North Korean authorities announced that beginning January special amnesties will be granted to some prisoners serving terms of hard labor, marking the 90th birthday of the late President Kim Il Sung, which falls on April 15. Pyongyang stipulated that the definition of crimes are those "activities infringing, deliberately or by error, upon the national sovereignty and legal order, dangerous enough to warrant punishment." Anyone over 17-years of age found guilty of a crime can be sentenced to prison terms with hard labor. Punishments are classified into the death sentence, prison terms with labor, deprivation of the right to elect, confiscation of property, deprivation or suspension of one's rights, according to the North's Criminal Law, as amended in December 1990. The first two punishments are basic, and the remainder additional.

Prisoners subject to the special amnesty recently announced are those serving terms, ranging from six months to 15 years, with labor. Imprisonment with labor is handed out to most defendants convicted of violating civil or criminal laws.

Political criminals convicted of so-called anti-party or anti-revolutionary crimes challenging the state or denying its legitimacy, plus their families, are incarcerated in concentration camps, which are designated as numbered control camps, and special or restricted areas. These people are not eligible for the current special amnesty.

Clemency to prisoners is granted in two ways in the North: amnesty and special amnesty. The former is given by the Supreme People's Assembly and the latter by the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, in accordance with the Criminal Law. Prisoners serving hard labor jail terms, who show sincere repentance, have good service records and have completed half or more of their terms are eligible for amnesty and special amnesty. Once amnesty or special amnesty is decided upon, prisons concerned select those who are eligible and the court reviews and judges the selections.

Pyongyang grants amnesties on such celebration days as the Party Foundation Day (October 10), the Government Foundation Day (September 9), Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il's birthdays (the latter February 16). The last one was given on the 80th birthday of the late Kim Il Sung in 1992.

Announcing the special amnesty, Pyongyang did not disclose its scope. Some North Korea watchers in the South speculate, however, that this will be relatively wide based on a number of factors. To begin with, amnesties granted on the 10th-year cycle of Kim Il Sung's birthday were much wider in scope than others. According to a North Korean defector who was incarcerated in Kaechon Prison, South Pyongyang province, in 1992, the amnesty granted that year was wide enough to include even convicted murderers. One prisoner, serving a 15-year term, was lucky enough to be released after serving only three months.

Another factor is the fact that prisoners have increased substantially since 1995 when the serious food shortages first hit the North. Amid the food crisis, many cooperative farm members misappropriated farm produce just to survive to be charged with economic offenses and later convicted and imprisoned.

Still another factor is that the North has officially proclaimed a new leap forward in the 21st century, officially terminating the "March of Hardships." To achieve solidarity among the populace by placating disaffection among them, some North Korea watchers here observe, Pyongyang needs to minimize those people who are hostile or have grievances against the regime.

Once a special pardon is announced, prisons as well as outside society become festive in mood, said a source. Prison authorities hold rallies of prisoners, praising the benevolence of the party and the national leader, and in which the prisoners pledge to be loyal to the leader upon release from prison. The roster of the pardoned is then announced, by checking their names and prisoner numbers.

While the roster is being read out, the prisoners are reportedly all on the edge. Those who are called step aside, some weeping out of joy, while others who are not, are crestfallen, and some even faint. Special amnesties given on Kim Il Sung's birthdays were so wide in scope to cover 70% to 80% of eligible prisoners. To be excluded from the roster for clemency on such an occasion indicates that the affected prisoners may have to give up hope of ever getting out of prison.

(Kim Kwang-in, kki@chosun.com )