No Freedom

“There are absolutely no human rights in North Korea” – Jo Il, escaped North Korea in 2015



No Freedom of Speech or Expression





– Yoon Ji, escaped North Korea in 2017



Speaking out against the regime in North Korea is strictly forbidden. The only opinion allowed to be voiced inside the country is the regime’s. Even minor criticism of Kim Jong-un can result in entire families spending the rest of their lives in a political prison camp.



"No one can ever say it out loud, but we all wish Kim Jong-un would spare one percent of what he spends on national defense for the people so we can stop worrying about what to eat the next day." – Se Jung, escaped North Korea in 2017



Even small acts of expression are forbidden.

“I couldn't say a word about the government. They'd drag me to prison if I did”.– Yoon Ji, escaped North Korea in 2017Speaking out against the regime in North Korea is strictly forbidden. The only opinion allowed to be voiced inside the country is the regime’s. Even minor criticism of Kim Jong-un can result in entire families spending the rest of their lives in a political prison camp."No one can ever say it out loud, but we all wish Kim Jong-un would spare one percent of what he spends on national defense for the people so we can stop worrying about what to eat the next day." – Se Jung, escaped North Korea in 2017Even small acts of expression are forbidden. The regime attempts to dictate what kind of hairstyles and clothing is appropriate for North Korean people. North Koreans who push the fashion boundaries, like by wearing blue jeans, risk being stopped on the street and having their clothes cut up so they’re unwearable. How fashion is policed in North Korea

No Freedom of Religion







People caught practicing or spreading religion in secret are punished extremely harshly, including life sentences in a political prison camp or even public execution. Thousands of Buddhists and Christians have been purged and persecuted since the Kim family came to power.



"A woman in her 40s was caught keeping a Bible in her home… The woman was publicly shot to death at a threshing floor of a farm. I was told by superiors to go and see the public execution…. Guards tied her head, her chest, and her legs to a post, and shot her dead." – Kim, North Korean defector.

“The State considers the spread of Christianity a particularly serious threat, since it challenges ideologically the official personality cult and provides a platform for social and political organization and interaction outside the realm of the State.” – United Nations Commission of Inquiry ReportPeople caught practicing or spreading religion in secret are punished extremely harshly, including life sentences in a political prison camp or even public execution. Thousands of Buddhists and Christians have been purged and persecuted since the Kim family came to power."A woman in her 40s was caught keeping a Bible in her home… The woman was publicly shot to death at a threshing floor of a farm. I was told by superiors to go and see the public execution…. Guards tied her head, her chest, and her legs to a post, and shot her dead." – Kim, North Korean defector.



‍ There are token churches and temples in North Korea, but they are kept only to give the appearance of religious tolerance to foreign visitors. Read more eye-witness accounts in NKDB’s White Paper on Religious Freedom in North Korea by clicking here.

No Freedom of Information



Possessing foreign media and information is illegal. The secret police crack down on the consumption of foreign media which is smuggled into the country and shared from person to person via USB. Since Kim Jong-un came to power, the severity of punishment for possessing or distributing has increased.



“I used to hide in my room, close the curtains, and watch foreign movies when I was younger. I can still sing along to some South Korean pop songs. But in the last five years, the government stepped up the crackdowns on foreign media. After witnessing a public execution in 2012, I didn’t dare watch any of the CDs of soap operas I had copied.”

– In Kyung, escaped North Korea in 2017



No Freedom of Movement



Movement within the country is severely restricted. North Koreans who wish to travel to another part of the country are required to have a specific purpose and obtain permission from their work supervisor.

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The regime has also forcibly relocated hundreds of thousands of North Koreans to less favorable parts of the country as a form of punishment and political persecution.



Songbun Political Apartheid System



In North Korea, if your relative is accused of “anti-state” or “anti-socialist” crimes, then you and three generations of your family can be punished for it. Entire families are removed from society to prevent any dissent from emerging in the future. Collective punishment also deters citizens who might sacrifice themselves for a political cause but would not want to sacrifice their whole family.

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The regime has invested an incredible amount of time and resources creating the Songbun system, a form of political apartheid that ascribes every North Korean with a level of perceived political loyalty based on their family background. There are 51 songbun levels divided into three classes - loyal, wavering and hostile. Songbun levels can severely restrict a North Korean’s life opportunities. It can determine where they can live, educational opportunities like attending college, Party membership, military service, occupation, and treatment by the criminal justice system. Any perceived political infractions by any family member can lead to the entire family’s Songbun being demoted.

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“Before I was born, my father and his friends stole grain from the regime because they were starving. They took it from the military’s food supply, which the regime prioritizes the most. Soon after, he was arrested and sent to a re-education center to do forced labor for 4 years.

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After his arrest, our family was marked. In North Korea, there is a system of collective punishment. If a family member commits a crime against the regime, the entire family, including children who are not even born yet, can be punished and ostracized for life.

Because of my father’s crime, any dreams I would have for my life were already crushed. I would never get the chance to study at a university or pursue my dream of being a singer.”



– Ilhyeok Kim, escaped North Korea in 2011



A System of Terror

The regime relies on political prison camps, torture, collective punishment, and public executions to evoke fear and crush even the slightest flicker of political dissent.

