Forced Labour by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

This report examines the widespread use of forced labour in and by the Democratic People’sRepublic of Korea, which is a serious violation of international human rights law and, in someinstances, may constitute a crime against humanity of enslavement under international criminallaw. The report outlines the DPRK’s extensive reliance on forced labour for the production of goods, for public works, and for foreign currency earnings, in violation of its international human rights obligations. Forced labour also acts as a form of political coercion, as the labour is systematically coupled with indoctrination and self-criticism sessions seeking to subdue and reaffirm absolute obedience to the political system and its leadership. The report demonstrates that the wide-ranging network of forced labour touches nearly everyone’s lives, including military conscripts, workers in State enterprises, school children on “work trips”, persons deployed to “Shock Brigades”, detainees in the country’s prisons and labour camps, those mobilized by their inminban (local neighbourhood watch units) and organizations such as the Women’s Union and Youth League, and overseas workers. The work for men and women and sometimes children typically involves construction, farming, logging and mining which is often hard, arduous and dangerous.