka Frenkiel (January 30, 2004). "Within prison walls". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
^ Human guinea pigs BBC News
^ Auschwitz Under Our Noses, by Anne Applebaum, February 4 2004, The Washington Post
^ "Death, terror in N. Korea gulag NBC News investigation uncovers horrific, extensive atrocities." by MSNBC
^ Revealed: the gas chamber horror of North Korea's gulag by Antony Barnett, February 1, 2004 Guardian Unlimited
^ [Video testimonials by former guards and prisoners at Camp 22, where the experiments are said to have occurred, with Google Earth images Camp 22 and other camps
^ DPRK civilians admit faking papers on chemical weapons testing on humans at a press conference in Pyongyang, publication of People's Daily, an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
^ Truth behind False Report about "Experiment of Chem. Weapons on Human Bodies" in DPRK Disclosed (North Korean Central News Agency)
^ Ahn Myung Chul (January 18, 2006). "Prisoners Used for Medical Operation Practice". DailyNK. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
^ Nicolas Werth, Karel Bartošek, Jean-Louis Panné, Jean-Louis Margolin, Andrzej Paczkowski, Stéphane Courtois, The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, Harvard University Press, 1999, hardcover, 858 pages, ISBN 0-674-07608-7, page 557

External links

[1] U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea - The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps (includes satellite photos of the known camps)

[senate01-2] "Testimony of Ms. Soon Ok Lee". United States Senate. June 21, 2002. Retrieved 2009-12-15.

[bbc01-3] Olenka Frenkiel (January 30, 2004). "Within prison walls". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-12-15.

[4] Human guinea pigs BBC News

[5] Auschwitz Under Our Noses, by Anne Applebaum, February 4 2004, The Washington Post

[6] "Death, terror in N. Korea gulag NBC News investigation uncovers horrific, extensive atrocities." by MSNBC

[7] Revealed: the gas chamber horror of North Korea's gulag by Antony Barnett, February 1, 2004 Guardian Unlimited

[8] [Video testimonials by former guards and prisoners at Camp 22, where the experiments are said to have occurred, with Google Earth images Camp 22 and other camps

[9] DPRK civilians admit faking papers on chemical weapons testing on humans at a press conference in Pyongyang, publication of People's Daily, an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

[10] Truth behind False Report about "Experiment of Chem. Weapons on Human Bodies" in DPRK Disclosed (North Korean Central News Agency)

[dailynk01-11] Ahn Myung Chul (January 18, 2006). "Prisoners Used for Medical Operation Practice". DailyNK. Retrieved 2009-12-15.

[black_book-12] Nicolas Werth, Karel Bartošek, Jean-Louis Panné, Jean-Louis Margolin, Andrzej Paczkowski, Stéphane Courtois, The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, Harvard University Press, 1999, hardcover, 858 pages, ISBN 0-674-07608-7, page 557

