Human Rights and Democracy Report 2017 - Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)

2017 saw no noticeable improvement in the dire human rights situation in DPRK, and a continued refusal from the DPRK to allow the independent investigation of human rights violations.

The DPRK's Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, religion, speech, the press, assembly, demonstration and association. In practice, none of these freedoms exists. The existence of LGBT people is simply denied. The Global Slavery Index estimates that more than a million North Koreans are victims of modern slavery, including forced labour. This amounts to over 4% of the population, the highest prevalence globally. Early 2017 saw the high-speed completion of numerous flagship construction projects. These required North Korean civilians and unpaid soldier-builders to labour manually for long hours, with few health and safety protections. Concerns were raised by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child about the use of child labour in such projects.

International incidents showed the regime's lack of respect for human rights and the rules-based international system. US citizen Otto Warmbier died in June following his sudden repatriation to the US in a coma, one year into a 15-year hard labour sentence following a show trial.

There was continued evidence of malnutrition countrywide. The poor state of health of a soldier from the Korean People's Army, who defected to South Korea over the Demilitarized Zone in November, showed the inadequate diet and healthcare received by civilians and military personnel alike.

The DPRK in May hosted the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Catalina Devandas Aguilar, the first visit by a UN human rights expert. The visit was tightly controlled, but it was a small sign of progress.

The DPRK's record was examined by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in September, and the DPRK's report on women's rights was examined by the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in November. The CRC raised concerns about child labour, malnutrition, violence, political discrimination, and what it called "ideological indoctrination" in the DPRK education system. CEDAW expressed concerns about a broad range of violations affecting women, with stereotyping and discrimination starting at school and continuing throughout adulthood. Literacy in DPRK is universal, and the state provides for 12 years of free, compulsory education at primary and secondary levels. However, in practice, there are significant class, gender and urban-rural divides with farming and other mandatory services prioritised over school attendance, particularly for children over 14 years of age. While women account for 43.8% of people aged 16 or above who received a higher education, rates decrease sharply at university level, with vocational courses boosting female numbers recorded by official statistics. DPRK data from 2014 shows that only 1.9% of women aged 20-24 in rural areas are still in education.

DPRK authorities continued to deny allegations of human rights violations and refused to cooperate with the UN OHCHR and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in North Korea, Tomás Ojea Quintana. The DPRK maintained its rejection of the 2014 Commission of Inquiry report, which highlighted "wide ranging and ongoing crimes against humanity". DPRK authorities continued to restrict countrywide access and availability of data to the international community, including to NGO representatives.

The BBC World Service launched its Korean language service in September. This is operationally and editorially independent of the UK Government. The Service transmits to both North and South Korea. It is unclear how accessible the Service is to the people of North Korea, who are forbidden from listening to non-state broadcasts.

During 2017, the UK continued to work through multilateral fora to challenge the DPRK's record on human rights. In March, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution to pursue the prosecution of North Korean leaders and officials responsible for crimes against humanity. In November, the UK supported a UN General Assembly Third Committee resolution, which called on the DPRK to respect the basic rights of its people. In December, the UN Security Council held formal discussions on DPRK human rights violations constituting a threat to international peace and security.

The UK played a prominent role in the UN Security Council decisions to impose tough new sanctions on the DPRK in 2017. These included a focus on the state-controlled employment of North Korean workers overseas who are sent abroad as commodities with the sole aim of generating funds for the DPRK Regime. Their working conditions, level of surveillance and restriction of movement are such that they are effectively victims of modern slavery. Through UNSCR 2397, adopted on 22 December 2017, all such workers will need to return to the DPRK within 24 months.

Bilateral FCO human rights and humanitarian aid projects in 2017 targeted the most vulnerable in DPRK society, and included support for the rights of the disabled, for girls' education, and for child nutrition.

The UK continued to use its bilateral relationship to press the DPRK government on its unacceptable human rights performance. Throughout 2017, the Ambassador and Embassy officials raised human rights in meetings with DPRK officials in Pyongyang. FCO Ministers also used their meetings in London with DPRK Embassy officials to make clear our concerns.

In 2018, the UK will continue to voice our concerns and call for the DPRK to cooperate fully with the relevant international bodies, allowing them immediate and unhindered access in order to assess directly the human rights situation in the country.