Rights abuses continue in North Korea: UN

Covid-era controls increased govt curbs

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A decade after a landmark UN report concluded North Korea committed crimes against humanity, a UN official investigating rights in the isolated state told Reuters many abuses continue, exacerbated by Covid-era controls that have yet to be lifted.

James Heenan, who represents the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Seoul, said he is still surprised by the continued prevalence of executions, forced labour and reports of starvation in the authoritarian country.

Later this year Mr Heenan’s team will release a follow-up report to the 2014 findings by the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which said the government had committed “systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations” that constituted crimes against humanity.

DPRK is North Korea's official name.