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-There have been reports of '''North Korean [[human experimentation]]'''. These reports show [[human rights abuse]]s similar to those of [[Nazi human experimentation|Nazi]] and [[Japanese human experimentation]] in [[World War II]]. These allegations of human rights abuses are denied by the [[Politics of North Korea|North Korean government]], who claim that all prisoners in [[North Korea]] are treated humanely.
+The reports of '''North Korean human experimentation''' describe suffocation of prisoners in [[gas chambers]], testing deadly [[chemical weapons]], surgery without [[anesthesia]], and damaging brain of people to use them as zombies for target practice.
-==Allegations==
+==Sources==
+Human experimentation was described by several [[North Korean defectors]] including former women prisoner [[Lee Soon Ok]], former prison guards Kwon Hyok and Ahn Myung Chul and others <ref>[http://www.hrnk.org/download/The%20Hidden%20Gulag.pdf U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea - The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps] (includes satellite photos of the known camps)</ref> The testimonies were corroborated by documents brought from Korean [[Camp 22]]. Lee Soon Ok have escaped from life imprisonment in an "Absolute Control Area" through [[China]] to [[South Korea]].  In her testimony to [[US Senate]] <ref name="senate01">{{cite web
-The [[human rights]] charity [[Christian Solidarity Worldwide]] details on its website allegations of chemical experiments done to [[political prisoner]]s, and an apparent eyewitnesses report about seven people who died in two [[gas chamber]]s, including a mother who held her youngest child as she died.
+ |url         = http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=292&wit_id=665
+ |title       = Testimony of Ms. Soon Ok Lee
-===2004 BBC report===
+ |date        = June 21, 2002
-A [[BBC]] television programme on February 1, 2004, with the title, ''Access to Evil'' in the ''This World'' series,<ref name="bbc01">{{cite web
+ |accessdate  = 2009-12-15
+ |publisher   = United States Senate
+}}</ref> and her prison memoir ''[[Eyes of the Tailless Animals: Prison Memoirs of a North Korean Woman|Eyes of the Tailless Animals]]'' she recounted witnessing two instances of lethal human experimentation. A [[BBC]] television programme on February 1, 2004, with the title, ''Access to Evil'' in the ''This World'' series,<ref name="bbc01">{{cite web
  |url         = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/3440771.stm
  |title       = Within prison walls
@@ Line 12: / Line 15: @@
  |date        = January 30, 2004
  |publisher   = BBC News
+}}</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3933727.stm Human guinea pigs] [[BBC News]]</ref> detailed some of the allegations<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10791-2004Feb3.html Auschwitz Under Our Noses], by [[Anne Applebaum]], February 4 [[2004]], [[The Washington Post]]</ref>. The claims are supported by US State officials <ref> [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3071466/ "Death, terror in N. Korea gulag NBC News investigation uncovers horrific, extensive atrocities."] by [[MSNBC]]</ref>.
-}}</ref> detailed other allegations.
+==Testing deadly poisons==
-In the programme, a former North Korean woman prisoner tells how 50 healthy women prisoners were selected and given poisoned cabbage leaves, which all the women had to eat despite cries of distress from those who had already eaten. All 50 were dead after 20 minutes of vomiting blood and anal bleeding. Refusing to eat would allegedly have meant [[reprisal]]s against them and their families.
+A former North Korean woman prisoner, [[Lee Soon Ok]] described that 50 healthy women prisoners were selected and given poisoned cabbage leaves, which all the women had to eat despite cries of distress from those who had already eaten. All 50 were dead after 20 minutes of vomiting blood and anal bleeding. Refusing to eat would allegedly have meant [[reprisal]]s against them and their families.
-Kwon Hyok, a former prison Head of Security at [[Camp 22]], described laboratories equipped respectively for [[poison gas]], [[Gas chamber|suffocation gas]] and [[blood]] experiments, in which three or four people, normally a family, are the experimental subjects.  After undergoing medical checks, the chambers are sealed and poison is injected through a tube, while scientists observe from above through glass. In a report reminiscent of the earlier account of a family of seven, Kwon Hyok claims to have watched one family of two parents, a son and a daughter die from suffocating gas, with the parents trying to save the children using [[CPR#BREATHING|mouth-to-mouth resuscitation]] for as long as they had the strength.
+Kwon Hyok, a former prison Head of Security at [[Camp 22]], described laboratories equipped with [[gas chambers]] for [[Asphyxiant gas|suffocation gas]] experiments, in which three or four people, normally a family, are the experimental subjects<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/korea/article/0,2763,1136483,00.html Revealed: the gas chamber horror of North Korea's gulag] by Antony Barnett, February 1, 2004 [[Guardian Unlimited]]</ref><ref>[[http://freekorea.us/2007/02/18/holocaust-now-looking-down-into-hell-at-camp-22/ Video testimonials by former guards and prisoners at Camp 22], where the experiments are said to have occurred, with Google Earth images Camp 22 and other camps</ref>.  After undergoing medical checks, the chambers are sealed and poison is injected through a tube, while scientists observe from above through glass. In a report reminiscent of the earlier account of a family of seven, Kwon Hyok claims to have watched one family of two parents, a son and a daughter die from suffocating gas, with the parents trying to save the children using [[CPR#BREATHING|mouth-to-mouth resuscitation]] for as long as they had the strength. The testimony by Kwon Hyok was supported by documents from [[Camp 22]] about  transfer of prisoners designated for the experimentation. The documents were identified as genuine by a London based expert on Korea and a human rights activist Kim Sang Hun <ref name="bbc01"/>. They were later denounced as faked at a press conference in [[Pyongyang]] organized by North Korean authorities<ref>[http://english.people.com.cn/200403/31/eng20040331_138993.shtml DPRK civilians admit faking papers on chemical weapons testing on humans at a press conference in Pyongyang], publication of [[People's Daily]], an official organ of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of China]]</ref><ref>[http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2004/200403/news03/31.htm#10 Truth behind False Report about "Experiment of Chem. Weapons on Human Bodies" in DPRK Disclosed] ([[North Korea]]n Central News Agency)</ref>
