North Korean Prisoners Eat Pig Slops to Avoid Starvation

From an account by Ahn Hyok, Former Detention Settlement Prisoner

Pigs are raised in the detention settlement for security officers to celebrate the Great Leaders’ birthdays. The pigs are raised with rich slops. This was a clear case of animals being fed better than human beings.

If we were fortunate enough to have no guards around, we would sneak into pigsties to steal pigs’ slops. We always carried an empty can with us to scoop out slops from the troughs. Thus, the troughs were cleaned in a mater of seconds. When we were lucky, we drank directly from the troughs. It was a very rare occasion when we felt our stomachs full.

Sometimes, we were discovered by security officers and beaten terribly. One these occasions, we would be beaten until we released more feces than the slops we ate, and then sent to hard labor sites.

Once, we were cautioned by security officers that there was dung mixed in the slops. This did not stop us from stealing slops. When a sow was about to deliver piglets, the security officers made such a fuss and gave it rich slops including rice. What a contrast when they try hard to prevent delivery if a woman prisoner is pregnant.

Once, a calf was born at the cow farms. The prisoners killed, boiled and devoured it. The prisoners were badly beaten and sent to a permanent detention settlement with their families.