assignments. Nevertheless, most former prisoners provide information relating to an entire PPC on the basis of what they were told as well as their own experience. However, their information largely coincides with the estimate of the number of prisoners at PPC on the basis of the satellite photos. PPC No 15 at Yodok is comprised of both a maximum-security zone and a high-security zone. Information is most abundant for the high-security zone of the camp since over 20 former prisoners from the high-security zone have successfully defected to South Korea. The Yodok PPC is divided to 5-6 areas (valleys) for control. It seems that each valley has a separate and independent operational system. Some areas were expanded during the process of construction. Construction on Sorim-chon began in 1999. The Yodok PPC today includes 5-6 villages in Yodok County and appears to be a high-security camp with the exception of Yongpyong-ni which is a maximumsecurity camp. The survey reveals a total of approximately 50,000 prisoners in the camp. “I was told that Sorimchon was created in about 1999 and I am sure that at least one hundred people have died since then. When I first arrived there, women prisoners already there told me that they had built the road as well as the control sub-station. After my arrival, the road conditions were not good and I did a lot of hard work on road construction.” (A04, former prisoner from Sorimchon, PPC No. 15, 2002~2005) “The PPC at Yodok in which I was detained is in Kunchonni, Yodok County, and South Hamkyong Province and was officially called Sorimchon District. A prisoner by the name of Kim told me that she had actually been engaged in construction work of Sorimchon around the year 2000.” (A06, former prisoner from Sorimchon, Camp No. 15, 2003~2006) 47