Hoeryong Concentration Camp

Hoeryong Concentration Camp also known as Camp 22 is a North Korean prison for political prisoners, who are in fact family members of accused North Koreans. Camp 22 is known as: Kwan-li-so No.22 Haengyong. 'Kwan-li-so' is Korean for 'education'. It is located in north-east North Korea, on the border with Russia and China, 20 km from the city of Hoeryong. On all available maps the camp carries no name like villages. This camp is surrounded by the following villages: Wŏn-dong, Ssŏgŭndari, Kulsal-li, Haengyŏng-ni (headquarters of the camp), Naksaeng-ni and Chungch’u-dong.

There are an estimated 50,000 prisoners held in Camp 22. Most have been imprisoned because relatives were critical of the Korean Workers' Party or its General Secretary, Kim Jong-il. Analysis of satellite imagery suggests that the camp is surrounded by guarded fences, and that it covers an area estimated to be as large as Washington, D.C.. Housing is clustered in fairly small groups. Reasons for housing the prisoners in this fashion are unclear, but could be to decrease the risk of rebellion