North Korea has started rebuilding a large prison in the southwestern city of Sariwon, according to NK Pro analysis of satellite imagery, the 11th prison found to be undergoing demolition and construction since late 2023. 

NK Pro was first to report on North Korea’s new nationwide prison project, which includes notorious “reeducation” centers known as “kyohwaso” facilities in Sinuiju and Hamhung, as well as the country’s first large new prison under construction in decades. 

The project appears to be part of plans to formalize the national incarceration system, which may improve prisoner living conditions, yet also boost the state’s prisoner capacity and control capabilities. It comes amid leader Kim Jong Un’s stated efforts to enforce absolute obedience among the population and eliminate perceived ideological and social threats to his rule.

Planet Labs satellite imagery shows over half of the old and deteriorating buildings inside the 20-acre (8-hectare) Sariwon prison walls were demolished between Oct. 2025 and mid-Jan. 2026. 

A new building was constructed in the smaller of two walled sections last July, while preparations for building new structures in the larger section appeared in late December, suggesting the central Sariwon prison is being remodeled, not removed.

The construction comes after a smaller kyohwaso east of Sarwion was one of the first to be rebuilt under the nationwide project.

Besides the two in Sariwon, the other nine prisons under construction in the last couple years are in Sinuiju, Chonnae, Hamhung, Hwangju, Pyongyang, Kangdong, Songgan, Jungsan and Tongrim.

New cell blocks and other structures have gone up after demolition at all of the sites except Tongrim, which may not be a remodeling project.

Edited by David Choi