Desperation and Hunger Plague North Koreans

According to the United Nations rights chief, North Korea is witnessing an increase in its repression of human rights. As the economic situation worsens, people in certain parts of the country are reportedly starving and becoming more desperate. Volker Türk, speaking at the first open meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korean human rights since 2017, stated that the nation’s people have previously endured periods of severe economic difficulty and repression, but they are currently suffering from both. He also highlighted that informal markets and other coping mechanisms are being dismantled, leading to an escalation in fear of state surveillance and detention.

The North Korean government, led by Kim Jong Un, initially closed the borders of the country to contain COVID-19. However, even as the pandemic has waned, restrictions imposed by the government have become even more extensive. Guards are now authorized to shoot any unauthorized person approaching the border, and almost all foreigners, including UN staff, are still barred from entering the country. Türk pointed out that the repression of human rights has intensified, with severe penalties for viewing “reactionary ideology and culture” (information from abroad) and distributing such material. The punishment for these offenses can range from imprisonment to even the death penalty.

Additionally, the North Korean government has shut down markets and other private means of generating income, criminalizing such activities. This has severely limited people’s ability to provide for themselves and their families. The reliance on state-run economic institutions has led to extreme hunger and acute shortages of medication. Türk emphasized that many human rights violations are tied to the militarization of the country, including forced labor, such as making schoolchildren collect harvests.

Elizabeth Salmón, the UN special investigator on human rights in North Korea, echoed Türk’s observations, revealing that some people are starving and others have died due to malnutrition, diseases, and the lack of access to healthcare. The US and North Korea remain technically at war since the Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Salmón argued that the frozen conflict is being used to justify ongoing militarization. North Korea criticized the US plans for the council meeting, dismissing them as “despicable” and accusing the US of pursuing geopolitical ambitions.