Original article. A shortened translation of this article was published by KBS World.

A survey has found that many North Korean refugees suffered human experimentation in North Korean concentration camps.

According to the Korea Development Institute (한국개발연구원) on the 5th, Marcus Noland of US-based Peterson Institute presented the results of the survey, “Reppression and Punishments Suffered by North Korean Refugees” at a KDA seminar.

The study is based on interviews of 1346 North Korean refugees conducted from August 2004 to September 2005 in 11 provinces in China, and of 300 refugees living in Korea in November 2008.

In the two surveys, 55% of refugees in China said “I suffered human experimentation in North Korean concentration camps” and 5% said “I experienced the murder of my infant child”. 7% of the refugees in Korea said their infant children had been murdered.

52% of refugees in Korea said they had witnessed an execution, and 60% of refugees in China said they had seen a death by torture. The study found that most of the refugees in Korea and China had suffered food deprivation.

92.1% of the refugees asserted that “the poor state of the North Korean economy is due to the North Korean government.”

87.3% said “while I was in North Korea I believed that there must be reunification with Korea”.

On their reasons for escaping, 56.7% said “the economic circumstances”, while 27% said for political freedom and 8% said fear.

30% of respondents in China and 33% of respondents in Korea said “a family member died during the famine.”

43% of respondents in China and 56% of respondents in Korea said “I think a large number of North Korean refugees are unaware of the food aid program and only a small number of them received aid from North Korea.”

67.4% said they believed the aid went to the military, while 28.7% said it goes to the government and the authorities, and 41.9% were pessimistic about the current situation in North Korea.

The countriesNorth Korean refugees wish to go to are mainly Korea (64%) and the United States (19%), while at least 80% of respondents hope for reunification with Korea and believe their colleagues in North Korea feel the same.