Varifrank: North Korean prison break?

North Korean prison break?

"...About 120 North Korean prisoners have escaped a political concentration camp in the northeast of the country and security officials in the area are on high alert, said news reports.

The prisoners escaped the concentration camp in Hamgyong, a province close to Chinese and Russian borders, in December, reported the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper on Wednesday..."

First off, no information gets out of North Korea that Noth Korea doesnt want to let out.

Second, this apparently happened in December but is just making heads turn in the south today.

Third, that old devil 'logistics'. 120 people, who need 1,000 calories a day just to stay upright are on the move in the countryside and on the run from the authorities. You might manage to break out of prison by yourself and manage to scrounge enough to eat to stay alive and still manage to stay hidden from the guards, the army, the police and the local gentry; but if you and your group gets bigger than, oh, lets say five people, you are going to be found rather quickly. 120 people going anywhere on any terrain in any conditions will tend to leave a hell of alot of material behind, so they tend to be easy to track.

So what happened? Did the camp authority just collapse, and this is not so much an organized escape as a case of something more attune to a group of escaped farm animals walking away from a farm by leaving out the front gate?

Did they get help from outsiders? if so, from where and by whom?

Very interesting. I'll be watching for more...

UPDATE: ohhh. its the guards!

Now, this is even more interesting!

"...The Hwasong prison camp -- located deep inside a mountain and encircled by high wire fences -- holds about 10,000 prisoners, Daily NK said. The escape seemed to have been carefully planned with outside help since the escapees drove off in a vehicle waiting outside the prison, according to the report.

Between 150,000 and 200,000 people are believed to be held in prison camps in the communist North for political reasons, according to U.S. government data.

Separately, Daily NK reported Sunday that 20 North Korean guards along the border with China had fled the country to avoid arrest for allegedly helping North Korean defectors cross the border..." (allegedly? does CNN really need to say 'allegedly'?)

Bribes? Organized resistance to authority? In the socialist peoples paradise of North Korea? my worldview is shattered...

UPDATE II: More details here.

Posted @ February 07, 2007 04:58 PM | Current Affairs

Interesting that the AP is so fast? at getting this out. No 'Stringers' for them, I take it? blogengeezer at http://daflikkers.blogspot.com/

Posted by: Ernest F Andreas at February 7, 2007 07:12 PM