People stand in front of a mural in Pyongyang, North Korea. UN: Forced labor in North Korea may constitute a crime against humanity Human Rights
Forced labor and its attendant violence are widespread and institutionalized throughout the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). This was reported by the United Nations Office for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The OHCHR report is based on a variety of sources, including 183 interviews conducted between 2015 and 2023 with victims and witnesses of forced labor who managed to flee the country.
“People are forced to work in intolerable conditions—often in dangerous industries—without pay, free choice, the ability to quit, protection, medical care, time off, food or housing. They are under constant surveillance, regularly beaten, and women are constantly at risk of sexual violence,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
Control and exploitation
“If we did not fulfill our daily quota, we were beaten and our food was cut off,” the victims’ testimonies say. There are also reports of sexual abuse by superiors.
The report concludes that people in North Korea are “controlled and exploited through a vast and multi-layered system of forced labor,” which “is aimed at the interests of the state, not the people.” Residents are exposed to this system in school: “from an early age you must be ready to serve.”
The most serious concerns are about conditions in detention centers where prisoners are forced to work under threat of physical violence and in inhumane conditions. The report warns that the widespread use of forced labor in North Korean prisons may constitute enslavement – a crime against humanity.
Strike Brigades
After finishing school or serving in the military, every North Korean is assigned a job by the state. According to the report, lack of free choice of work, lack of ability to form trade unions, threat of imprisonment for absenteeism and persistent non-payment of wages paint a picture of institutionalized forced labor in the country.
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Conscripts who must serve 10 years or more in the army are usually forced to work in agriculture or construction. Their work is described as “hard and dangerous, without adequate health and safety measures.” According to a former North Korean nurse, many soldiers are malnourished and contract tuberculosis.
Other forms of labor mobilization include “shock brigades,” which are government-organized groups of citizens forced to perform “heavy physical labor” for months or even years, the report says. “Drummers” go to live at their place of work and work for modest remuneration or without it. The report says that mobilization to work particularly affects women, who are often the main breadwinners of families.
End slavery
The DPRK government also sends individual citizens abroad to earn foreign currency. Workers exposed to the practice report losing up to 90 percent of their wages to the government, being subject to constant surveillance, lacking freedom of movement, and having their passports confiscated. They were forced to live in cramped, tiny quarters with little or no free time or opportunity to communicate with family.
The report’s authors call on the North Korean government to abolish the use of forced labor and end all forms of slavery. They also appeal to the international community to investigate and bring to justice those suspected of committing international crimes. In addition, the report calls on the UN Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.