Rights abuses persist in North Korea, warns UN

More than a decade after a landmark United Nations report found North Korea guilty of crimes against humanity, many abuses continue, a UN official has said.

- MAROOSHA MUZAFFAR

James Heenan, who represents the UN high commissioner for human rights in Seoul, said that while North Korea has engaged more with some international bodies, it has tightened control over its population. Mr Heenan said he was still surprised by the continued prevalence of executions, forced labour and reports of starvation in the authoritarian country.

Mr Heenan, who investigated human rights in the isolated state, told Reuters in an interview that "the post-Covid period for DPRK means a period of much greater government control over people's lives and restrictions on their freedoms", referring to North Korea's official name (Democratic People's Republic of Korea or DPRK).

A follow-up UN report by Mr Heenan's team at the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in DPRK is expected later this year.

North Korea has repeatedly rejected allegations of human rights abuses, claiming that the UN and foreign nations are using such accusations as political tools to undermine its government.