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Human rights in North Korea are very limited.[1] Despite numerous rights being de jure guaranteed by the country's constitution, human rights groups such as Amnesty International and nations such as the United States have asserted that, in practice, there is no de facto right to free speech, and the only radio, television, music and news providers that are deemed legal are those operated by the government.[2][3] According to reports from Amnesty International and the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, by 2017 an estimated 200,000 prisoners[4] are incarcerated in camps that are dedicated to political crimes, and subjected to forced labor, physical abuse, and execution.[5]
The North Korean government strictly monitors the activities of foreign visitors. Aid workers are subjected to considerable scrutiny and they are also excluded from places and regions which the government does not want them to enter. Since citizens cannot freely leave the country,[6][7] it is mainly from stories of refugees and defectors that the nation's human rights record has been constructed; the government's position, expressed through the Korean Central News Agency, is that international criticism of its human rights record is a pretext for overthrowing its Juche-based system, while the abuses of its critics go unpunished.[8][9]
North Korea's human rights record has been considered the worst in the world and has been globally condemned, with the United Nations and the European Union and groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch all critical of the country's record. Indeed, most international human rights organizations consider North Korea to have no contemporary parallel[10] with respect to violations of liberty.[11][12][13][14]
The General Assembly of the United Nations has since 2003 annually adopted a resolution condemning the country's human rights record; the latest resolution of December 19, 2011, passed by a vote of 123–16 with 51 abstentions, urged the government in Pyongyang to end its "systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights", which included public executions and arbitrary detentions. North Korea rejected the resolution, saying it was politically motivated and based upon untrue fabrications.[15] In February 2014, a UN special commission published a detailed, 400-page account based on first-hand testimonies documenting "unspeakable atrocities" committed in the country.[16]
1 Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
2 Position of the DPRK
3 Civil liberties
3.1 Labor rights
3.2 Freedom of expression
3.3 Freedom of religion
3.3.1 Persecution of Christians and Buddhists
3.4 Freedom of movement
3.5 Freedom of the press
3.6 Minority rights
3.7 Disability rights
3.8 Right to food
3.8.1 Discrimination and unequal access to food
3.8.2 Food shortage and malnutrition in detention
3.9 Forced prostitution
3.10 Forced abortion
4 Criminal justice
4.1 Trials
4.2 Public executions
4.3 Prisons
4.3.1 Internment camps for political prisoners
4.3.2 Re-education camps
5 International abductions
6 International reaction
7 Number of victims
8 Media and organizations
Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea[edit]
Main article: Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
The Commission of Inquiry found evidence of systematic, gross and widespread human rights violations.
On May 6, 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Council announced the appointment of Michael Kirby of Australia, Sonja Biserko of Serbia, and Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia as members of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.[17]
[The] commission of inquiry will investigate the systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ... including the violation of the right to food, the violations associated with prison camps, torture and inhuman treatment, arbitrary detention, discrimination, violations of freedom of expression, violations of the right to life, violations of freedom of movement, and enforced disappearances, including in the form of abductions of nationals of other States, with a view to ensuring full accountability, in particular where these violations may amount to crimes against humanity.[18]
On August 20, 2013, the commission began five days of public hearings at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea receiving testimony from defectors,[19] and on August 29, 2013, in Japan from relatives of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s.[20][21] North Korea describes the inquiry as "a political plot" and it has not given investigators access to the country; the UN panel interviewed witnesses in South Korea, Japan, and the UK, and it also conducted hearings in the U.S. on October 30 and 31, 2013. The commission said it has consistently asked North Korean representatives to take part in the public hearings and question witnesses.
On February 17, 2014, the panel published its findings in a 400-page report;[16] the commission accused the North Korean government of being involved in systemic, widespread and gross human rights violations. The panel chairman Michael Kirby described some acts by stating that they resembled those committed by the Nazis.
In many instances, the violations of human rights found by the commission constitute crimes against humanity; these are not mere excesses of the State; they are essential components of a political system that has moved far from the ideals on which it claims to be founded. The gravity, scale and nature of these violations revealed a State that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world.
Roberta Cohen, joint chair of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, said it was now up to the world community to take action to protect those persecuted and bring the perpetrators to justice; the DPRK rejected the findings. In a statement it said the commission was "a product of politicization of human rights on the part of the EU and Japan, in alliance with the US hostile policy."[22] On November 18, 2014, the UN voted in favor of a draft resolution to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.[23][24]
Position of the DPRK[edit]
Human-rights discourse in North Korea has a history that predates the establishment of the state in 1948. Based on Marxist theory, Confucian tradition, and the Juche idea, North Korean human-rights theory regards rights as conditional rather than universal, holds that collective rights take priority over individual rights, and that welfare and subsistence rights are important.[25]
Kim Il-sung stated that the concept of democracy cannot "provide freedom and rights to hostile elements who oppose socialism or impure elements who act against the interests of the People".[26]
The government of North Korea claims that the Constitution of the DPRK guarantees the human rights of its people, and that these guarantees are fully elaborated in its laws and regulations, it claims that these human-rights guarantees and laws are strictly enforced throughout the country and with respect to every individual.[27]
Seven months after the release of the Commission of Inquiry report, North Korea released its own DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies report, which claims that North Koreans enjoy "genuine human rights".[28] North Korea also agreed to implement 113 of the 268 recommendations to improve its human rights performance made at the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review process.[29] Kirby cited North Korea's participation in the Universal Periodic Review, the country's publication of their own human rights report, and Hwang Pyong-so's visit to the 2014 Asian Games a "charm offensive" and expressed skepticism about whether the North Korean government has become genuinely concerned about human rights or is simply preparing for imminent criticism in the UN.[30] Kirby welcomed parts of the DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies report as "fair comment" but noted that it fails to discuss the issues raised in the Commission of Inquiry report.[31]
Civil liberties[edit]
North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung rejected the concept of civil rights for people who oppose the regime.[26] There is an extensive system of informers throughout North Korea which monitor Koreans with respect to political and other possible infractions without reference to formal civil rights.[32]
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has officially acknowledged the widespread human rights violations that regularly occur in North Korea.[33] United Nation's Human Rights Resolution 2005/11 referred to specific types of abuses within North Korea:
Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, public executions, extrajudicial and arbitrary detention, the absence of due process and the rule of law, imposition of the death penalty for political reasons, the existence of a large number of prison camps and the extensive use of forced labour;
Sanctions on citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea who have been repatriated from abroad, such as treating their departure as treason leading to punishments of internment, torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or the death penalty;
All-pervasive and severe restrictions on the freedoms of thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association and on access of everyone to information, and limitations imposed on every person who wishes to move freely within the country and travel abroad;
Continued violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women, in particular the trafficking of women for prostitution or forced marriage, ethnically motivated forced abortions, including by labour-inducing injection or natural delivery, as well as infanticide of children of repatriated mothers, including in police detention centres and labour training camps.[34]
Labor rights[edit]
North Korea is one of the few nations in the world that does not belong to the International Labour Organization (ILO). However, ILO conventions are considered international labor standards regardless of ratification; the ruling Korean Workers' Party firmly controls the only authorized trade union organization, the General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea.[35]
According to Human Rights Watch, children (some as young as 11[36]) are forced to work on farms and construction sites at the behest of the government, and may be demanded to gather scrap metals and other materials by schools to be sold;[37] the labor can be intensive and children living in the country's Kwalliso (detention camps) are also forced to engage in heavy work.[36]
Freedom of expression[edit]
The North Korean constitution has clauses guaranteeing the freedoms of speech and assembly.[38] In practice, other clauses take precedence, including the requirement that citizens follow a socialist way of life. Criticism of the government and its leaders is strictly curtailed and making such statements can be cause for arrest and consignment to one of North Korea's "re-education" camps;[32] the government distributes all radio and television sets; citizens are forbidden to alter them to make it possible to receive broadcasts from other nations; doing so carries severe penalties.[32]
There are numerous civic organizations but all of them appear to be operated by the government. All routinely praise the government and perpetuate the personality cults of the Kim family. Defectors indicate that the promotion of the cult of personality is one of the primary functions of almost all films, plays and books produced within the country.[39]
Freedom of religion[edit]
Main article: Freedom of religion in North Korea
Delegation of the group "Modern American Buddhism", of Korean Americans in New York City (뉴욕시의 한인),[40] at the Pohyonsa Buddhist temple in 2013
North Korea is officially a secular state and the North Korean Constitution provides for "freedom of religious belief".[41][42][43] However, government policies continue to interfere with the individual's ability to choose and to manifest their religious belief;[44] the government continues to repress the religious activities of unauthorized religious groups.
Reports from refugee, defector, missionary, and nongovernmental organizations report that individuals engaging in proselytizing, with ties to overseas evangelical groups operating in China, or who were repatriated from China and found to been in contact with foreigners or missionaries are likely to be arrested and harshly penalized.
