UN Human Rights Report Says North Korea Increases Supervision And Execution

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un while reviewing the construction of a new city. (Source: KCNA)

JAKARTA - North Korea's suppression is deepening in many areas, with tighter scrutiny, widespread use of forced labor and more frequent executions, making it the world's strictest country, according to a UN human rights report on Friday.

This comprehensive review of the United Nations comes more than a decade after important UN reports found that North Korea had committed crimes against humanity.

The new report, which includes developments since 2014, is based on interviews with more than 300 witnesses and victims who fled the country and reported the eroding of freedom.

Supervision has become more widespread with the help of new technologies, while penalties have become tougher, including the application of the death penalty for offenses such as sharing foreign TV dramas, the report said.

"Based on the laws, policies and practices introduced since 2015, citizens have been subjected to increasingly stringent surveillance and control in all aspects of life," the 14-page UN report concluded.

"No other population is under such restrictions in the world today," the report said.

North Korea's diplomatic mission in Geneva and its embassy in London did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Responding to UN human rights investigators, the DPRK (Republic Democratic People of Korea, North Korea's official name) said it rejected the resolution of the UN Human Rights Council which approved the latest report.

The report also found some limited improvements, such as reduced use of force by guards at detention facilities, and new laws that appear to strengthen fair justice guarantees.