North Korea Releases Thousands of Prisoners to Celebrate Former Leader’s Birthday
North Korea released several thousands of prisoners as part of a celebration for a major holiday, a move that prompted joyful family reunions but also alarm about the abuse many former inmates appear to have suffered while in captivity, sources in the country told RFA.
The holiday on Wednesday marked what would have been former leader Kim Jong Il’s 80th birthday. After his death in 2011, his son and successor, Kim Jong Un, declared his father’s birthday to be a national holiday called the “Day of the Shining Star,” elevating it to the same level as the “Day of the Sun,” the birth anniversary of the progenitor of the Kim dynasty, national founder Kim Il Sung.
The North Korean prison system is well known to be incredibly brutal. Former inmates who have escaped the country have said prisoners are poorly fed, live in crowded cells, and are subjected to torture, backbreaking labor and sexual abuse.
Being released from a North Korean prison is reason to celebrate for the inmate and his or her family. But a resident of the northeastern province of North Hamgyong told RFA’s Korean Service that many of the prisoners released ahead of the Day of the Shining Star had suffered so badly that they appeared to be near death.
“Everyone was shocked when those who were released by the amnesty were severely malnourished and barely able to walk,” said the source, who requested anonymity to speak freely. “Some prisoners were unable to move, so their families had to bring them home on stretchers.”
The amnesty did not include political dissidents or criminals convicted of drug offenses or violent crimes such as robbery and murder, according to the source. It had been rumored for several months, and families eagerly anticipated the return of their imprisoned relatives.