Refugees and defectors allege that they witnessed the arrests and execution of members of underground Christian churches by the regime.[45] Due to the country's inaccessibility and the inability to gain timely information, the continuation of this activity remains difficult to verify.[44]
Persecution of Christians and Buddhists[edit]
According to the Christian Open Doors organization, North Korea is the leader among countries who persecute Christians.[46] Christian Solidarity Worldwide say there are numerous reports of people being sent to prison camps[47] and subjected to torture and inhuman treatment because of their faith,[48] it is estimated that 50,000–70,000 Christians are held in North Korean prison camps.[49] There are reports of public executions of Christians.[50][51] For example, Ri Hyon-ok was publicly executed in Ryongchon on June 16, 2009 for giving out bibles, while her husband and children were deported to the Hoeryong political prison camp.[52] If authorities discover that North Korean refugees deported from China have converted to Christianity, they suffer harsher ill-treatment, torture, and prolonged imprisonment;[53] the government considers religious activities political crimes,[54] because they could challenge the personality cult and semi-deification of Kim Il-sung and his family.[55]
From 1949 to the mid-1950s, under the rule of Kim Il-sung, all churches were closed.[56][57][58] According to AsiaNews, all non-foreign Catholic priests were executed,[59] and Protestant leaders who did not renounce their faith were purged as "American spies."[56] The martyrdom of the Benedictine monks of Tokwon Abbey was documented[60] as the process of beatification was initiated for them.[61] Only 60 out of 400 Buddhist temples have survived the religious persecution in the 1950s; the 1,600 monks were killed, disappeared in prison camps or were forced to recant their faith.[62] The remaining temples are now preserved as national cultural heritage. North Korean defectors reported that government-employed "monks" are serving as caretakers and tourist guides, but they did not see genuine worship;[63] as reported, most Buddhists are afraid to openly practice their religion in the temple areas and practice their religion only in secret.[63] However, on special occasions, ceremonies were permitted by the authorities.[64]
The North Korean government estimated the number of religious believers in 2002 to be 12,000 Protestants,[65] 10,000 Buddhists and 800 Catholics, while estimates by South Korean and international church-related groups were considerably higher. In addition, the Chondoist Chongu Party, a government-approved traditional religious movement, had approximately 15,000 practitioners.[66]
Since 1988, four church buildings have been erected in Pyongyang with foreign donations:[67] one Catholic, two Protestant and one Russian Orthodox. However, they are only open to foreigners, and North Korean citizens cannot attend the services; the services are used to bring in foreign currency from foreign visitors, including South Koreans. It is therefore clear that the churches are there solely for propaganda purposes;[68] the North Korean constitution nominally protects religious freedom, as long as it is not used to harm the state or the social order.[69] However, in practice, there is no genuine religious freedom,[70] and the government severely restricts religious activity except if it is supervised by government organizations.[71]
Freedom of movement[edit]
North Korean citizens usually cannot freely travel around the country,[32] let alone travel abroad.[6][7][32] Emigration and immigration are strictly controlled.[32][72] Only the political elite may own or lease vehicles, and the government limits access to fuel and other forms of transport due to frequent shortages of gasoline/petrol, diesel fuel, crude oil, coal and other fossil fuels due to the severe sanctions placed on North Korea by the USA and other nations (satellite photos of North Korea show an almost complete absence of vehicles on all of its roads throughout the country, even in its cities).[citation needed] Forced resettlement of citizens and whole families, especially as punishment for political reasons, is said to be routine.[73]
North Korean refugees who flee to China are often later forcibly repatriated back to North Korea by authorities, are routinely beaten and sent to prison camps;[74] this is because the North Korean government treats emigrants from the country as defectors.[74] This treatment is more severe in cases where North Korean refugees have come into contact with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are associated with South Korea or with religions, especially Christianity.[74] In cases where the North Korean government discovers that contact has occurred between refugees and these NGOs, the punishments for these refugees are torture and execution upon their repatriation back to North Korea.[74]
According to The Independent, in May 2016 Kim Jong-un temporarily banned all weddings and funerals across the country, and freedom of movement into and out of the capital, in preparation for a meeting, on 6 May, of the Workers' Party of Korea, the first gathering of its kind for 36 years.[75]
Freedom of the press[edit]
See also: Censorship in North Korea and Media in North Korea
As of 2017[update], North Korea occupies the last place on the Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.[76] The constitution of North Korea provides for freedom of the press, but in practice, all media is strictly controlled by the government;[32] the national media is focused almost entirely on political propaganda and the promotion of the personality cults surrounding Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.[77] It emphasizes historical grievances toward the United States and Japan.
Reporters Without Borders claims that radio or television sets that can be bought in North Korea are preset to receive only the government frequencies and sealed with a label to prevent tampering with the equipment, it is a serious criminal offense to manipulate the sets and receive radio or television broadcasts from outside North Korea. In a party campaign in 2003, the head of each party cell in neighborhoods and villages received instructions to verify the seals on all radio sets.[78]
As North and South Korea use different television systems (PAL and NTSC, respectively), it is not possible to view broadcasts across the border between the two countries; however, in areas bordering China, it has reportedly been possible to receive television from that country. A United Nations envoy reported that any North Korean citizen caught watching a South Korean film may result in that person being sent to a labor camp.[79]
Minority rights[edit]
See also: Korean ethnic nationalism, Eugenics § Korea, and LGBT rights in North Korea
North Korea's population is one of the world's most ethnically homogeneous and today, immigration is almost non-existent. Among the few immigrants that have willingly gone to North Korea are Japanese spouses (generally wives) of Koreans who returned from Japan from 1955 to the early 1980s. These Japanese have been forced to assimilate, and for the most part, the returnees overall are reported to have not been fully accepted into North Korean society (with a few exceptions, such as those who became part of the government), and instead ended up on the fringes. Foreigners who visit the country are generally strictly monitored by government minders[80] and are forbidden to enter certain locations.[81]
In 2014, after the United Nations Human Rights Council published a report on human rights in North Korea advising a referral to the International Criminal Court, the official Korean Central News Agency responded with an article that included homophobic insults against report author Michael Kirby, who is openly gay; the KCNA's article went on to state that gay marriage "can never be found in the DPRK boasting of the sound mentality and good morals, and homosexuality has become a target of public criticism even in Western countries, too. In fact, it is ridiculous for such gay [sic] to sponsor dealing with others' human rights issue."[82][83]
Disability rights[edit]
See also: Disability in North Korea
As a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), North Korea has international obligations to refrain from discriminating against its people based on disability (among others). Under Article 2 of the CRC, "States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or their parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status" (emphasis added).
On March 22, 2006, the Associated Press reported from South Korea that a North Korean doctor who defected, Ri Kwang-chol, has claimed that babies born with physical defects are rapidly put to death and buried.[84] A report by the United Nations special rapporteur for human rights in North Korea highlighted reports from defectors describing how disabled people are allegedly "rounded up" and sent to "special camps."[85]
However, the charity Handicap International reports that it has been operating in North Korea since 1999, assisting the Korean Federation for the Protection of Disabled People, including supporting orthopedic centers serving thousands of disabled people;[86] the International Committee of the Red Cross reported in 2006 that it had assisted in setting up a rehabilitation center for disabled people in Pyongyang.[87] The International Campaign to Ban Landmines reports that North Korea "has a comprehensive system for assisting persons with disabilities; however, this system is limited by the general economic situation of the country."[88] North Korea participated in the Paralympic Games for the first time in 2012.
