North Korea 's National Human Rights Commission investigated abuses in N. Korean prison camps . The report is based on the testimony of 278 defectors , who described torture , starvation , deaths . Pyongyang refuses to acknowledge their existence , despite Amnesty reports of surviving inmates . The camps have been used by the Kim regime for years to suppress political dissent .
S. Korea 's National Human Rights Commission documenting abuses in N. Korean labor camps . The report is based on the testimony of 278 defectors , who described torture , starvation , deaths . Pyongyang refuses to acknowledge their existence , despite Amnesty reports of 200,000 inmates . The camps have been used by the Kim dynasty for years to crush political dissent .