Human Rights in North Korea

Human rights in North Korea are heavily restricted. There is no right to free speech, and the only radio, television, and news organizations that are deemed legal are those operated by the government. It is estimated that between 150,000 and 200,000 political prisoners are detained in concentration camps, where they perform slave labour and risk summary beatings, torture and execution.

The full extent of human rights abuse in North Korea is unclear. The North Korean government makes it very difficult for foreigners to enter the country and strictly monitors their activities when they do. Aid workers are subject to considerable scrutiny and excluded from places and regions the government does not wish them to enter. Since citizens cannot freely leave the country, it is mainly from stories of refugees and defectors that the nation's human rights record has been constructed. The government's position, expressed through the Korean Central News Agency, is that North Korea has no human rights issues, because its socialist system was chosen by the people and serves them faithfully.

North Korea's human rights record has been widely condemned, including by Amnesty International and the United Nations. The General Assembly of the United Nations has since 2003 annually adopted a resolution condemning the country's human rights record. The latest resolution of December 19, 2011, passed by a vote of 123-16 with 51 abstentions, urged the government in Pyongyang to end its “systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights”, which included public executions and arbitrary detentions. North Korea rejected the resolution, saying it was politically motivated and based on fabrications.