Still, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Marzuki Darusman, stated the following in his report before the UN Human Rights Council's twenty-second session:
As early as 2003 the Commission on Human Rights expressed deep concern at the "mistreatment of and discrimination of disabled children". Since 2006 the General Assembly has consistently decried "continuing reports of violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms of persons with disabilities, especially on the use of collective camps and coercive measures that target the rights of persons with disabilities to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children." Whereas in 2006 the Special Rapporteur noted "to date, those with disabilities are sent away from the capital city, and particularly those with mental disabilities are detained in areas or camps known as 'Ward 49' with harsh and subhuman conditions."[89]
According to Marked for Life: Songbun, North Korea's Social Classification System, North Korea adopted a law in 2003 to promote equal access to public services for disabled people and it claimed in its second report on compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that its handicapped citizens are protected. North Korea acceded to this covenant on September 14, 1981. However, its law has not been implemented, and North Korean refugees in the South testify that the handicapped are severely discriminated against unless they are wounded soldiers who say their wounds were the result of American aggression during the Korean War.[90]
Right to food[edit]
See also: North Korean famine
A January 2004 report by Amnesty International noted that "Korea remains dependent on food aid to feed its people, yet government policy still prevents the swift and equitable distribution of this aid, while the population is denied the right to freedom of movement, which would enable people to go and search for food."[91] The report found that the North Korean government had "failed in its duty to uphold and protect" the right to food and that the regime's actions "have exacerbated the effects of the famine and food crisis."[91]
Shortly thereafter, the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea published Hunger and Human Rights: The Politics of Famine in North Korea (by Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, 2005), which discussed the probability that North Korean food shortages in the 1990s were a man-made (regime) phenomenon and that with plausible policy adjustments – such as maintaining food imports on commercial terms or aggressively seeking multilateral assistance – the North Korean government could have avoided famine and food shortages. Instead, the regime blocked humanitarian aid and diverted resources to the military.[92]
In 2016, British scholar Hazel Smith reported that health and nutrition of the population had improved greatly and was comparable to other developing countries, she disputed the view that government policies were creating a human rights crisis that was unique to North Korea.[93]
Discrimination and unequal access to food[edit]
Economic reform abolished the old coupon system in North Korea, which had favored non-productive citizens regarding access to food. After the coupon system disappeared, an average urban family spent between 75 and 85 percent of their income on food, while state farmers were spending only a third of their income on food; these disparities show that North Korea does not have safety net mechanisms to protect the vulnerable people in society, such as housewives and the elderly.[91]
When the food crisis began, access to food came through a public distribution system (PDS) controlled by the regime, and entitlements were partly a function of political status; as the planned economy crumbled and markets developed in response to the state's inability to fulfill its obligations under the old social compact, the character of the crisis changed. Current shortages bear a closer resemblance to food emergencies in market and transition economies, where access to food is determined by one's capacity to command resources in the marketplace; this type of emergency is no less severe, but poses different challenges to outside donors.[94]
Food is distributed to the civilian population of North Korea through two channels. Workers on state and cooperative farms account for roughly 30 percent of the population, and most of these farmers are granted an annual allotment of grain at the time of the harvest. However, the country is highly urbanized, and the bulk of the population is fed through the PDS; the PDS distributes food as a monthly or biweekly ration. Rations, in turn, vary according to occupational status and age. For example, high-ranking party, government, and military officials are fed through separate distribution channels and receive higher rations, as do certain classes of workers.[94]
In confronting the fundamentally non-cooperative stance of the North Korean government, the humanitarian community has pursued two basic strategies to guarantee the integrity of its assistance: the targeting of vulnerable groups, and the monitoring of food deliveries to assure that these targeted populations are being reached. At virtually every point, the North Korean government has placed roadblocks in the way of the donor community in North Korea, which succeeded to the extent that it did only through extraordinary perspicacity and flexibility. Yet, even by its own admission, this monitoring effort is a leaky sieve, and it is estimated that between 10 and 30 percent of food aid is diverted. Most concerns with diversion center on the appropriation of food by the military. Military and party elites have other sources of food; an equal if not greater problem is the diversion of food to the market or to less deserving groups.[94]
Also, the remote regions that suffered from the most severe famine conditions were the first regions to stop receiving shipments of food supplies, and at the same time, as local industry collapsed, residents' purchasing power decreased.[95]
Restrictions on the freedom to move caused the so-called 'hostile class' ‒ whose members were relocated to remote mountain areas ‒ to suffer from the limited access to food.[91]
Food shortage and malnutrition in detention[edit]
According to testimony by a previous detainee, detention was most often severely overcrowded and there existed a serious lack of food. "Malnourishment made life in Yodok very difficult. We were given corn-rice in small quantities; at times we got only salt soup with cabbage leaves. No meat was served. We were always hungry; and resorted to eating grass in spring. Three or four people died of malnutrition; when someone died, fellow prisoners delayed reporting his death to the authorities so that they could eat his allocated breakfast."[96] Prisoners were punished with withdrawal of food as well as torture and harsh labor. Malnutrition and infectious disease caused more than half of the deaths in detention.
Forced prostitution[edit]
See also: Prostitution in North Korea and Women's rights in North Korea
A group called "A Woman's Voice International" alleged that the state forcibly drafts girls as young as 14 years old to work in the so-called kippŭmjo, which includes prostitution teams; the source used is unclear as to whether only adult kippŭmjo are assigned to prostitution or whether there is prostitution of children – other kippŭmjo activities include massaging and cabaret dancing. Claims were made that they are ordered "to marry guards of Kim Jong-il or national heroes" when they are 25 years old.[97]
Forced abortion[edit]
The People's Republic of China returns all refugees from North Korea, treated as illegal immigrants, usually imprisoning them in a short term facility. Women who are suspected of being impregnated by Chinese men are subjected to forced abortions; babies born alive are killed.[98] Abortions up to full term are induced by injection; live premature babies or full-term newborns are sometimes killed but more commonly simply discarded into a bucket or box and then buried, they may live several days in the disposal container.[99]
Criminal justice[edit]
The death penalty, often without judicial due process, is administered for a wide variety of political and common crimes. Attempts to escape from the country or from a prison camp within the country may result in execution on the spot.[32] Personnel in the criminal justice system have wide discretion and are allegedly authorized to operate without regard to the formal legal rights of Koreans.[32]
A number of members of the regime itself have disappeared or been executed after falling out of favor; the most prominent example is Jang Sung-taek, the uncle of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un. On December 8, 2013, Jang was publicly expelled from the ruling Workers' Party of Korea; some of the accusations included "illicit affairs with women, obstructing the nation's economic affairs, and committing anti-party factional acts." On December 13, 2013, the state media announced that Jang had been executed.[100]
Trials[edit]
The constitution states that courts are independent and that judicial proceedings are to be carried out in strict accordance to the law; however, an independent judiciary does not exist. Little information is available on formal criminal justice procedures and practices, and outside access to the legal system is limited to trials for traffic violations and other minor offenses.[101]
The Ministry of People's Security (MPS) dispenses with trials in political cases and refers prisoners to the State Security Department (SSD) for punishment. According to Hidden Gulag, most inmates in prison camps were sent there without trial, without knowing the charges against them, and without having legal counsel.[101] Witness to Transformation[102] reported that only 13 percent of the 102 respondents who had been incarcerated in the country received a trial.[103]
Public executions[edit]
Main article: Capital punishment in North Korea § Public executions
North Korea resumed public executions in October 2007 after they had declined in the years following 2000 amidst international criticism. Prominent executed criminals include officials convicted of drug trafficking and embezzlement. Common criminals convicted of crimes such as murder, robbery, rape, drug dealing, smuggling, piracy, vandalism, etc. have also been reported to be executed, mostly by firing squad. The country does not publicly release national crime statistics or reports on the levels of crimes.[39]
In October 2007, a South Pyongan province factory chief convicted of making international phone calls from 13 phones he installed in his factory basement was executed by firing squad in front of a crowd of 150,000 people in a stadium, according to a report from a South Korean aid agency called Good Friends.[104] Good Friends also reported that six were killed in the crush as spectators left. In another instance, 15 people were publicly executed for crossing the border into China.[105]
A UN General Assembly committee has adopted a draft resolution, co-sponsored by more than 50 countries, expressing "very serious concern" at reports of widespread human rights violations in North Korea, including public executions. North Korea has condemned the draft, saying it is inaccurate and biased, but it was still sent to the then 192-member General Assembly for a final vote.[106]
In 2011, two people were executed in front of 500 spectators for handling propaganda leaflets that had floated across the border from South Korea, apparently as part of a campaign by former North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il to tighten ideological control as he groomed his youngest son as the eventual successor.[107]
In June 2019, a Seoul-based human rights group the Transitional Justice Working Group said to have identified at least 323 sites in North Korea, where public executions took place;[108] the group said the most common charges for execution ranged from "stealing copper and livestock" to "anti-state" activities and illegally crossing into China.[109]
Prisons[edit]
Main article: Prisons in North Korea
Map of the location of political prison camps (kwanliso) and ordinary prison camps (kyohwaso) in North Korea. Map issued in 2014 by the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK, under the United Nations Human Rights Council.
According to many organizations, the conditions in North Korean prisons are harsh and life-threatening.[110] Additionally, prisoners are subjected to torture and inhumane treatment by North Korean authorities.[32][111][112] Public and secret executions of prisoners, including children, especially in cases of escape attempts,[113] and infanticides (forced abortions and baby killings upon birth[32][114]) often occur; the mortality rate is very high, because many prisoners die of starvation,[115] illnesses,[116] work accidents, or torture.
The North Korean government flatly denies all allegations of human rights violations in prison camps, claiming that it is prohibited by criminal procedure law,[117] but former prisoners testify that there are completely different rules in the prison camps;[118] the North Korean government has failed to provide any information on prisoners or prison camps or even to allow access to any human rights organization.[119]
Lee Soon-ok gave detailed testimony on her treatment in the North Korean prison system to the United States House of Representatives in 2002. In her statement she said, "I testify that most of the 6,000 prisoners who were there when I arrived in 1987 had quietly perished under the harsh prison conditions by the time I was released in 1992."[120] Many other former prisoners, such as Kang Chol-hwan, have given detailed testimonies on the human rights crimes in North Korean prison camps.
