
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said its interviews with North Koreans who left after 2014, or still have contacts there, suggest that while Kim opened up the economy, illegal border crossings became almost impossible, corrupt practices were normalized, and government demands for unpaid labour rose. "There are real fears that these strict measures will far outlast the pandemic," said Sokeel Park, of Liberty in North Korea, which supports defectors. State media have said that North Korea would “crumble” if such foreign influence is allowed to proliferate. North Korea has not released the text of its new "anti-reactionary thought law" but according to the Daily NK, a Seoul-based website that reports from sources in the North, it includes long prison sentences or even death for people caught importing or distributing foreign content, depending on how severe. They more strictly prohibited South Korean movies or music."Īt least seven people have been put to death under Kim for watching or distributing K-pop videos, according to a report by a Seoul-based human rights group on Wednesday.
Dear sun jung jinwoo cracked#
"For example, the school cracked down more on school uniforms and hair. "(Under Kim Jong Un) I felt more discipline at school," said Park, a 23-year-old defector who left North Korea in 2014 and asked to be identified only by his last name. rights investigator says self-imposed anti-pandemic border controls risk causing starvation among vulnerable North Koreans.Ĭhanges in style - such as Kim showing apparent emotion last year during a speech about people's hardships - have not translated into systemic reforms, and Kim has overseen crackdowns in other areas, such as on foreign media. read moreĪn initial rise in gross domestic product and improved livelihoods have been undercut by international sanctions imposed over Kim's pursuit of nuclear weapons, the ministry said, while a U.N.

"People say living is too difficult these days because the government is taking more and more things from people, and there are more people dying from starvation," Ha said.Īccording to a report issued by the unification ministry on Thursday, Kim has allowed the private sector to overtake state-led agents to become North Korea's biggest economic actor over the past decade.

"He has unconditionally blocked all North Koreans defecting from the country," said Ha Jin-woo, who worked as a "broker" in North Korea to help defectors leave, before fleeing himself in 2013.Īmong those who sought a new life in South Korea after Kim became leader in 2011 upon the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, some say the new leader did little to improve their lives.
