James Heenan, head of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Seoul Office, during an interview in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo (©Sankei by Yuki Kajiyama).
North Korea is a member of the United Nations. Despite this, it continues to block entry to staff from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, including its Seoul office. As a result, the country's human rights situation can only be described through the testimonies of defectors. It is an approach that, by its nature, has limits.
Even so, their accounts reveal a disturbing picture. Minors forced into hard labor, families imprisoned across three generations for even the slightest perceived dissent, and victims of abductions and their families left to suffer for decades without answers.
James Heenan, head of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Seoul Office, describes the worsening human rights situation under Kim Jong Un. He notes that North Koreans face severe food shortages, forced labor, and sweeping restrictions on free expression.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has pledged alongside President Donald Trump to resolve the abduction issue, now faces the immense responsibility of turning those promises into progress.
Barriers, Tracking, and Coercion
Freedom of movement in North Korea is highly restricted. As Heenan explains, citizens require an official "permit to move between provinces." And the introduction of mobile-phone location tracking has made evasion increasingly difficult.
He also points out that fences have recently been built around Pyongyang to control entry and exit more strictly. Women who escape to China often "get trafficked into forced marriage…or sex work." Many live without identification, constantly afraid of being caught.
Regarding labor conditions, Heenan notes that although the North Korean government once claimed it would increase "wages by fifty times," his office's research shows that only a few actually received higher pay. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many factories could not obtain raw materials and were unable to operate. Nevertheless, workers were required to report to work every day, yet received no wages.
Forced labor remains widespread. He describes the presence of "shock brigades," units forcibly tasked with rapidly constructing roads, housing, and other infrastructure. Only those with money or connections can avoid assignment, while most are "forced to join."
Some volunteer because it is seen as a quicker route to party membership. The work itself, however, is extremely harsh. These laborers may sleep outdoors in the mountains for months, but the poorest are least able to escape the system.
Mining accidents are frequent, and several young people aged 18–20 reportedly died recently. Heenan criticizes the government for glorifying these deaths as "heroic" instead of treating them as issues of labor safety.
Information Control and Religious Persecution
Accessing foreign information carries heavy punishment. Since 2015, three new laws have tightened crackdowns, increasing executions and widening the scope of crimes eligible for the death penalty. Watching foreign videos alone is not typically grounds for execution. However, distributing South Korean dramas "to all of your friends or the whole village" can result in capital punishment.
A joint police-intelligence agency task force known as Sangmu 109 now conducts surprise inspections of homes, checking televisions and devices for anything incriminating. Roughly 80% of citizens now own mobile phones for basic functions such as checking weather forecasts or making payments. However, these phones contain state-controlled software that, Heenan says, "allows for more surveillance."
Heenan also describes how returnees from abroad face severe penalties. Those who escape, encounter Christians, or attempt to reach South Korea are harshly punished upon repatriation. Christianity is particularly targeted because it is historically "associated with the United States."
Detention conditions are extremely poor, Heenan says, noting deaths caused by abuse, malnutrition, and lack of medical care over the past decade. Death certificates often list unrelated causes. Upon release, detainees are forced to sign pledges not to speak about their time in custody.
Female Abuse and Prison Camps
Women, he stresses, are especially vulnerable. They often lack access to sanitary products in detention and endure degrading treatment. However, Heenan notes slight recent improvements. Reports suggest reduced beatings and that body searches are increasingly conducted by female officers. Women repatriated from China still experience humiliating searches for money or concealed belongings, though more recently these searches are also being performed by women.
On political prison camps, Heenan says United Nations High Commissioner Volker Türk is shocked that such camps still exist in 2025. Once detained, individuals may never be released. Moreover, their children and grandchildren can be imprisoned for their parents' or grandparents' crime.
Satellite imagery shows at least four camps, some expanding, and others shrinking or merging. These camps resemble towns of up to 40,000 people, with schools, hospitals, and shops. But "you can't leave," he says. Although this "three-generation rule" may be weakening, its continued existence is unacceptable, Heenan argues. Many abductees from South Korea were forced to work in coal mines, as were some Japanese and ethnic Koreans from Japan.
Pyongyang's Human Rights Contradiction
Heenan says he continually asks defectors whether they have "come across any Japanese people" inside North Korea. Recently, no one has reported sightings. Among the many severe crimes and human rights violations the UN investigates, he emphasizes that the abduction of Japanese citizens is the only crime North Korea has officially admitted to. In 2002, it returned some [five] individuals.
Victims, families, and perpetrators are aging, and Heenan stresses the urgency of resolving the issue, saying, "It has to be done now." He acknowledges Japan's strong public awareness and political pressure around the abductees.
Looking forward, Heenan argues that countries with influence over North Korea must press for human rights improvements. He says that North Korea wants to be recognized as a "normal sovereign United Nations member state." Any summit meetings, he says, must include commitments, ideally in joint statements, to improve human rights, including issues involving abducted foreigners.
He observes a contradiction within North Korea. While isolated and closed off, the country still expresses interest in engaging with the UN on human rights, ratifying treaties, and attending Human Rights Council sessions. Some officials warn that raising human rights will "break" negotiations with North Korea, but Heenan disagrees. In his experience, North Korea is "not surprised" when human rights are raised. It discusses human rights abroad and at home. Therefore, he insists that human rights must always be included in negotiations.
A Leader's Tears Amid a Nation's Suffering
Kim Jong Un, still steering North Korea toward relentless military buildup, has at times appeared in public with tears in his eyes as citizens struggle through worsening hardship. But Heenan cautions that unless the regime acknowledges the population's true suffering and reverses its system of repression, this period may be remembered inside North Korea as the "dark age of Kim Jong Un."
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(Read the article in Japanese.)
Author: Jun Kurosawa, The Sankei Shimbun