According to the testimony of former camp guard Ahn Myong Chol of Camp 22, the guards are trained to treat the detainees as sub-human, he gave an account of children in one of the camps fighting over who got to eat a kernel of corn retrieved from cow dung.[121]
The North Korean prison camp facilities can be divided into large internment camps for political prisoners (Kwan-li-so in Korean) and reeducation prison camps (Kyo-hwa-so in Korean).[122]
Internment camps for political prisoners[edit]
Further information: Kwalliso and Prisons in North Korea
Bukchang
Chongjin
Hoeryong
Hwasong
Kaechon
Yodok
Political prison camps in North Korea
The internment camps for people accused of political offenses or denounced as politically unreliable are run by the state security department. Political prisoners were historically subjected to the family responsibility principle, which meant that the immediate family members of a convicted political criminal were also regarded as political criminals and interned. However, since 1994 there has been a near-abandonment of this family responsibility principle.[123][124]
The internment camps are located in central and northeastern North Korea, they comprise many prison labor colonies in secluded mountain valleys, completely isolated from the outside world.[32][125] The total number of prisoners is estimated to be 80,000 to 120,000;[5] the Yodok and Bukchang camps are separated into two sections: one for political prisoners in lifelong detention, the other similar to re-education camps where prisoners are serving long-term sentences with the vague hope that they will eventually be released.
The prisoners are forced to perform hard and dangerous slave labor with primitive means in mining and agriculture; the food rations are very small, so the prisoners are constantly on the brink of starvation. In combination with the hard work, this leads to huge numbers of prisoners dying. An estimated 40% of prisoners die from malnutrition.[126] Moreover, many prisoners are crippled from work accidents, frostbite or torture. There is a rigid punishment system in the camp. Prisoners who work too slowly or do not obey an order are beaten or tortured.[114] In cases of stealing food or attempting to escape, the prisoners are publicly executed.
Initially, there were around twelve political prison camps, but some were merged or closed (e.g. Onsong prison camp, Kwan-li-so No. 12 was closed down following an unsuccessful riot in 1987 where around 5,000 prisoners were killed[127]). Today there are six political prison camps in North Korea (see below). Most of the camps are documented in testimonies of former prisoners, and coordinates and satellite images of all are available.
Size[128]
Prisoners[129]
Kaechon Political Prison Camp Kwan-li-so No. 14 155 km² (60 mi²) 15,000
Yodok Political Prison Camp Kwan-li-so No. 15 378 km² (146 mi²) 46,500
Hwasong Political Prison Camp Kwan-li-so No. 16 549 km² (212 mi²) 10,000
Bukchang Political Prison Camp Kwan-li-so No. 18 73 km² (28 mi²) 50,000
Hoeryong Political Prison Camp Kwan-li-so No. 22 225 km² (87 mi²) 50,000
Chongjin Political Prison Camp Kwan-li-so No. 25 0,25 km² (0,1 mi²) 3,000+
The South Korean journalist Kang Chol-hwan is a former prisoner of Yodok Political Prison Camp and has written a book, The Aquariums of Pyongyang, about his time in the camp.[130] The International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK) estimates that over 10,000 people die in North Korean prison camps every year.[131]
Re-education camps[edit]
Chongori
Sinuiju
Kangdong
Danchon
Hamhung
Chungsan
Yongdam
Reeducation camps in North Korea
(10 out of around 15 – 20)
The re-education camps for criminals are run by the interior ministry. There is a fluent passage between common crimes and political crimes, because people who get on the bad side of influential partisans are often denounced on the basis of false accusations, they are then sent to detention centers, threatened with brutal torture and forced to make false confessions (Lee Soon-ok, for example, had to kneel down whilst being showered with water at icy temperatures with other prisoners, of whom six did not survive[132]) and are then condemned in a brief show trial to a long-term prison sentence. In North Korea, political crimes are greatly varied, from border crossing to any disturbance of the political order, and they are rigorously punished.[133] Due to the dire prison conditions with hunger and torture,[134] a large percentage of prisoners do not survive their sentence term.
The re-education camps are large prison building complexes surrounded by high walls; the plight of the prisoners is quite similar to that in the political prison camps. They have to perform slave labor in prison factories. If they do not meet the work quota, they are tortured and (at least in Kaechon camp) confined for many days to special prison cells, too small to stand up or lie full-length in.[120]
In distinction from the internment camps for political prisoners, the re-education camp prisoners are instructed ideologically after work and are forced to memorize speeches of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il and to undergo self-criticism rites. Many prison inmates are guilty of common crimes penalized also in other countries, but often they were committed out of economic necessity, e.g. illegal border crossing, stealing food or illegal trading.[135]
There are around 15–20 reeducation camps in North Korea.[136]
Two camps are documented with coordinates, satellite images and testimonies of former prisoners.
Reeducation Camp Official Name Size Prisoners
Kaechon Reeducation Camp Kyo-hwa-so No. 1 300 x 300 m (328 x 328 yds) 6,000
Chongori Reeducation Camp Kyo-hwa-so No. 12 150 x 350 m (164 x 383 yds) 2,000
Other camps are documented with short testimonies of former prisoners.[137]
Kyo-hwa-so No. 3 Sinuiju (c. 2,500 prisoners) in North Pyongan
Kyo-hwa-so No. 4 Kangdong (c. 7,000 prisoners) in South Pyongan
Kyo-hwa-so No. 8 Yongdam (c. 3,000 prisoners) in Kangwon
Kyo-hwa-so No. 11 Chungsan (c. 3,300 prisoners) in South Pyongan[138]
Kyo-hwa-so No. 15 Hamhung (c. 500 prisoners) in South Hamgyong
Kyo-hwa-so No. 22 Oro (c. 1,000 prisoners) in South Hamgyong
Kyo-hwa-so No. 77 Danchon (c. 6,000 prisoners) in South Hamgyong
Kyo-hwa-so Hoeryong (c. 1,500 prisoners) in North Hamgyong
Further camps are mentioned as being in Taehŭng and Sŭnghori (already closed).
The South Korean human rights activist Lee Soon-ok has written a book (Eyes of the Tailless Animals: Prison Memoirs of a North Korean Woman) about her time in a camp and testified before the US Senate.[139]
In October 2014, North Korea admitted for the first time that it had labor camps. Choe Myong Nam, a North Korean foreign ministry, said "Both in law and practice, we do have reform through labor detention camps – no, detention centers – where people are improved through their mentality and look on their wrongdoings".[140]
International abductions[edit]
Main articles: North Korean abductions of South Koreans and North Korean abductions of Japanese
In the decades after the Korean War, there were reports that North Korea had abducted many foreign nationals, mainly South Korean and Japanese. There are many testimonies that nine European citizens and several U.S. citizens have also been abducted to North Korea.[141] For years, these were dismissed as conspiracy theories even by many of the regime's critics; however, in September 2002, Kim Jong-Il partially acknowledged to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi the involvement of North Korean "special institutions" in the kidnapping of Japanese citizens during a period of six years from 1977 to 1983.[142] Kim officially admitted to abducting 13 Japanese citizens out of 17 Japanese the Japanese government accused North Korea of abducting, he stated that those responsible had been punished.[143]
Five surviving victims were allowed to visit Japan and decided not to return to North Korea. For eight more Japanese abductees, officials claimed deaths caused by accidents or illnesses; Japan says this leaves two still unaccounted for, and says that what the North claimed were the ashes of Megumi Yokota were not hers.
Despite the admission to Prime Minister Koizumi, the North Korean government continues to deny the kidnappings of other foreign nationals and refuses any cooperation to investigate further cases of suspected abductions. In 2017, a former Japanese abductee Hasuike publicly stated that "Japan's prime minister needs to visit North Korea again", urging Prime Minister Abe to visit North Korea to discuss the continuing abduction issues between North Korea and Japan by taking the advantage of the Pyongyang Declaration.[144]
Officials of the South Korean government claim that 486 South Koreans, mostly fishermen, are believed to have been abducted since the end of the Korean War.[32] Advocates and family members have accused the government of doing little or nothing to gain their freedom.[145] South Korea officially recognized 480 South Korean abductees to be held in North Korea.[146] Even after the Korean War, North Korea is accused of abducting South Koreans such as Kim Dongsik, who was abducted on January 16, 2000 and Jin Gyeong-suk, a North Korean defector to South Korea who was abducted on August 8, 2004.