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“These crimes against humanity entail extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence, persecution on political, religious, racial and gender grounds, the forcible transfer of populations, the enforced disappearance of persons and the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation.”



– United Nations Commission of Inquiry Report on North Korea



Torture







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North Korean refugees who are arrested in China and repatriated can face horrific consequences for having fled the country illegally. They can be interrogated and tortured for months before being sentenced to years of forced labor or life-sentences in a political prison camp. Pregnant women who are repatriated are sometimes forced to have an abortion if their baby is suspected to be half Chinese.



Learn about our secret rescue routes that help North Korea refugees reach safety.

Torture is used systematically by the North Korean regime to extract forced confessions during interrogations and to punish both political and non-political prisoners. Numerous eye-witness accounts from survivors describe the loss of teeth, broken bones and permanent disfigurement from beatings, water torture, being required to sit motionless on their knees for days, weeks spent in cells too small to sit or lie down in, and being hung by handcuffs with their feet off the floor.North Korean refugees who are arrested in China and repatriated can face horrific consequences for having fled the country illegally. They can be interrogated and tortured for months before being sentenced to years of forced labor or life-sentences in a political prison camp. Pregnant women who are repatriated are sometimes forced to have an abortion if their baby is suspected to be half Chinese.

Political Prison Camps



5 political prison camps imprison 80,000 –120,000 people.

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The regime denies the existence of these political prison camps,

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Some of the camps are the size of large cities and have existed 5 times longer than Nazi Concentration Camps and 2 times longer than the Soviet Gulags.

The regime denies the existence of these political prison camps, but multiple survivor testimonies have been corroborated by former guards as well as satellite images. Beatings, executions, and death from starvation are commonplace. Many people imprisoned in political camps were not guilty of any crime but were related to someone who supposedly committed a political crime. These prisoners often have no idea what that crime was, and even their children are raised as prisoners because their ‘blood is guilty’.

Forced Labor



Re-education through labor is used as punishment for those accused of crimes against the state. It’s also a way for the authorities to take advantage of free labor. Prisoners are forced to work up to 18 hours a day performing dangerous duties like coal mining or logging. Because of the long hours, little sleep, and virtually no regard for the prisoner’s safety, fatal accidents are common.



Even North Koreans who are not detained can be forced to perform unpaid work for weeks at a time on collective farms or infrastructure projects. Instead of attending class, many students are mobilized to help in the fields during the planting and harvest season.



Forced Starvation







"When we weren’t crammed into our cells, sleeping on a filthy floor, we were forced to work. From 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. we’d go into the mountains to gather firewood. The labor left your hands raw with blisters and the cold bit at your fingers and toes.



We were only fed a quarter of an ear of corn per meal. It was never enough and the hunger clawed at our stomachs. People grew so hungry that the guards had to drag them from the toilets so they wouldn’t eat their own feces. Some mornings I woke up to find one of my cellmates stiff and lifeless. We’d march off to gather firewood and their pale body just laid there, their cheeks hollowed out from the hunger.”



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Prisoners are intentionally kept close to starvation, sometimes only receiving a few kernels of corn a day. Men serving time in a gyohwaso - a type of detention center a level down from a political prison camp - can lose over 60 pounds during their sentence. Many prisoners must rely on eating insects, rodents, and snakes to survive."When we weren’t crammed into our cells, sleeping on a filthy floor, we were forced to work. From 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. we’d go into the mountains to gather firewood. The labor left your hands raw with blisters and the cold bit at your fingers and toes.We were only fed a quarter of an ear of corn per meal. It was never enough and the hunger clawed at our stomachs. People grew so hungry that the guards had to drag them from the toilets so they wouldn’t eat their own feces. Some mornings I woke up to find one of my cellmates stiff and lifeless. We’d march off to gather firewood and their pale body just laid there, their cheeks hollowed out from the hunger.”‍– Jo Eun Kim, rescued by LiNK in 2017 Read more about Jo Eun's story

Sexual Violence





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“Rape and violent beatings were rampant at the Chongjin holding center. Every night some woman would be forced to leave with a guard and be raped...Click, click, click was the most horrible sound I ever heard. It was the sound of the key of the cell of our prison room opening. Every night a prison guard would open the cell. I stood still quietly, acting like I didn’t notice, hoping it wouldn’t be me the one to have to follow the guard, hoping it wouldn’t be him.”



– Yoon Mi Hwa, escaped North Korea in 2018,

Sexual violence against women in interrogation and detention is also common. Guards and police officers rape and assault women without repurcussion.“Rape and violent beatings were rampant at the Chongjin holding center. Every night some woman would be forced to leave with a guard and be raped...Click, click, click was the most horrible sound I ever heard. It was the sound of the key of the cell of our prison room opening. Every night a prison guard would open the cell. I stood still quietly, acting like I didn’t notice, hoping it wouldn’t be me the one to have to follow the guard, hoping it wouldn’t be him.”– Yoon Mi Hwa, escaped North Korea in 2018, Human Rights Watch Report



‍ The desperate conditions in prisons can also lead to sexual exploitation, with prisoners offering sexual favors to guards in return for more food rations or less arduous labor assignments. Women who become pregnant during detention are often taken away and are assumed by other prisoners to be executed

Public Executions

