The drama of human rights under the reign of Kim Jong Un



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"With the world's attention focused on the denuclearization of North Korea, concerns are growing that human rights violations in the country could be neglected." In an article published a few days ago in The Korea Herald newspaper, columnist Jung Min-kyung warned against the agreement reached between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the June 12 in Singapore. he noted, "has not included clauses to improve the much-criticized human rights conditions in North Korea."

Already in 2014 a UN survey report denounced that the North Korean government not only controlled access to food that he also tortured and sent people into. political prisoners camps, and that he was at the origin of "enforced disappearances", including in the form of "kidnappings of citizens of other states". The same report estimated that between 80,000 and 120,000 political prisoners were held in four major North Korean prison camps.

The latest needs badessment of North Korea, conducted by the United Nations team in March 2017, revealed that 10.5 million people, or 41% of the population, were malnourished. The study also showed that rations received through the public distribution system, on which 18 million people depend, were below the government target of 573 grams per person per day on average. That is, 70% of the population suffers from food insecurity.

Critical conditions that have been ratified in a new report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to which La Tercera has access. Seoul, as part of an invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea. This study highlights the involuntary separation of Korean families, in addition to the desertion phenomenon of North Koreans.

"According to the Ministry of Unification of South Korea, 1,127 people from North Korea arrived in the country in 2017. This is a decrease from previous years," he said. he told La Tercera Sign Poulsen, representative of the UN Human Rights Office in Seoul. For example, it is estimated that in 2015, 1,275 North Koreans fled to South Korea, 80% of whom were women. "One of the reasons why fewer people are arriving is that the authorities of North Korea and China have beefed up border security," Poulsen said. family ties, "says the report. Upon arrival in China and other Southeast Asian countries, victims become extremely vulnerable to abuse. Their insecurity is compounded by the fear of forced repatriation that forces them to take dangerous routes along the Tumen River at night to avoid being discovered by border guards

. who leave North Korea do so with the help of Chinese and Korean brokers who coordinate their movements on both sides of the border, "says the study. While these intermediaries are often the only victims' access to the outside world, they also force them to exploit and abuse in the informal sector. The situation is worse for women and many are forced to marry and prostitute themselves. Trafficking in human beings is so common at the border between North Korea and China that victims leave North Korea fully aware of the risks and generally know that they will have to "negotiate" the type of job or job. 39 to which they will be subject by the brokers. in China.

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