According to the United States government, Chongori is located near Chongori, a little village in Musan-ri (Korean: 무산리; RR: Musanri; MR: Musanri), Hoeryong county, at the road and railroad almost halfway between Hoeryong and Chongjin, North Hamgyong province in North Korea.
In 2005 the camp contained around 2000 prisoners, mostly non-political criminals, but they were often forced to serve their sentences there as punishment for desperate offences such as stealing food.
[3] From 2006 onward, the number of prisoners significantly increased,[4] because many defectors who were deported from China were arrested and imprisoned in Chongori camp.
[16] Lee Jun Ha estimates that around 30 to 40 people died as a result of malnutrition, work accidents or torture each month and their bodies were burnt on a nearby mountain.
[17] Prisoners are regularly subjected to beatings,[18] torture and inhuman treatment, all of which are arbitrarily administered at the guards' discretion.
[19] When a prisoner breaks a rule, he is tortured and confined in a solitary cell, only 1 square metre (11 sq ft) in area, where he can not stretch his legs for many days or weeks.