In November 2013, a civic group, the Korean War Abductees Family Association (KWAFA), consisting of family members of South Koreans abducted to North Korea during the Korean War (1950–53), said it will take North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for unlawful detention of the abductees and failure to address related abuses.[147]
David Sneddon, an American college student known for his disappearance in China in 2004, was initially declared dead. Yet, recent news from the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea found that Sneddon was arrested in China on false charges for helping illegal residents travel,[148] they made further claims that Sneddon is alive in North Korea and in fact has been abducted in China and sent to North Korea in order to teach English to Kim Jong Un.[149]
International reaction[edit]
See also: 2014 United Nations Commission of Inquiry report and List of fact-finding reports on human rights in North Korea
Most countries and multilateral organizations have criticized North Korea for its alleged human rights abuses.[citation needed] Since 2005, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution every year to condemn the human rights situation in North Korea.[150]
Multiple countries have been critical of the allegations made against North Korea. China's delegation to the United Nations said that North Korea has made considerable progress in protecting human rights. Sudan's government said that instead of criticizing the country, there should be support by the international community for North Korea's efforts to protect human rights. Venezuela's delegation to the United Nations asserted that the allegations made by UN observers against North Korea are based on flawed criteria and are not credible.[151] Cuba's delegation to the United Nations said that the body's claims made against North Korea are politically motivated and seek to impose isolation and pressure on the country, in violation of the Human Rights Council's stated principles.[152]
The U.S. and Japan have passed laws and created envoys in order to bring this issue to public attention. The U.S. initially passed the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 in October of that year, and reauthorized the law in 2008. It created an office at the State Department focused on North Korean human rights, run originally by Special Envoy Jay Lefkowitz.[citation needed]
The NGO Freedom House has ranked North Korea at the very bottom of its "Freedom in the World" ratings since the survey was first launched in 1973.[153] In Freedom House's 2013 survey, North Korea was one of nine countries that earned a 7 (its lowest rating) for both political rights and civil liberties,[154] its current report on North Korea categorizes it as "Not Free", and states that there are virtually no organizations independent of state control.[155] North Korea has charged that those who make allegations about human rights in the country are interfering with the country's internal affairs and trying to force down their values.[156]
Other international NGOs have been established with the purpose of relieving the human rights abuses faced by North Koreans; the North Korea Strategy Center works to provide people living in North Korea with access to videos, music, and other external media that promotes human rights and democracy.[157] An organization called Liberty in North Korea collects charitable donations in order to perform rescue missions for defectors attempting to escape North Korea through China.[158] Still other organizations focus on assisting defectors after they arrive in Southeast Asia, South Korea, the United States, or other destinations. Saejowi, a Seoul-based NGO, aims to provide medical support to defectors in South Korea, because they are often unable to understand the treatment options available to them.[159]
With the exception of the international abductions issue regarding Japanese, Americans, and South Koreans, which it says has been fully resolved, North Korea strongly rejects all reports of human rights violations and accuses the defectors of promoting only an anti-North agenda.[160]
Number of victims[edit]
Estimates based on the North Korean census suggest that 240,000 to 420,000 people died as a result of the North Korean famine and that excess mortality during the whole period 1993 to 2008 was between 600,000 and 850,000;[161] the famine has been described as the result of the economic policies of the North Korean government[162] or as deliberate "terror-starvation".[163] Co-author of The Black Book of Communism Pierre Rigoulot estimates 100,000 executions, 1.5 million deaths in concentration camps and 500,000 deaths from famine, reaching a total of 2.1 million victims (not counting 1.3 million Korean soldiers and civilians killed on both sides during the Korean War).[164]
Media and organizations[edit]
Chosun Journal, an independent non-profit website that links communities for human rights in North Korea.
Hanvoice, a Canadian-based human rights organization that assists North Korean refugees.
North Korea Uncovered, a comprehensive set of maps of North Korea showing thousands of buildings, monuments, missile-storage facilities, mass graves, secret labor camps, palaces, restaurants, tourist sites, and main roads.
Seoul Train, a 2004 documentary film that deals with North Korean defectors fleeing through or to China.
Escape from Camp 14, a book about a North Korean born child and his life under the camp conditions.
In Order to Live, a memoir published in 2015 that talks about a North Korean girl's journey to freedom. Written by Park Yeon-mi, a North Korean defector known for her speech at One Young World 2014 Summit in Dublin Ireland, the memoir gives a detailed description of the life in North Korea and the process of defection.
Children of the Secret State, a documentary film that focuses on showing the pitiful lives of North Korean orphans.The film consists of much visual proof of North Korea's humanitarian crisis such as prison camp, famine and malnutrition;[165] the film was released in 2001 and movie critiques such as Allison Gorman noted that the film "shows... the gross abuse of power and money to favor the few."
List of fact-finding reports on human rights in North Korea
Human experimentation in North Korea
Korean War POWs detained in North Korea
Kotjebi, a Korean term denoting North Korean homeless children.
North Korea's cult of personality
North Korea's illicit activities
Human trafficking in North Korea
Politics in North Korea
Propaganda in North Korea
List of foreign nationals detained in North Korea
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^ Stephan Haggard, Marcus Noland, and Amartya Sen (2009), Famine in North Korea, Columbia University Press, p.209
^ Rosefielde, Stephen (2009), Red Holocaust, Routledge, p. 109.
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^ "5 Eye-Opening Documentaries about North Korea". Pastemagazine. May 2, 2017.
Kim Ji-ho (2017). Human Rights (PDF). Understanding Korea. 9. Translated by Kim Yong-nam; Ri Chung-hyon. Pyongyang: Foreign Languages Publishing House. ISBN 978-9946-0-1639-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 18, 2017. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
Lankov, Andrei (September 12, 2013). "How human rights in North Korea are gradually improving". NK News.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Human rights in North Korea.
Daily NK run by the Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, includes reports citing informers inside North Korea.
Liberty in North Korea, website of a North American-based organization devoted to the North Korean human rights and humanitarian crises.
List of North Korea-related human rights abuse articles and studies, Human Rights Watch.
Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, website, based in Seoul, South Korea.
North Korea coverage at the International Freedom of Expression Exchange.
North Korea Freedom Coalition, website.
Official materials related to the North Korean Human Rights Act.
U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, website.
National Human Rights Commission of Korea, website.
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
"Country chapter: North Korea", World report 2013, Human Rights Watch.
North Korea: Political Prison Camps – Amnesty International document on conditions in North Korean prison camps (May 2011).
Survey Report on Political Prisoners' Camps in North Korea (PPC) – National Human Rights Commission of Korea analysis of political prison camps on the basis of in-depth interviews with North Korean witnesses (December 2009).
Escaping North Korea, by Tom O'Neill, National Geographic (February 2009).
Final Report of Jay Lefkowitz, U.S. Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea (January 2009).
A prison without bars – Refugee and defector testimonies of severe violations of freedom of religion or belief in North Korea as reported by U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (March 2008).
North Korea's Largest Concentration Camps on Google Earth – Satellite imagery and witness accounts of North Korean political prison and reeducation camps (2006–2008).
Concentrations of inhumanity – Freedom House analysis of the phenomena of repression associated with North Korea's political labor camps (May 2007).
North Korea: A case to answer – a call to act – Report by Christian Solidarity Worldwide to emphasize the urgent need to end mass killings, arbitrary imprisonment, torture and related international crimes (2007).
Thank you father Kim Il Sung – Eyewitness accounts of severe violations of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion in North Korea reported by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (November 2005).
"Seoul Train", at Independent Lens, PBS documentary by Jim Butterworth, Lisa Sleeth, and Aaron Lubarsky, also available as "Seoul Train" at Global Voices (2004).
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Chairman of the State Affairs Commission
The Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, according to the country's constitution. The chairman directs the State Affairs Commission, the supreme leadership institution in North Korea, heads the country's armed forces as the supreme commander of the Korean People's Army; the chairman is the head of the party as the Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea. The office originated from the position of Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Central People's Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, created on 28 December 1972 along with the National Defence Commission, which at that time was a commission subordinate to the Central People's Committee; the President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which at the time was Kim Il-sung was the ex officio Chairman of the National Defence Commission, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, served in the position from 28 December 1972 until 9 April 1993.
An amendment to the 1972 constitution was approved on 22 May 1992 that no longer made the President the ex officio chairman of the National Defence Commission and the supreme commander of the Korean People's Army. The same amendment made the National Defence Commission a separate institution from the Central People's Committee in order to become the highest military leadership organ in the country; this amendment allowed for Kim Jong-il to be elected as Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on 9 April 1993 following his appointment as supreme commander of the Korean People's Army on 24 December 1991. Following Kim Il-sung's death on 8 July 1994, another amendment to the 1972 constitution was approved on 5 September 1998 that made the National Defense Commission into the highest military leadership and management institution, which made it the highest decision-making body in North Korea; the amendment abolished the position of President after enshrining Kim Il-sung as the country's eternal President.
The amendment stipulated that the chairman of the National Defense Commission commands the entire armed forces and guides national defense. It made the chairman of the National Defense Commission as the most powerful official in the country despite the amendment not stating it as such. Another amendment to the 1972 constitution, approved on 9 April 2009 that stated that the chairman of the National Defense Commission is the "supreme leader" of the country; the amendment specified the powers of the chairman of National Defence Commission, such as guiding overall state affairs, appointing or dismissing national defense sector cadres, ratifying or abrogating treaties, granting of pardon, declaring state of emergency or state of war, which were powers given to the National Defense Commission as a whole. Kim Jong-il served as the chairman of the National Defence Commission from 9 April 1993 until his death on 17 December 2011, his death led to another amendment to the 1972 constitution being approved on 13 April 2012 that enshrined Kim Jong-il as the eternal Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, allowed his son Kim Jong-un to succeed him as First Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Kim Jong-un served as first chairman of the National Defence Commission from 13 April 2012 until 30 June 2016, when an amendment to the 1972 constitution was approved that created the State Affairs Commission that replaced the National Defence Commission as the highest decision-making body in the country. This same amendment created the present office of the Chairman of the State Affairs Commission to which Kim Jong-un was elected. According to the Article 103 of the constitution, the Chairman of the State Affairs Commission has the following duties and authority to: direct the overall affairs of the State. Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea
Elections in North Korea
Elections in North Korea are held every four-to-five years for the Supreme People's Assembly, the country's national legislature, every four years for Local People's Assemblies. All seats are won by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland; the Workers' Party of Korea dominates the Front and holds 87.5% of the seats, with 7.4% for the Korean Social Democratic Party, 3.2% for the Chondoist Chongu Party, 1.9% for independent deputies. According to official reports, turnout is near 100%, approval of the Democratic Front's candidates is unanimous or nearly so. In reply to a question put forth by Michael Marshall, Li Chun Sik of North Korea stated at a meeting of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments of the Inter-Parliamentary Union: While candidates could be nominated by anyone, it was the practice for all candidates to be nominated by the parties; these nominations were examined by the United Reunification Front and by the Central Electoral Committee, which allocated candidates to seats.