-An interview with Kim Sang Hun, described as a distinguished human rights activist, was also broadcast.  Kim Sang Hun showed documents that he says were brought from [[Camp 22]] by an escapee and which he is sure are not forgeries.  These documents each say that a certain prisoner is to be transferred for experimentation with chemical weapons.  A London based expert on Korea also considers it likely that the documents are genuine and Kwon Hyok stated independently that such documents were used at Camp 22.
-North Korea refuses access by any outside observers to [[Camp 22]].
-===Other reports===
-[[Lee Soon Ok]], another North Korean defector, and one of the few to have escaped from life imprisonment in an "Absolute Control Area" through [[China]] to [[South Korea]].  In her original defector's testimony, her US Senate testimony<ref name="senate01">{{cite web
- |url         = http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=292&wit_id=665
- |title       = Testimony of Ms. Soon Ok Lee
- |date        = June 21, 2002
- |accessdate  = 2009-12-15
- |publisher   = United States Senate
-}}</ref> and her prison memoir ''[[Eyes of the Tailless Animals: Prison Memoirs of a North Korean Woman|Eyes of the Tailless Animals]]'' (ISBN 0-88264-335-5) she recounted witnessing two instances of lethal human experimentation.  Allegedly, her account is backed by satellite photographs, but how such events were seen has not been disclosed.
+==Other experiments==
 Former prison guard Ahn Myung Chul has reported that prisoners were used for "medical operation practice" for young doctors. According to him, these doctors would practice [[surgery]] on prisoners, without [[anesthesia]].<ref name="dailynk01">{{cite web
  |url         = http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk02600&num=506
@@ Line 38: / Line 31: @@
  |date        = January 18, 2006
  |publisher   = DailyNK
+}}</ref>. He also described deliberate efforts to study people resistance by starving prisoners to death. According to him<ref name="black book">Nicolas Werth, Karel Bartošek, Jean-Louis Panné, Jean-Louis Margolin, Andrzej Paczkowski, [[Stéphane Courtois]], ''[[The Black Book of Communism]]: Crimes, Terror, Repression'', [[Harvard University Press]], 1999, hardcover, 858 pages, ISBN 0-674-07608-7, page 557</ref>,
-}}</ref>
+{{Quotation|The people who carry out these executions and these experiments all drink before they do it. But they are real experts now; sometimes they hit prisoners with a hammer, on the back of the head. The poor prisoners then loose their memory, and they use them as zombies for target practice. When the Third Bureau is running out of subjects, a black van known as "the crow" turns up and picks out a few more prisoners, sowing panic among the rest. The crow comes about ones a month and takes forty or fifty people off to an unknown destination.}}
 ==See also==
-*[[Nuremberg Code]] of ethics for research involving human subjects
+*[[Declaration of Helsinki]] of ethics for research involving human subjects
 *[[List of Korea-related topics]]
-*[[Camp 22, North Korea]]
+*[[Camp 22|Camp 22, North Korea]]
 *[[Korean Central News Agency]]
 *[[Prisoner abuse]]
+*[[Unethical human experimentation in the United States]]
 ==References==
@@ Line 53: / Line 49: @@
 * [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3071468/ "Former guard: Ahn Myong Chol North Korean prison guard remembers atrocities."]
 * [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3071464/ "A survivor: Soon Ok Lee 7 years of torture in N. Korean prison camp."]
-* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3071467/ "Child prisoner: Kang Chol Hwan North Korean imprisoned at age 10 for grandparents’ dissent."]
-* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3071466/ "Death, terror in N. Korea gulag NBC News investigation uncovers horrific, extensive atrocities."]
-* [http://freekorea.us/2007/02/18/holocaust-now-looking-down-into-hell-at-camp-22/ Video testimonials by former guards and prisoners at Camp 22], where the experiments are said to have occurred, with Google Earth images Camp 22 and other camps.
-* [http://www.hrnk.org/hiddengulag/toc.html U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea - The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps] (includes satellite photos of the known camps)
-* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/korea/article/0,2763,1136483,00.html Revealed: the gas chamber horror of North Korea's gulag] by Antony Barnett, February 1, 2004 [[Guardian Unlimited]]
-* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/3933727.stm Human guinea pigs] [[BBC News]]
-*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_world/3440771.stm Within prison walls], by Olenka Frenkiel, [[BBC News]]
-*[http://usinfo.state.gov/eap/Archive/2004/Jul/01-372561.html Congress Wants UN to Look at N. Korea's Human Rights Abuses]
-*[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10791-2004Feb3.html Auschwitz Under Our Noses], by [[Anne Applebaum]], February 4 [[2004]], [[The Washington Post]]
-*[http://www.iiss.org/whats-new/iiss-in-the-press/may-2007/north-korea-and-the-poor-mans-bombs  IISS report]
-* [http://www.hrnk.org/hiddengulag/toc.html U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea - The Hidden Gulag: Exposing North Korea’s Prison Camps] (includes satellite photos of the known camps)
-* [http://english.people.com.cn/200403/31/eng20040331_138993.shtml DPRK civilians admit faking papers on chemical weapons testing on humans at a press conference in Pyongyang], publication of [[People's Daily]], an official organ of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of China]]
-* [http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2004/200403/news03/31.htm#10 Truth behind False Report about "Experiment of Chem. Weapons on Human Bodies" in DPRK Disclosed] ([[North Korea]]n Central News Agency)
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Human Experimentation In North Korea}}
 [[Category:Human rights in North Korea]]
 [[Category:Torture in North Korea]]
 [[Category:Human experimentation by country|N]]
-[[zh:北韓人體實驗]]
 [[es:Experimentación humana en Corea del Norte]]
+[[zh:朝鮮民主主義人民共和國人體實驗]]