A UN report says widespread use of forced labor by North Korea of its citizens has become deeply institutionalized and raises a broad range of serious human rights concerns.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights released the report on Tuesday.
The report was based on various sources of information, including interviews with 183 North Korean defectors to South Korea from 2015 through 2023.
It says every citizen of North Korea is assigned to a workplace by the state after completing school or military service and that the country also dictates where people must live.
The report also says the widespread extraction of forced labor in prisons may in some instances reach degrees of effective “ownership” over individuals which are characteristic of enslavement, a crime against humanity.
One victim’s account in the report said factory workers who did not meet the daily quota were beaten and had their food cut. The report also says interviews with women who tried to defect and were repatriated showed they were sexually abused in detention.
The report found that schoolchildren are often forced to do tasks such as cleaning riversides or planting trees.
It calls on the North Korean government to abolish the use of forced labor and end any forms of slavery.
The report says the international community can help North Korea end forced labor by tightly monitoring the country’s supply chains.
It also calls on the UN Security Council refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa said he believes the report is in line with the international community’s concern over human rights in North Korea.
He said the Japanese government will continue closely coordinating with the international community including the UN human rights office to improve the situation.