The candidate in each seat was considered by the electors in meetings at the workplace or similar, on election day the electors could indicate approval or disapproval of the candidate on the ballot paper. Only one candidate appears on each ballot. Elections are ostensibly conducted by secret ballot, a voter may cross off the candidate's name to vote against him/her, but must do so by crossing out the name without secrecy. Voting is mandatory and turnout is habitually near 100%. Members of the Supreme People's Assembly are elected to five-year terms, meet for SPA sessions up to ten days per year; the Supreme People's Assembly elects a standing committee known as the Presidium, which exercises legislative functions when the Assembly is not in session. It elects the Chairman of the National Defence Commission, the country's chief executive, the Premier. Local elections have been held since 1999; the people elect representatives to city and provincial people's assemblies in local elections every four years.
The number of representatives is determined by the population of each jurisdiction. Mayors and governors are elected, their role is to work with the unelected and more influential province party secretaries. The elections have been variously described as a political census. Seats are uncompetitive as all candidates are chosen by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland; because of the near-100% turnout, elections double as unofficial censuses. The inminban neighborhood watch watches the elections to identify and investigate no-shows. A voter may cross off the candidate's name to vote against him or her, but in most polling stations the voter must do so with a red pen next to the ballot box in sight of electoral officials. In recent elections, there have been separate boxes for "no" votes. Many North Korean defectors claim. Indeed, voting against the official candidate is considered an act of treason, those who do face the loss of their jobs and housing, along with extra surveillance.
The latest election was the first conducted under the leadership of Kim Jong-un following the death of Kim Jong-il in December 2011. Summary of the 9 March 2014 North Korea Supreme People's Assembly election results The last election conducted under the leadership of Kim Jong-il was held on March 8, 2009; the following day, North Korean media announced that he was unanimously re-elected to parliament, though none of his sons were among the appointments. The election committee stated that 99.98% of all registered voters took part in voting, with 100% voting for their candidate in each district. All seats were won by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, under the control of the Worker's Party. Politics of North Korea List of political parties in North Korea Video of elections, including ballots used on YouTube Elections in North Korea on YouTube
Kim Jong-un is a North Korean politician serving as Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and serving as the Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea since 2012. Kim is the second child of Ko Yong-hui, he is the grandson of Kim Il-sung, the first leader of North Korea from 1948 to 1994. Kim is the first North Korean leader, born after the country's founding. From late 2010, Kim Jong-un was viewed as heir apparent to the leadership of the DPRK, following the elder Kim's death, North Korean state television announced him as the "Great Successor". Kim holds the titles of Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, Chairman of the Central Military Commission, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission, Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, member of the Presidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea, the highest decision-making body in North Korea. Kim was promoted to the rank of Marshal of North Korea in the Korean People's Army on 18 July 2012, consolidating his position as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and is referred to as Marshal Kim Jong-un, "the Marshal" or "Dear Respected" by state media.
Kim obtained two degrees, one in physics at Kim Il-sung University, another as an Army officer at the Kim Il-sung Military University. Forbes magazine ranked Kim the 46th most powerful person in the world in 2013 and the third highest amongst Koreans after Ban Ki-moon and Lee Kun-hee. On 12 December 2013, North Korean news outlets reported that Kim Jong-un had ordered the execution of his uncle Jang Song-thaek due to "treachery". On 9 March 2014, Kim was unopposed, he is believed to have ordered the assassination of his half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, in Malaysia in February 2017. Despite tense relations, North Korea agreed to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Following the Olympics, Kim Jong-un and President Moon Jae-in conducted the April 2018 inter-Korean summit, which marked the first time since the end of the Korean War in 1953 that a North Korean leader entered the South's territory. On 12 June 2018, Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump met for a summit in Singapore, the first-ever talks held between a North Korean leader and a sitting US President, to discuss the North Korean nuclear program.
Scarce information on Kim Jong-un's early life comes from North Korean defectors and people who have claimed to witness him abroad, such as during his school attendance in Switzerland. Some of the information has been conflicting and contradictory confusing him with his brother, Kim Jong-chul, who attended school in Switzerland around the same time. North Korean authorities and state-run media have stated that Kim's birthdate was 8 January 1982, but South Korean intelligence officials believe the actual date is a year later, it is thought. The US Treasury Department lists Kim Jong-un's official birthdate as 8 January 1984. Former basketball star Dennis Rodman said that this was Kim's birthdate after meeting in September 2013 in North Korea. Kim Jong-Un was the second of three children. According to reports first published in Japanese newspapers, he went to school in Switzerland near Bern. First reports claimed he attended the private English-language International School in Gümligen under the name "Chol-pak" or "Pak-chol" from 1993 to 1998.
He was described as shy, a good student who got along well with his classmates and was a basketball fan. He was chaperoned by an older student, thought to be his bodyguard, it was reported that Kim Jong-un attended the Liebefeld Steinhölzli state school in Köniz near Bern under the name "Pak-un" or "Un-pak" from 1998 until 2000 as the son of an employee of the North Korean embassy in Bern. Authorities of Köniz confirmed that a student from North Korea, registered as the son of a member of the embassy, attended the school from August 1998 until the autumn of 2000, but were unable to give details about his identity. Pak-un first attended a special class for foreign-language children and attended the regular classes of the 6th, 7th, 8th, part of the final 9th year, leaving the school abruptly in the autumn of 2000, he was described as a ambitious student who liked to play basketball. However, his grades and attendance rating are reported to have been poor; the ambassador of North Korea in Switzerland, Ri Chol, had a close relationship with him and acted as a mentor.
One of Pak-un's classmates told reporters that he had told him that he was the son of the leader of North Korea. According to some reports, Kim was described by classmates as a shy child, awkward with girls and indifferent to political issues, but who distinguished himself in sports and had a fascination with the American National Basketball Association and Michael Jordan. One friend claimed that he had been shown pictures of Pak-un with Kobe Bryant and Toni Kukoč. In April 2012, new documents came to light indicating that Kim Jong-un had lived in Switzerland since 1991 or 1992, earlier than thought; the Laboratory of Anatomic Anthropology at the University of Lyon, after comparing the picture of the boy Pak-un taken at the Liebefeld Steinhölzli school in 1999 with a picture of Kim Jong-un from 2012 came to th
Kim Il-sung was the first leader of North Korea which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Premier from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to 1994, he was the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea from 1949 to 1994. Coming to power after the end of Japanese rule in 1945, he authorized the invasion of South Korea in 1950, triggering an intervention in defense of South Korea by the United Nations led by the United States. Following the military stalemate in the Korean War, a ceasefire was signed on 27 July 1953, he was the second longest-serving non-royal head of state/government in the 20th century, in office for more than 48 years. Under his leadership, North Korea became a communist state with a publicly owned and planned economy, it had close economic relations with the Soviet Union. By the 1960s, North Korea enjoyed a standard of living higher than the South, fraught with political instability and economic crises; the situation reversed in the mid-1970s, as a newly stable South Korea became an economic powerhouse fueled by Japanese and American investment, military aid and internal economic development while North Korea stagnated.
Differences emerged between North Korea and the Soviet Union, central among them Kim Il-sung's philosophy of Juche, which focused on Korean nationalism and self-reliance. Despite this, the country received funds and aid from the USSR until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991; the resulting loss of economic aid adversely affected the North's economy, causing widespread famine in 1994. During this period, North Korea remained critical of the United States defense force's presence in the region, which it considered imperialism, having seized the American ship USS Pueblo in 1968, he outlived Joseph Stalin by four decades and Mao Zedong by two and remained in power during the terms of office of six South Korean Presidents, ten U. S. Presidents and the rule of British monarchs George VI and his daughter Elizabeth II. Known as the Great Leader, he was the focus of a personality cult which dominated domestic politics in North Korea. At the 6th WPK Congress in 1980, his oldest son Kim Jong-il was elected as a Presidium member and chosen as his heir apparent to the supreme leadership.
