--- title: "Camp 14, Kaechon: North Korea Prison Camp Dossier | Save North Korea" description: "Camp 14, Kaechon (Political prison camp (kwanliso)): Operating. Located in South Pyongan Province. Total control zone where prisoners are never released. Shin Dong-hyuk (Escape from Camp 14) says he was born here." url: "https://savenorthkorea.org/camps/kwanliso-14" language: en translations: en: https://savenorthkorea.org/camps/kwanliso-14 ko: https://savenorthkorea.org/ko/camps/kwanliso-14 ja: https://savenorthkorea.org/ja/camps/kwanliso-14 zh-Hans: https://savenorthkorea.org/zh/camps/kwanliso-14 --- [Prison camps](https://savenorthkorea.org/camps) · South Pyongan Province Political prison camp · kwanliso # Camp 14, Kaechon 14호 개천 관리소 Camp 14 is a "Total Control Zone" (wanjeon tongje-guyeok) political prison camp situated along the Taedong River in Kaechon, South Pyongan Province. Inmates sentenced to total control zones are never released, and multiple generations of families are held under guilt-by-association (yeonjwa-je). Former prisoner Shin Dong-hyuk gave detailed testimony of being born inside Camp 14 before escaping in 2005. **\~15,000** prisoners HRNK estimate **Active** Operating **State Security** run by Bowibu Pukchang · South Pyongan Camp 14, Kaechon · 39.5717°N, 126.0622°E [Google Maps ↗](https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5717058,126.0621556,13z/data=!3m1!1e3) · Imagery © Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics [ Open on the intel map](https://savenorthkorea.org/map#camps=camp-0)[ Pukchang county](https://savenorthkorea.org/counties/pukchang)[ How the camp system works](https://savenorthkorea.org/learn/north-korea-prison-camps) ## Satellite watch Captured 11 Oct 2026 Our 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. ![Sentinel-2 satellite image of Camp 14, Kaechon, 7.7 km across, captured 11 Oct 2026](https://savenorthkorea.org/img/sentinel/kwanliso-14/2026-10-11.jpg) ![Sentinel-2 satellite image of Camp 14, Kaechon, 7.7 km across, captured 16 Oct 2025](https://savenorthkorea.org/img/sentinel/kwanliso-14/2025-10-16.jpg) 16 Oct 2025 11 Oct 2026 **Before: 16 Oct 2025** Cloud in this square: 1.04% Scene [S2B\_52SBJ\_20251016\_0\_L2A](https://earth-search.aws.element84.com/v1/collections/sentinel-2-l2a/items/S2B%5F52SBJ%5F20251016%5F0%5FL2A) [Open this day in Copernicus Browser ↗](https://browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu/?zoom=13&lat=39.57171&lng=126.06216&themeId=DEFAULT-THEME&datasetId=S2%5FL2A%5FCDAS&fromTime=2025-10-16T00%3A00%3A00.000Z&toTime=2025-10-16T23%3A59%3A59.999Z&layerId=1%5FTRUE%5FCOLOR) **After: 11 Oct 2026** Cloud in this square: 0% Scene [S2B\_52SBJ\_20261011\_0\_L2A](https://earth-search.aws.element84.com/v1/collections/sentinel-2-l2a/items/S2B%5F52SBJ%5F20261011%5F0%5FL2A) [Open this day in Copernicus Browser ↗](https://browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu/?zoom=13&lat=39.57171&lng=126.06216&themeId=DEFAULT-THEME&datasetId=S2%5FL2A%5FCDAS&fromTime=2026-10-11T00%3A00%3A00.000Z&toTime=2026-10-11T23%3A59%3A59.999Z&layerId=1%5FTRUE%5FCOLOR) 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](https://dataspace.copernicus.eu/) · [Sentinel-2 L2A COGs (AWS)](https://registry.opendata.aws/sentinel-2-l2a-cogs/) ## 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 ## Sources - [**HRNK prison camp map** hrnk.org ↗ ](https://www.hrnk.org/) - [**Wikipedia** en.wikipedia.org ↗ ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaechon%5Finternment%5Fcamp) - [**UN Commission of Inquiry (2014)** ohchr.org ↗ ](https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/co-idprk/commission-inquiry-on-h-rin-dprk) ## Other facilities in South Pyongan Province - [ © Esri, Maxar **Camp 18, Pukchang** Political prison camp · Reported closed or merged ](https://savenorthkorea.org/camps/kwanliso-18) - [ © Esri, Maxar **Kyo-hwa-so No. 11, Chung-san** Prison · Operating (per HRNK) ](https://savenorthkorea.org/camps/kyohwaso-11-chungsan) - [ © Esri, Maxar **Sunchon Kyo-hwa-so** Prison · Operating (per HRNK) ](https://savenorthkorea.org/camps/sunchon-kyohwaso)