North Korea is one of the most closed and repressed states worldwide, which is ruled by absolute power and Kim Jong Un since his ascension to power in 2011. International observers have recorded increased human rights violations in the last decade characterized by increased surveillance, administration of forced labor, public executions, and deprivation of basic freedoms. These conditions are reiterated by a 2025 report of the United Nations, which refers to the period as a lost decade regarding human rights, dignity, and international accountability.
The fear, indoctrination, and starvation as the methods of control adopted by the regime are still ingrained. Forced to take part in regular self-criticism sessions, minor violations may lead to publicly shaming and confining the North Koreans. Lina Yoon, senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, claims that daily life of millions of people is characterized by pervasive surveillance, repression, threats, hunger and pain. These actions are used to quiet forms of dissent and keep the ideological obedience of the whole society.
Institutionalized Abuses In Detention, Labor, And Daily Life
The criminal justice system in the hands of Kim Jong Un has become an instrument of control. Political prison camps are still in place and are functioning beyond a legal system in which they take captives who are considered enemies of the state, their families and even the children. A marked rise in mass executions of crime such as foreign media consumption, religious practices or unlicensed business is an indication of a tightening of repression.
Legal definitions of anti-State actions have been broadened to cover the seemingly trivial actions, including viewing South Korean dramas or using foreign cell phones. The atmosphere created thereof instills terror among the localities discouraging any form of resistance or nonconformity.
Forced Labor As Economic Strategy And Punishment
Forced labor is also an endemic aspect of both local and foreign policies. In the country, they force labor in prison-camps, building gangs, and even schools. Probably 200,000 of them are detained in political labor camps where malnutrition, torture, and excessive work are the order of the day. These facilities, which are important to the infrastructure, mining activities of North Korea, are not based on various international human rights agreements.
North Korea also exports tens of thousands of workers to other countries in poor working conditions, especially to China, Russia and the Middle East. These people are most of the time deprived of their pay and subjected to tight security control and the money is usually returned to the state. This network continues to be an important source of foreign currency to finance nuclear and military programmes of Pyongyang despite international prohibitions put on it.
Deprivation Of Information And Ideological Indoctrination
External information access is strictly forbidden. All the media are owned by the state and the acquisition or spreading of foreign contents is harshly penalized. The regime is still increasing ideological education with a stronger support of loyalty to Kim Jong Un at the expense of any contact with external values. The indoctrination of children starts in early education until they are grown and citizens have to undergo frequent political study classes. These policies keep informational blockade, which keeps the state control over thought, behavior, and perception of the outside world.
Impact Of Isolation On Humanitarian Conditions
Since 2020, Covid-19 border closures caused one of the longest durations of self-isolation in the modern history of North Korea. Sanctions already cut down trade with China were virtually suspended during this period, further worsening chronic food shortages. The World Food Programme 2025 highlighted that close to 12 million North Koreans are under acute food insecurity and a large number of them live under subsistence markets of foraged herbs, diluted porridge, or barter.
The markets that previously provided some economic relief have been tightened by the state as well. The free movement has been restricted and arbitrary tax has been subjected to domestic traders. It leads to a compounding humanitarian crisis which increases the dominance of the regime on fundamental survival which further contravenes the right to food and the freedom of work.
Health And Social Services In Decline
Healthcare has become worse than ever experiencing long-term isolation. There are no official statistics, but defectors and cross-border intelligence indicate that there is no electric power, basic medicine, and qualified specialists in hospitals. Disproportionately affected are vulnerable population groups such as pregnant women, children and the aged. Health services are usually conditional with regards to bribes or political affiliation, which worsens inequity and fear among a population that is already overwhelmed with rampant malnutrition.
Renewed UN Focus On Human Rights Violations
In March 2025, the United Nations Human Rights Council once again declared its position that North Korea is still one of the most heinous human rights violators in the world. According to the High Commissioner of Human rights, Volker Turk, the past decade has been a lost decade among the Korean people and he urged member states to enhance accountability, such as by referring to the International Criminal Court. Although the diplomatic processes are still restricted, special rapporteurs and monitoring institutions are still gathering evidence and promoting specific sanctions to be imposed upon offenders.
Although it is hard to have access to the country, satellite images, interviews with defectors, and digital documentation aids have enhanced observation of expansion of prison camps, mass mobilizations as well as modifications of state infrastructure. Such NGOs as Liberty in North Korea and Human Rights Watch keep raising the voices of the survivors and demand more effective protection policies in other countries.
Defectors, Repatriation, And Regional Responsibility
The defectors in North Korea still experience high risks. A large number find their way out of China where they are being treated as illegal migrants as opposed to refugees. China has been carrying on with its practice of repatriation of escapees directly contravening the principle of non-refoulement. These people are detained, tortured and even killed upon coming back.
The countries like South Korea have little avenues of protection but due to political issues and changes in the immigration policies the uniformity of these programs is influenced. Based on the deteriorating human rights situation, the UN has been encouraging its neighboring nations to stop forced returns and increase resettlement programs.
Prospects For Future Change And Global Engagement
Lawful avenues to justice are slow-paced yet becoming a popular topic. Formation of ad hoc international tribunals or referral to ICC would also entail consensus of the security council, which would hardly be achieved based on geopolitical affiliations. Nonetheless, the growth of universal jurisdiction legislation within the states of Europe provides the potential alternatives to prosecution. The countries like Germany and Netherlands have led in application of these principles to crimes against humanity.
The connection between human rights and general security and economic discourse has found favor diplomatically. A number of governments have come to incorporate human rights standards to their interaction with North Korea and they also understand that peace and security are long term and therefore cannot be achieved without dignity and freedoms of the people of North Korea.
Survivor Testimonies And Advocacy Networks
The testimonies of defectors remain among the most powerful tools for truth and justice. Survivor-led organizations have begun to take center stage in advocacy efforts, lobbying for education campaigns, political action, and legal recognition. Their narratives offer first-hand insight into abuses and represent a moral counterweight to geopolitical inertia.
As international attention cycles between nuclear diplomacy and security concerns, these voices serve as constant reminders of the lived realities in North Korea, realities shaped by fear, hunger, and resistance.
North Korea’s deepening human rights crisis under Kim Jong Un reflects the brutal cost of totalitarian rule prolonged over a decade. Surveillance, labor exploitation, and ideological indoctrination have not only denied millions their basic rights but have also hardened the regime’s internal grip. As the world continues to debate the terms of engagement with Pyongyang, the challenge remains how to center human dignity in these discussions. The resilience of survivors, the momentum of international legal efforts, and the persistence of global civil society may yet shape a path forward—one where accountability and compassion converge beyond the barriers of secrecy and silence.