Blogger discovers development with 'striking similarity' to already discovered camps next to existing an prison

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Analysis of updated Google Earth satellite images has identified what appears to be another of North Korea's notorious prison camps.

Blogger Curtis Melvin, who publishes North Korean Economy Watch, discovered a new development next to existing prison Camp 14, sharing 3km of fencing, and near the disused Camp 18.

While not confirmed as a new prison, Melvin observed a "striking similarity" to existing camps and a visible security fence. He has speculated that the area is an extension of Camp 14, a new camp or a new type of facility altogether.

Melvin said this new area was constructed some time between December 2006 and September 2011, and has identified what appear to be guard posts, a staff entrance, residential units and an abandoned coal mine.

The brutality of North Korea's prison camps was revealed last year in a book by defector Shin Dong-hyuk, who worked with formerWashington Post reporter Blaine Harden to tell of his experience since birth in Camp 14.

North Korea's camps are estimated to hold as many as 200,000 people, many incarcerated because they are related to a previous prisoner, have attempted to make contact outside the country or for "insulting the Kim dynasty".

Prison camps in the remote and mountainous region of North Korea are the most severe, with reports of gas chambers and chemical experiments, according to Amnesty International.

Shin told of the forced labour in the camps, including a factory sewing military uniforms and dangerous and often fatal work in coal mines. He eventually escaped at 23, and now lives in Seoul, South Korea.

The "Hidden Gulag" report by the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea last month praised Google Earth for its high resolution imagery, which has allowed camps to be identified, monitored and confirmed detailed testimonies from escapees.

The Google executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, drew criticism for a visit to North Korea earlier this month, with the US state department describing it as "ill-timed", though the power of the search giant's mapping tool has been praised.

After his four-day visit, Schmidt said North Korea needed to empower its citizens through access to the global internet.