Prison camps · South Hamgyong Province
Camp 15, Yodok
15호 요덕 관리소
Camp 15 in Yodok County, South Hamgyong Province, is the most internationally documented North Korean political prison camp. It uniquely contained both a Total Control Zone and a "Revolutionizing Zone" (hyeokmyeonghwa guyeok) where prisoners could theoretically be released after ideological remolding. Prominent escapees Kang Chol-hwan (author of The Aquariums of Pyongyang) and An Hyuk were released from Yodok after serving sentences.
Open on the intel map Yodok county How the camp system works
Satellite watch
Captured 8 Oct 2026Our own images of this 7.7 km square from the European Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites: the newest clear picture, and the clearest one from each of the last 24 months. One pixel is 10 m, enough to see roads, fields, ponds and large buildings, not people.
Pick a month to compare with the latest image
We pick each image by measuring cloud inside this square from the satellite’s own scene classification. Months with no clear image are left out. We do not mark or interpret anything in the pictures. The ring marks the point on our map.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024-2026 · Copernicus Data Space · Sentinel-2 L2A COGs (AWS)
Crimes against humanity
Whole families are sent to kwanliso without trial under guilt by association (yeonjwa-je). The 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry found these crimes in the political prison camps:
- Extermination
- Murder
- Enslavement
- Torture
- Imprisonment
- Rape
- Forced abortion
- Persecution
- Enforced disappearance