Kim Il-sung's birthday is a public holiday in North Korea called the "Day of the Sun". In 1998, Kim Il-sung was declared "eternal President of the Republic". During his rule, North Korea was characterized as a totalitarian state with widespread human rights abuses, including mass executions and prison camps. Controversy surrounds Kim's life before the founding of North Korea, with some labeling him an impostor. Several sources indicate that the name "Kim Il-sung" had been used by a prominent early leader of the Korean resistance, Kim Kyung-cheon; the Soviet officer Grigory Mekler, who worked with Kim during the Soviet occupation, said that Kim assumed this name from a former commander who had died. However, historian Andrei Lankov has argued. Several witnesses knew Kim before and after his time in the Soviet Union, including his superior, Zhou Baozhong, who dismissed the claim of a "second" Kim in his diaries. Historian Bruce Cumings pointed out that Japanese officers from the Kwantung Army have attested to his fame as a resistance figure.
Historians accept the view that, while Kim's exploits were exaggerated by the personality cult, built around him, he was a significant guerrilla leader. He was born to Kim Kang Pan-sŏk, who gave him the name Kim Sŏng-ju. Kim's family is said to have originated from North Jeolla Province, his great-grandfather, Kim Ung-u, settled in Mangyong-dae in 1860. Kim is reported to have been born in the small village of Mangyungbong near Pyongyang on 15 April 1912. According to Kim, his family was not poor, but was always a step away from poverty. Kim said that he was raised in a Presbyterian family, that his maternal grandfather was a Protestant minister, that his father had gone to a missionary school and was an elder in the Presbyterian Church, that his parents were active in the religious community. According to the official version, Kim's family participated in anti-Japanese activities and in 1920 they fled to Manchuria. Like most Korean families, they resented the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula, which began on 29 August 1910.
Another view seems to be that his family settled in Manchuria, as many Koreans had at the time to escape famine. Nonetheless, Kim's parents Kim's mother Kang Ban Suk, played a role in the anti-Japanese struggle, sweeping the peninsula, their exact involvement—whether their cause was missionary, nationalist, or both—is unclear nevertheless. Still, Japanese repression of opposition was brutal, resulting in the arrest and detention of more than 52,000 Korean citizens in 1912 alone; this repression forced many Korean families to settle in Manchuria. In October 1926 Kim founded the Down-with-Imperialism Union. Kim attended Whasung Military Academy in 1926, but finding the academy's training methods outdated, he quit in 1927. From that time, he attended Yuwen Middle School in China's Jilin province up to 1930, where he rejected the feudal traditions of older-generation Koreans and became interested in Communist ideologies.
Visa requirements for North Korean citizens
Visa requirements for North Korean citizens are administrative entry restrictions imposed on citizens of North Korea by the authorities of other states. As of 26 March 2019, North Korean citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 42 countries and territories, ranking the North Korean passport 96th in terms of travel freedom, tied with passports issued by Ethiopia according to the Henley Passport Index. Visa requirements for citizens for visits to various territories, disputed areas and restricted zones: Visa policy of North Korea North Korean passport Citizenship in North Korea Nationality Law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea List of nationalities forbidden at border References Notes
Politics of North Korea
The politics of North Korea takes place within the framework of the official state philosophy, Juche, a concept created by Hwang Jang-yop and attributed to Kim Il-sung. The Juche theory is the belief that through self-reliance and a strong independent state, true socialism can be achieved. North Korea's political system is built upon the principle of centralization. While the North Korean constitution formally guarantees protection of human rights, in practice there are severe limits on freedom of expression, the government supervises the lives of North Korean citizens; the constitution defines North Korea as "a dictatorship of people's democracy" under the leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea, given legal supremacy over other political parties. The WPK is the ruling party of North Korea, it has been in power since its creation in 1948. Two minor political parties exist, but are bound to accept the ruling role of the WPK. They, with the WPK, comprise the popular front Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland.
Elections occur only in single-candidate races where the candidate is selected beforehand by the WPK. In addition to the parties, there are over 100 mass organizations controlled by the WPK; those who are not WPK members are required to join one of these organizations. Of these, the most important ones are the Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Youth League, Socialist Women's Union of Korea, General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea, Union of Agricultural Workers of Korea; these four organizations are DFRF members. Kim Il-sung ruled the country from 1948 until his death in July 1994, holding the offices of General Secretary of the WPK from 1949 to 1994, Premier of North Korea from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to 1994, he was succeeded by Kim Jong-il. While the younger Kim had been his father's designated successor since the 1980s, it took him three years to consolidate his power, he was named to his father's old post of General Secretary in 1997, in 1998 became chairman of the National Defence Commission, which gave him command of the armed forces.
The constitution was amended to make the NDC chairmanship "the highest post in the state." At the same time, the presidential post was written out of the constitution, Kim Il-sung was designated "Eternal President of the Republic" in order to honor his memory forever. Most analysts believe the title to be a product of the cult of personality he cultivated during his life. Outside observers views North Korea as a totalitarian dictatorship noting the elaborate cult of personality around Kim Il-sung and his family; the Workers' Party of Korea, led by a member of the ruling family, holds power in the state and leads the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland of which all political officers are required to be members.. In recent years, there has been great emphasis on "military-first" philosophy. All references to communism were removed from the North Korean constitution in 2009; the status of the military has been enhanced, it appears to occupy the center of the North Korean political system.
Kim Jong-il's public activity focused on "on-the-spot guidance" of places and events related to the military. The enhanced status of the military and military-centered political system was confirmed at the first session of the 10th Supreme People's Assembly by the promotion of NDC members into the official power hierarchy. All ten NDC members were ranked within the top twenty on 5 September, all but one occupied the top twenty at the fiftieth anniversary of the Day of the Foundation of the Republic on 9 September. According to the Constitution of North Korea, the country is a democratic republic and the Supreme People's Assembly and Provincial People's Assemblies are elected by direct universal suffrage and secret ballot. Suffrage is guaranteed to all citizens aged 17 and over. In reality, elections in North Korea are for feature single-candidate races only; those who want to vote against the sole candidate on the ballot must go to a special booth - in the presence of an electoral official - to cross out the candidate's name before dropping it into the ballot box—an act which, according to many North Korean defectors, is far too risky to contemplate.
All elected candidates are members of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, a popular front dominated by the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. The two minor parties in the coalition are the Chondoist Chongu Party and the Korean Social Democratic Party; the WPK exercises direct control over the candidates selected for election by members of the other two parties. In the past, elections were contested by other minor parties as well, including the Korea Buddhist Federation, Democratic Independent Party, Dongro People's Party, Gonmin People's Alliance, People's Republic Party. A close ally of Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union, North Korea has emphasized Juche, an adoption of socialist self-reliance, which roots from Marxism–Leninism, its adoption of a certain ideological form of Marxism-Leninism is specific to the conditions of North Korea. Juche was enshrined as the official ideology when the country adopted a new constitution in 1972. In 2009, the constitution was amended again removing the brief references to communism.
However, Nor
Workers' Party of Korea
The Workers' Party of Korea is the founding and ruling political party of North Korea. It is the largest party represented in the Supreme People's Assembly and coexists de jure with two other legal parties making up the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland. However, these minor parties are subservient to the WPK, must accept the WPK's "leading role" as a condition of their existence, it was founded in 1949 with the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea. The WPK controls the Korean People's Army; this political party remains illegal in South Korea under South Korea's own National Security Act and is sanctioned by Australia, the European Union, the United Nations and the United States. The WPK is organized according to the Monolithic Ideological System and the Great Leader, a system and theory conceived by Kim Yong-ju and Kim Jong-il; the highest body of the WPK is formally the Congress, but in practice a Congress occurs infrequently.
Between 1980 and 2016, there were no congresses held. Although the WPK is organizationally similar to communist parties, in practice it is far less institutionalized and informal politics plays a larger role than usual. Institutions such as the Central Committee, the Executive Policy Bureau, the Central Military Commission, the Politburo and the Politburo's Presidium have much less power than that formally bestowed on them by the party's charter, little more than a nominal document. Kim Jong-un is the current WPK leader, serving as CMC chairman; the WPK is committed to Juche, an ideology, described as a combination of collectivism and nationalism. At the 3rd Conference, the WPK removed a sentence from the preamble expressing the party's commitment "to building a communist society", replacing it with a new adherence to Songun, "military-first" policies; the 2009 revision had removed all references to communism. Party ideology has focused on perceived imperialist enemies of the party and state.
Before the rise of Juche and Songun, the party was committed to Marxist–Leninist thought as well, with its importance becoming diminished over time. The party's emblem is an adaptation of the communist hammer and sickle, with a traditional Korean calligraphy brush; the symbols represent the industrial workers and intellectuals. On 13 October 1945, the North Korean Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea was established, with Kim Yong-bom its first chairman. However, the NKB–CPK remained subordinate to the CPK Central Committee. Two months at the 3rd Plenum of the NKB, Kim Yong-bom was replaced by Kim Il-sung. In spring 1946 the North Korean Bureau became the Communist Party of North Korea, with Kim Il-sung its elected chairman. On 22 July 1946 Soviet authorities in North Korea established the United Democratic National Front, a popular front led by the Communist Party of North Korea; the Communist Party of North Korea soon merged with the New People's Party of Korea, a party composed of communists from China.
