South Korea Exposes North Korea’s Human Rights Abuses

The South Korean government has publicly released for the first time the ‘2023 North Korean Human Rights Report’, a document detailing the human rights abuses suffered by North Korean citizens in the past year. Despite ongoing efforts both domestically and internationally to improve human rights in North Korea, the region north of the Korean Demilitarized Zone remains one of the worst human rights black spots.

It is known that the report, overseen by the Ministry of Unification, contains cases of human rights abuses that occurred after 2017, based on the testimony of North Korean defectors. Although the human rights report has been published since the enactment of the North Korean Human Rights Act in 2016, it has not been public until now.

The ‘2023 North Korean Human Rights Report’ first outlines the right to life. According to the Ministry of Unification, the right to life of North Korean citizens is seriously threatened. Numerous cases of arbitrary deprivation of life by public authorities have been reported.

In North Korea, crimes related to drugs, distribution of South Korean videos, religious or superstitious activities, or any crimes that oppose their regime are met with the death penalty, and executions are widespread.

Next, it is reported that women’s rights are not guaranteed in North Korean society. In North Korea, where patriarchal thinking still dominates, women have virtually no rights and are exposed to various forms of violence in homes, schools, military facilities, and detention centers.

In particular, many defected women experienced human trafficking during their escape and were not guaranteed their human rights. They were even exposed to sexual violence, forcibly repatriated to North Korea by Chinese authorities, and subjected to various human rights abuses, including naked inspections, sexual violence, harassment, and forced abortions.

In an interview with the news media, a North Korean defector, Mr. Kim, testified about his firsthand experience of being detained by the North Korean police, known as the State Security Department, for refusing to stamp a blank piece of paper. He said, “About 30 women were confined in about 1.5 pyeong (about 53 square feet). The smell was terrible in the summer, and the place was crawling with cockroaches and various bugs. I was locked up there for 40 days.”

According to defectors, public executions are commonplace in North Korea, and prisoners caught trying to escape are often publicly shot after being hanged by the neck with a rope. They explained that North Korea continues to rule with brutal methods.

There were even testimonies of a pregnant woman being publicly executed for pointing at a portrait of Kim Il Sung with her finger and of an official killing a newborn baby immediately after a forcibly repatriated pregnant woman gave birth in China. They also reported that human experiments were conducted on those with mental illnesses or physical disabilities.

In response to the human rights situation in North Korea, a museum was opened in November last year to raise awareness.

The North Korean Human Rights Information Center (NKDB), a civil organization, launched the North Korean Human Rights Museum on the third floor of the Shin Young Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

The North Korean Human Rights Museum was established to break down various prejudices against North Korean defectors, form domestic and international consensus on improving the freedom and human rights of North Korean citizens, and promote social interest and involvement in the human rights situation in North Korea.

The museum, which was adjusted by allocating part of the workspace, has displayed “Unfamiliar Words: Shadows of Expression THE ECHO NEVER STOPS” from November 15, 2023, to March 31, 2024. Thanks to popular demand, the exhibition has been extended from April 1, 2024, and is ongoing. The museum operates from 10 am. to 6 pm. Monday through Friday and is closed on legal holidays and days designated by the director.

The museum displays a vast amount of human rights violation testimony data and North Korean human rights-related records collected by the NKDB through direct investigations from the late 1990s to the present. It also includes media and materials donated by North Korean defectors and South Korean citizens, providing a wealth of things to see.

According to Ahn Ha Young, a researcher at the North Korean Human Rights Information Center, the museum displays devices such as flashlights and radios used for self-generation in areas of North Korea where electricity is scarce.

Shin Young Ho, the director of the North Korean Human Rights Information Center, said, “We have been recording human rights violations in North Korea in detail for 20 years. We want to remember this with everyone through these records.” He then pledged his dedication to ensuring the North Korean Human Rights Museum can adequately establish itself.

Lee Jae Chun, the North Korean Human Rights Museum Construction Promotion Committee chairman, said, “This will be an opportunity to gather international hopes for improving North Korean human rights and to inform about the reality of North Korean human rights.” He added, “We humbly ask for the cooperation and collaboration of the government and civil society to make our hopes and dreams a reality.”

He further stated, “Although the museum’s first step started from a small space, we have hopes and dreams to become a museum in name and reality in the future, in cooperation with the government, the international community, domestic civil society, and North Korean human rights organizations.”