North Korea’s prison system is notoriously harsh and overcrowded, with former inmates who have since escaped the country testifying to agonising hunger, hard labour, brutality and torture that includes sexual abuse. 

The gulags are believed to be packed not only with regular criminals but also political prisoners who have fallen foul of the regime. Dissidents were not reported to be among those who were freed this week. 

But the emptying out of the country’s major prisons has created new fears for the most vulnerable as the nation suffers under severe economic difficulties and food shortages.

“An 18-year-old prisoner became big news when she said after her release from Sariwon prison that her time in jail was the first time in her whole life that she had eaten three meals per day. They gave her three meals of steamed corn,” a second source told RFA.

“She had lost her parents at a young age and was imprisoned for theft after living as a homeless street beggar,” said the source, adding that many were now concerned she could be forced to return to the streets.