North Korean escapees who travel to China are considered economic migrants and are turned back, where they are subject to torture, harsh imprisonment, or execution. Sigley was released with the assistance of the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang, and deported as an action of “humanitarian leniency” after he was convicted of incitement against the government in July 2019.ĭocumented North Korean human rights violations include widespread torture, public executions, forced labor by detainees, and death sentences for political offenses.ĭefectors who seek safe haven in third countries are sometimes returned, and are subject to torture and disproportionate punishment if their bids to escape are unsuccessful. The student regularly wrote and tweeted about daily life in Pyongyang for the website NK News before his detention. In late June 2019, Alek Sigley, an Australian student studying at Kim Il-sung University, was detained by the authorities and accused of espionage. South Korea’s intelligence agency reported that the envoy was still alive in July, despite speculation that he was executed for his negotiating failure.įoreign visitors are at risk of detention for allegedly breaking North Korean law. Supreme Leader Kim’s translator, Sin Hye Yong, was reportedly placed under investigation that month. North Korea’s special envoy to the United States, Kim Hyok Chol, was placed in government custody in June 2019, after efforts to secure a new summit between Kim Jong-un and US president Donald Trump failed that February. High-ranking government officials are also at risk of arbitrary detention if they fall out of favor with Supreme Leader Kim. The UN estimated that between 80,000 and 120,000 political prisoners were held in internment camps in a 2014 report that documented consistent violations of due process. The right to due process is not respected in practice. However, the consumption of foreign radio broadcasts and possession of contraband devices are subject to severe punishment if detected by authorities, including the death penalty. Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Asia (RFA), the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and several South Korean outlets broadcast shortwave and medium-wave Korean-language radio programming into North Korea, though the government works to jam these stations the BBC reported that its shortwave station was jammed on its first day in operation in late 2017.Ĭampaigns to send information into the country via USB thumb drives and SD cards are common, and North Koreans have constructed homemade radios to receive foreign broadcasts. Select foreign media are often invited into the country to cover key political events and holidays, although authorities strictly manage their visits. Access is still tightly controlled for these organizations, and the government has been known to expel media crews in retaliation for their work. The AP was followed by Japanese agency Kyodo News, Chinese agency Xinhua, and Agence France Presse (AFP), which still maintain a physical presence in the country. North Korea allowed the Associated Press (AP) to open the country’s first foreign in 2012, though it is no longer active. In recent years, several foreign news agencies have established bureau offices in Pyongyang. The government occasionally allows a small number of foreign books, films, and television programs to be distributed and aired in the country, but this remains rare. Televisions and radios are permanently fixed to state channels, and all publications and broadcasts are subject to strict supervision and censorship. In March 2019, Kim was reelected as SAC chairman of the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), the country’s legislature, and given a new title of “supreme representative of all the Korean people and the supreme leader of the Republic.” In April, Choe Ryong-hae, a highly placed aide to Kim, became the president of the SPA’s 15-member Presidium, a standing committee that manages the legislature’s day-to-day affairs when the full body is not in session.Īll domestic media outlets are run by the state. Kim also holds a variety of other titles, including first chairman of the National Defense Commission-previously the highest state body-and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army. In 2016, the State Affairs Commission (SAC) was established as the country’s top ruling organ, and Kim Jong-un was named its chairman. The elder Kim had led North Korea since the 1994 death of his own father, Kim Il-sung, to whom the office of president was permanently dedicated in a 1998 constitutional revision. Kim Jong-un became the country’s supreme leader after the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in 2011. Emergency Assistance and Thematic Programs.Afghanistan Human Rights Coordination Mechanism.Government Accountability & Transparency.
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