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- Listening to foreign music or watching films in a foreign language are considered criminal activities. In 2015, Kim Jong Un issued a decree to scrap all cassette tapes and CDs which had state-banned songs in order to contain dissent.
- Making international calls is a crime. In 2007, a man who made several international calls was killed.
- Falling asleep in a meeting while Kim speaks could fetch a capital punishment. North Korean defence minister Hyon Yong-chol was executed in 2015 with an anti-aircraft gun in front of over 100 people for having fallen asleep during one of Kim Jong Un's events.
- Anything that disrespects the family of Kim Jong Un, the North Korean government or the politicians is considered an act of blasphemy and may be met with severe punishment.
North Korea's woeful human rights record is one topic that is yet to come up - and it's likely to remain that way.
Apr 27, 2020 · Who's in charge? Reuters. North Korea's first leader Kim Il-sung (left) was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il (right) Since 1948, North Korea has been ruled by three men from the same...
- Freedom of Movement and Information
- Forced Labor
- Pretrial Detention, Due Process Violations, and Torture
- Marginalized Groups
- Covid-19
- Key International Actors
Moving from one province to another or abroad without prior approval remains illegal in North Korea. North Korea continued jamming Chinese mobile phone services at the border and arresting persons caught communicating with people outside the country, a violation of the right to information and free expression. Networks that facilitate North Koreans...
The North Korean government routinely and systematically requires forced, uncompensated labor from most of its population—including women and children through the Women’s Union or schools; workers at state-owned enterprises or deployed abroad; detainees in hard labor detention centers (rodong dallyeondae); and prisoners at ordinary prison camps (ky...
The North Korean government’s pretrial detention and criminal investigation system remained arbitrary, violent, cruel, and degrading. Ordinary citizens have no access to North Korea’s laws, which are vaguely worded and lack definitions. Law enforcement agencies and courts are controlled by the Workers’ Party of Korea, and connections and money are ...
The North Korean government uses songbun, a socio-economic political classification system created at the country’s founding that groups people into varying classes including “loyal,” “wavering,” or “hostile,” discriminating against lower classed persons in areas including employment, residence, and schooling. Pervasive corruption allows some maneu...
In 2020, the North Korean government imposed various restrictions in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. While some measures that limited rights were justified by public health exigencies, others were not necessary or not proportionate and permitted grave abuses under the pretext of protecting against the spread of Covid-19. For instance, the govern...
North Korea has ratified five human rights treaties, but it has ignored its obligations under all of them. A 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry on human rights in North Korea found that the government committed gross, systematic, and widespread rights abuses, including extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions, an...
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea) remains one of the most repressive countries in the world. A 2014 United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) report found that...
Freedom of Movement. Moving from one province to another, or traveling abroad without prior approval, is illegal in North Korea and such restrictions were strictly enforced during the year,...
Jun 17, 2020 · North Korea has been ruled by one of the world’s longest-running dynastic dictatorships. Three generations of the Kim family have ruled with absolute authority, using heavy repression and a...
