SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has toughened laws and increased punishments in recent years for those caught trying to leave the reclusive state, a U.N. human rights envoy said on Friday.

Vitit Muntarbhorn (R), the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in North Korea, answers reporters' questions during a news conference at a hotel in Seoul January 15, 2010. North Korea has toughened laws and increased punishments in recent years for those caught trying to leave the reclusive state, which has curbed the flow of defectors seeking asylum, U.N. human rights envoy Muntarbhorn said on Friday. REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak

Human rights have been a flash point in tense ties between North Korea and the Western world, but the issue has often been overshadowed by Washington’s attempts to prod Pyongyang back to sputtering nuclear disarmament talks.

“Over the past year plus, I’ve noted stricter punishment against people leaving the country of origin and we note generally a decline of outflows from the country of origin into neighboring countries,” said Vitit Muntarbhorn, the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in North Korea.

Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans have fled the state as its troubled economy has been made worse by years of Pyongyang’s bungled policies and sanctions imposed to punish it for rattling regional security, rights groups have said.

“The example of people trying to leave and being punished for trying to leave or sent back and being punished more severely, this is a very worrying state of affairs and that’s gotten worse over the past couple of years,” Muntarbhorn told reporters in Seoul after a week-long visit to South Korea.

Muntarbhorn is in the final year of his six-year mandate during which he has tried to enter North Korea for research but has been refused entry by its communist government.

He saw some relaxation of laws in recent years related to human rights in the North but the change has only been in form.

More people are attempting to flee the North due to a worsening economy, with brokers and activists becoming more skilled in helping them.

Most people who flee the country typically cross a narrow river from a northeastern province into China, where they then seek passage to a third country for their asylum bids.

China considers them economic refugees and forcibly repatriates them. Once back, the North Koreans face prison, where torture is common and the chance of death is high due to the brutal conditions, human rights workers said.