--- title: "Free North Korea: understand North Korea, help its people" description: "An open-source hub on North Korea: a map of prison camps and nuclear sites, military capability, every missile test, a library, and the organizations helping North Koreans, with clear ways to act." url: "https://liberatenorthkorea.org" language: en translations: en: https://liberatenorthkorea.org ko: https://liberatenorthkorea.org/ko ja: https://liberatenorthkorea.org/ja zh: https://liberatenorthkorea.org/zh --- # Understand North Korea. Help free its people. The map, the military picture, the history and the groups doing the work, plus clear things you can do today. The regime survives on keeping its people in the dark and everyone else uninterested. This site is for fixing both. [What can I do? ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/act)[How could North Korea be freed? ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/learn/how-can-north-korea-be-freed) [**17 camps and weapons sites watched from space** Newest image: Camp 14, Kaechon, 11 Oct 2026 ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/watch) [](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/map) [© Copernicus Sentinel-2 · 11 Oct 2026 Political prison camp **Camp 14, Kaechon** Total control zone where prisoners are never released. Open on the map © Copernicus Sentinel-2 · 11 Oct 2026 ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/map#camps=camp-0) - Prison camps 24 - Nuclear 4 - Missile & space 14 - Regime 3 - Border & crossings 5 - Economy 4 [ Open the intel map](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/map) - 24 prison camps and prisons mapped - 360 missile launches since 1984 - 17 sites watched from space - 26 organizations doing the work - 67 books, films and reports - English, 한국어, 日本語, 中文 ## Do something in the next 10 minutes [All the ways to help ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/act) [ Free **Mail your old USB drives** They get wiped, loaded with films and news, and smuggled into North Korea. 140,000+ so far. _Flash Drives for Freedom_ ](https://flashdrivesforfreedom.org)[ $3,000 = one person **Fund a rescue** Liberty in North Korea has brought 1,400+ people from China to safety. Any amount counts toward the next one. _Donate to LiNK_ ](https://libertyinnorthkorea.org/donate)[ Context **Know what changed in 2025** Radio Free Asia’s Korean service closed and many groups lost funding. The pipeline into the country is at its weakest in years. _Read the explainer_ ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/learn/information-into-north-korea) The scale of it **80– 120k** people held in political prison camps UN inquiry, 2014\. Still the most-cited estimate 26M people living under the Kim regime UN estimate 224 escapees reached South Korea in 2025 Unification Ministry \~60 assembled nuclear warheads SIPRI, Jan 2026 360 missile and space launches since 1984 CNS missile test database ![The peninsula at night. North Korea is the dark half.](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/img/pages/korea-at-night.jpg) The peninsula at night. North Korea is the dark half. NASA Earth Observatory, Black Marble 2016 (public domain) ## Watched from outside, updated on its own [Everything we measure ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/watch) Missile launches tracked by radar, seismic readings, our own satellite images of the camps, and five official sanctions lists. Scripts check them every few hours. 1. 12 Oct 2026 00:19 UTC **Ballistic missile launch, at least 2, over 910 km** Tracked by Japan's Ministry of Defense · [Source](https://www.mod.go.jp/j/press/news/2026/10/12e.pdf) 2. 2 Oct 2026 21:36 UTC **Ballistic missile launch, at least 1, about 680 km** Tracked by Japan's Ministry of Defense · [Source](https://www.mod.go.jp/j/press/news/2026/10/03d.pdf) 3. 20 Sept 2026 08:54 UTC **Ballistic missile launch, at least 1, about 590 km** Tracked by Japan's Ministry of Defense · [Source](https://www.mod.go.jp/j/press/news/2026/09/20i.pdf) Only measured events: seismic readings (USGS) and radar-tracked launches (Japan Ministry of Defense). Checked every few hours. [**5** days since Kim Jong Un's last public appearance reported by KCNA (North Korean state media)Last reported appearance: 11 Oct 2026 · Kim Watch: every reported appearance → ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/kim-watch) ## Explore - [ **People** The Kim family tree and the officials who run the country, with sources and sanctions. ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/people) - [ **Missile tests** All 360 missile and space launches since 1984, with flight paths. ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/missiles) - [ **Military** Nukes, missiles, artillery, cyber theft, and the war in Ukraine. ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/military) - [ **Organizations** Who is doing the work in 2026 and how to help each one. ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/organizations) - [ **Library** Escapee memoirs, documentaries, UN reports and open data. ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/library) ## Questions people ask [All explainers ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/learn) - [ **How can North Korea be freed?** Five ways the regime could end or open up, roughly how likely each one is, and which ones normal people can actually push on. 8 min read ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/learn/how-can-north-korea-be-freed) - [ **Is it possible to free North Korea?** Why the regime has lasted since 1948, the cracks that are already there, and what history says about "permanent" dictatorships. 6 min read ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/learn/is-it-possible-to-free-north-korea) - [ **How to help North Korean people** Concrete things that work, with costs. Rescues, USB drives, tutoring escapees, documentation, and pressure on governments. 6 min read ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/learn/how-to-help-north-koreans) - [ **How North Koreans escape** The river crossing, hiding in China, the 3,000-mile route to Southeast Asia, and why only 224 people made it in 2025. 6 min read ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/learn/how-north-koreans-escape) - [ **Why China sends North Koreans back** At least 1,076 people sent back since 2020: why China returns North Koreans, and what waits for them at home. 7 min read ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/learn/china-forced-repatriation-north-koreans) - [ © Esri, Maxar **North Korea's prison camps** The kwanliso system: where the camps are, why whole families end up inside, and what satellite imagery and survivors show. 7 min read ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/learn/north-korea-prison-camps) - [ **Songbun: the caste system North Korea says does not exist** Three classes, 51 categories and a file on everyone from age 17: how family background decides a North Korean life. 6 min read ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/learn/north-korea-songbun-caste-system) ## Ten minutes is enough to start. Mail a USB drive, fund a rescue, write to your representative. Every way to help, what it costs and who does the work. [What can I do? ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/act)[Groups doing the work ](https://liberatenorthkorea.org/organizations) North Korean farmers, 2009\. Photo via Wikimedia Commons **Build this with us.** Everything here is open source. If you can code, map, translate Korean or spot a wrong fact, you can help. [Contribute on GitHub](https://github.com/Ahmet-Dedeler/free-north-korea)