camp, then a new prisoner, favored by authorities, arrived to take the house. If not favored at PPC No. 18, the prisoner was sent to Pongchang. And then, from 1991, the released prisoners were sent back to Pongchang when they committed a crime again. At that time, those prisoners of less severe crimes were authorized to meet their relatives. Those prisoners of more serious crimes were all sent to Pongchang.” (A01, former prisoner from PPC NO. 18, 1972~1984) Shin Dong-hyuk testifies that the PPC No. 14, from which he successfully escaped, was in the area that included Kaechon and Pongchang before 1983. The PPC was relocated upstream on the Taedong River and the areas that used to be PPC No. 14 became a new PPC, No. 18 at Pukchang, under the control of the police. At that time, during the process of the majority of prisoners being sent up north to PPC No. 14 at Kaechon, many prisoners were released or remained in the same location, to be reorganized as PPC No. 18.27 The testimony by A01 stating that many prisoners were released after 1984 coincides with the same period of time. “I was released after the year 2000 and became a free man. In fact, I should have been released when my father died. But, this did not happen and I wasted my life there for over 20 years. Many prisoners who were in the Control Center No. 18 for nearly 30 years were released in 2000. Prisoners were released twice a year, on 16 February and 15 April. I did everything possible to be included in the list of released prisoners and offered the supervisor a pig as a bribe. This means that bribery was widely in practice as everyone tried to bribe officials. Release from here does not mean a return to their home town. If released, they are reassigned to a farm or factory in other areas. Prisoners are released on 16 February, 15 April and the anniversary of 27 July. For those prisoners to be released on 16 February, for example, a list of 2-6 selected prisoners arrives in the camp office in envelope from a higher office in November of the preceding year for comments by immediate supervisors on the basis of performance records of the prisoners. The immediate supervisors of the selected prisoners will submit their comments to the Administration Committee of the Control Center. Cases of the selected prisoners and entire family, if a family is selected, are reviewed by the Committee. On 15 February, all the selected prisoners are assembled in the Cultural Hall. The selected prisoners take seats in front and approximately 250-300 prisoners watch the release process from seats behind. This seating arrangement is such for the purpose of showing other prisoners that release is possible for them, too, if they obey camp officials faithfully and be good.” 27 Shin Dong-hyuk, p.34, “NK Maximum-security Camp Out to the World.” NKDB, Seoul, 2007 74