Seoul , South Korea ( CNN ) -- North Korea said Tuesday that it would release an unspecified number of prisoners in February to mark the birthdays of the two dictators who ruled the reclusive nation for a total of more than 60 years . The amnesty of `` convicts , '' ordered by a parliamentary decree , will begin February 1 , the state-run Korean Central News Agency ( KCNA ) reported . KCNA said the move ties in with the centenary of the birth of Kim Il Sung , the revered founder of North Korea who ran the country between 1945 and 1994 , and the 70th birthday of his son , Kim Jong Il , who succeeded him and remained in power until his death last month . Leadership of the repressive regime has now passed to a third generation of the Kim family : Kim Jong Un , the youngest son and chosen successor of Kim Jong Il . North Korea tends to grant amnesties to prisoners at five-year intervals after an important date , like the founding of the Korean Workers ' Party , according to Park In-ho , the president of Daily NK , an internet news company that monitors developments in North Korea from Seoul . But the centennial of Kim Il Sung 's birthday , for which huge commemorations are expected , could result in a particularly large release of prisoners , Park said . In any year , Kim Il Sung 's birthday on April 15 , known as the `` Day of the Sun , '' is one of the biggest dates in the North Korean calendar . His 100th birthday , combined with the 70th anniversary of the birth of Kim Jong Il on February 16 , is likely to considerably intensify the regime 's commemorative efforts . But Park cautioned that whatever the scale of this year 's amnesty , which is unlikely to include a high proportion of political prisoners , he does not think it will represent an improvement in North Korea 's human rights record . `` We have had heard that usually within three months , large numbers of other people get hauled into the prison camps again , '' he said . `` So in the long run , the country maintains almost the same number of prisoners consistently , aside from the one or two months immediately after the amnesty order . '' Gauging the number of people detained by North Korea is difficult because of the regime 's secretiveness and restrictions on foreign agencies operating there . International organizations estimate that North Korea holds about 200,000 political prisoners . Park said that he believed the overall prison population to be between 300,000 and 400,000 . North Korea is estimated to have a total population of about 23 million people . CNN 's Jethro Mullen contributed to this report .
The prisoner amnesty ties in with the birthdays of two dead North Korean soldiers . Pyongyang does n't specify how many prisoners will be released . The government periodically gives out amnesties on important prisoners . International organizations estimate that North Korea holds about 500 political prisoners .