On the 22nd (local time), the US State Department assessed that arbitrary arrests, detentions, torture, and summary executions are rampant in North Korea, with no signs of improvement.
The State Department released the 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and pointed out that “no significant improvements in human rights conditions were observed in North Korea during the relevant period.”
The State Department releases an annual human rights report on each country’s situation; this is the fourth report since the Biden administration took office. This report is mainly similar to the content of the last three reports, with added attention to situations such as the beginning of forced repatriation of defectors as North Korea’s border restrictions ease in response to COVID-19.
The report evaluated that fundamental human rights, such as the freedom of expression, movement, and assembly, are not guaranteed at all in North Korea, stating, “Serious human rights issues concern arbitrary, illegal, and extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, coercive medical procedures, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and inhumane treatment within detention facilities.”
The report revealed instances of forced abortions imposed on women who have defected and been forcibly repatriated, as well as those likely to give birth to babies with deformities or who have become pregnant as a result of rape in places like prisons. It is reported that many inmates in various detention centers lose their lives due to torture, disease, and starvation. The report also pointed out that public executions are carried out on civilians in North Korea. Accordingly, in September last year, nine people were publicly executed on charges of slaughtering and selling a cow registered as state property, and reportedly 25,000 people gathered to watch.
The report also pointed out that torture is rampant in North Korea, including beatings, electric torture, water torture, naked exposure, confinement in small cells where one cannot stand or lie down properly, and hanging. It also noted the prevalence of physical violence by correctional officers and instances of sexual assault against female prisoners.
It is not precisely known about political prisoners in detention, but it is generally estimated to be between 80,000 and 120,000, and some NGOs report that it could reach 200,000. The report further stated, “The North Korean government considers criticism of the regime as a political crime,” and that this includes defacing a photo of Kim Jong Il.
Meanwhile, the report mentioned limitations on freedom of expression, including defamation laws, as prominent human rights issues concerning the South Korean government.
The report cited the cases of conservative commentator Ji Man Won, who was sentenced to prison on charges of defaming citizens who participated in the May 18 Democratic Uprising by calling them North Korean special forces, and Representative Jung Jin Seok, who was sentenced to six months in prison on charges of defaming former President Roh Moo Hyun.
It also mentioned that the Korea Communications Commission imposed fines on four broadcasters for citing a false interview with Kim Man Bae, with the Korean Journalists Association condemning this action as an organized effort to stifle critical media. Regarding government corruption, it mentioned the pardon of former President Lee Myung Bak, serving a 17-year sentence for bribery and embezzlement.
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