North Korea: The Iron Curtain of Our Generation

The release of American prisoner Otto Warmbier coupled with the threat of new missile capabilities brought North Korea to the center of American media attention. Perhaps the most striking aspect of North Korea’s recent rise in coverage, however, is the amount of information we simply do not know.  

Despite North Korea’s denial of any human rights violations, the 2014 United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded that North Korean abuses are without equivalent in the modern world. Stories of defectors have also begun to shed light on the brutality of conditions within the “hermit kingdom.” In particular, they elucidate a system of political prison camps comparable to the Russian Gulag.  

Tales of gross human rights violations including torture, forced labor, execution, starvation, and sexual abuse have begun to emerge, and the Commission of Inquiry, which brought these voices to light, also provided us with a heartbreaking glimpse of life in the most isolated country in the world.  

Defectors estimate that between 20 and 25 percent of the North Korean prison population dies each year. Furthermore, in the guilt-by-association system, entire families, including women and children, are sent to prison, often for crimes as small as demonstrating wrong thoughts against the Kim regime. Starvation is also so prevalent that defectors have noted that rats are almost extinct in the camps as they are often caught and eaten by prisoners who are struggling for survival.  

According to defectors, prison guards regularly beat or execute prisoners, who are viewed as subhuman, for nothing more than stress relief or fun. Brutal torture, rape, forced abortions, and other forms of sexual violence are also common within the prison system.