On 28 July 1946 a special commission of the two parties ratified the merger, it became official the following day. One month the party held its founding congress, establishing the Workers' Party of North Korea; the congress elected former leader of the New People's Party of Korea Kim Tu-bong as the first WPNK chairman, with Kim Il-sung its appointed deputy chairman. However, despite his formal downgrade in the party's hierarchy Kim Il-sung remained its leader. Party control increased throughout the country after the congress. From 27–30 March 1948, the WPNK convened its 2nd Congress. While Kim Tu-bong was still the party's formal head, Kim Il-sung presented the main report to the congress. In it he claimed. On 28 April 1948 a special session of the Supreme People's Assembly approved the constitution, which led to the official establishment of an independent North Korea, it did not call for a unified Korea. Kim Il-sung was the appointed head of government of the new state, with Kim Tu-bong heading the legislative branch.
A year on 30 June 1949, the Workers' Party of Korea was created with the merger of the WPNK and the Workers' Party of South Korea. Kim Il-sung was not the most ardent supporter of a military reunification of Korea. After several meetings with Joseph Stalin, the North Koreans invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950—this began the Korean War. With American intervention in the war the DPRK nearly collapsed, but it was saved by Chinese intervention in the conflict; the war had the effect of weakening Soviet influence over Kim Il-sung and the WPK. Around this time, the main fault lines in early WPK politics were created. Four factions formed: domestic, Soviet Koreans and guerrillas. Howe
North Korea [videos]
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, with Pyongyang the capital and the largest city in the country. The name …
Suspected communist sympathizers awaiting execution in May 1948 after the Jeju Uprising
A Korean People's Army soldier pointing to the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
Kim Il-sung [videos]
Kim Il-sung was the first leader of North Korea which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He …
Kim Il-sung's official portrait in 1950
Kim on a 1956 visit to East Germany, chatting with painter Otto Nagel and Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl
Kim Il-sung's 80th birthday ceremony with international guests, April 1992.
Kim's first wife, Kim Jŏng Suk, and son, Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il [videos]
Kim Jong-il was the second leader of North Korea. He ruled from the death of his father Kim Il-sung, the first leader of North Korea, in 1994 until his own death in 2011 …
Idealized portrait of Kim Jong-il
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Kim Jong-il talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their 2001 meeting in Moscow
Kim Ok, Kim Jong-il's personal secretary, with U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen, 2000
Workers' Party of Korea [videos]
The Workers' Party of Korea is the founding and ruling political party of North Korea. It is the largest party represented in the Supreme People's Assembly and coexists de jure with two other legal parties making up the Democratic Front for the …
Kim Il-sung (left) with Pak Hon-yong in Pyongyang, 1948
Propaganda mosaic commemorating the triumphant homecoming of Kim Il-sung after he liberated Korea from Japan
Although Kim Jong-il headed the WPK with no pretense of following the party charter, it was revitalized at the 3rd Conference at the end of his rule
The Monument to Party Founding in Pyongyang, erected in 1995
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A monument in Pyongyang, depicting North Korean airmen and a MiG fighter.
North Korean soldier, 2005.
Korean People's Army vehicles on parade
Vice Marshal Jo Myong-rok meets Bill Clinton at the White House, October 2000
Premier of North Korea [videos]
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Image: Kim Il 1974
Image: Li Jong ok
Image: Kim Yong nam in Moscow
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US Military Advisory Group Headquarters, South Korea, c. 1950
The Korean War Memorial in Pyongyang, North Korea, with the pyramidal Ryugyong Hotel in the background
US planes bombing Wonsan, North Korea, 1951
The captured USS Pueblo being visited by tourists in Pyongyang
Kim Jong-un [videos]
Kim Jong-un is a North Korean politician serving as Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and also serving as the Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea since 2012. Kim is the second …
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Juche Tower, Pyongyang
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The Korean DMZ, viewed from the north
Minister of Foreign Affairs (North Korea) [videos]
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a government minister in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responsible for conducting foreign relations of the country. — In addition to the foreign minister, the Ministry of Foreign …
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Image: Nam il sg 28917
Image: Ho Dam
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Ri Yong-ho is a North Korean politician and diplomat who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Korea since 2016.Ri is known as a skillful negotiator with experience in negotiating with the United …
Ri in 2018
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Politics of North Korea [videos]
The politics of North Korea takes place within the framework of the official state philosophy, Juche, a concept created by Hwang Jang-yop and later attributed to Kim Il-sung. The Juche theory is the belief that through self-reliance and a …
The Juche Tower symbolizes the official state philosophy of Juche.
Portraits of the Eternal President, Kim Il-sung (left), and the Eternal General Secretary of the Workers' Party, Kim Jong-il (right).
Juche [videos]
Juche is the official state ideology of North Korea, described by the government as "Kim Il-sung's original, brilliant and revolutionary contribution to national and …
North Korea claims that the Juche idea has a wide international following which displays tributes from other socialist movements towards the idea in the entrance hall of the Juche Tower
Image: 1730 Nordkorea 2015 Pjöngjang Juche Turm (22791978320)
Elections in North Korea [videos]
Elections in North Korea are held every four-to-five years for the Supreme People's Assembly, the country's national legislature, and every four years for Local People's Assemblies.All seats are won by the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland. The Workers' Party of Korea …
A propaganda poster in Pyongyang with the slogan "Let's all vote yes!" ("모두다 찬성투표 하자!")
If the voter wishes to cross off the name of the candidate it must be done with a red pen next to the ballot box with no secrecy.
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North Korea Visa
Visa policy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
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Image: Sept. 2018 Inter Korea Summit Gallery (23) (cropped)
Songun [videos]
Songun is the "military first" policy of North Korea, prioritizing the Korean People's Army in the affairs of state and allocation of resources. "Military first" as a principle guides political and economic life in North Korea, with "military-first politics" dominating the political system; "a line …
North Korean female soldiers
Constitution of North Korea [videos]
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Image: Constitution of North Korea
7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea [videos]
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April 25 House of Culture decorated for the Congress
Charter of the Workers' Party of Korea [videos]
The Charter of the Workers' Party of Korea is the by-laws of the Workers' Party of Korea. It sets the rules of the organization and membership of the party. According to the Charter, the WPK Congress is the highest body of the party and it, along with the WPK Conference, can …
Title page of the current Charter of the Workers' Party of Korea
Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea [videos]
The Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea is the highest party body between WPK national meetings. According to WPK rules, the Central Committee is elected by the party congress and the party conference can be conferred the right to renew its membership composition …
Image: Headquarters of Workers' Party of Korea 01
Choe Ryong-hae [videos]
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Choe in October 2014
Cabinet of North Korea [videos]
The Cabinet of North Korea is, according to the Constitution of North Korea, the administrative and executive body and a general state-management organ in the Government of North Korea. The Cabinet's principal newspaper is Minju Choson. — History — In North Korea's first constitution …
The cabinet, headed by Kim Il-sung, visiting Moscow in 1949
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Image: Mansudae Assembly Hall
North Korean passport [videos]
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea passport is the passport which may be issued to citizens of North Korea, for international travel. Since the majority of North Koreans do not get opportunities to leave their country, DPRK passports are rarely issued. — History — North Korean passports …
North Korean Emergency Passport.
Visa requirements for North Korean citizens [videos]
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A Democratic People's Republic of Korea passport
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The original Museum of Fine Arts building in Copley Square.
Tenshin-en, the museum's Japanese garden
Cyrus Dallin's Appeal to the Great Spirit (1909) stands outside the museum's Huntington Avenue entrance.
Image: 2018 Museum of Fine Arts Boston Huntington Avenue facade from east
Museo del Prado [videos]
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Museo del Prado (Main wing)
In the main exhibition hall, first floor
Francisco Goya, La maja desnuda, oil on canvas, (circa 1797–1800)
Francisco Goya, La maja vestida, oil on canvas, (circa 1797–1800)
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Karl Benz. Benz made the 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen, which is widely regarded as the first automobile.
Gottlieb Daimler, founder of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft.
Mercedes-Benz dealer in Munich, Germany.
Mercedes-Benz A-Class (Subcompact executive hatchbacks and sedans)
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The Great Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza, built during the Old Kingdom.
Egyptian soldier of the Achaemenid army, circa 470 BCE. Xerxes I tomb relief.
The Greek Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra and her son by Julius Caesar, Caesarion, at the Dendera Temple complex.
Selim I (1470–1520), conquered Egypt
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Exhibitions in the West Building
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Walkway to West Building and Cascade Cafe in National Gallery of Art, Washington.D.C.
Dome of West Building, an entrance to permanent Renaissance Art collections
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Bugatti Type 13 Brescia Sport-Racing, 1922
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Royal Academy of Arts [videos]
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A 19th century illustration of the Royal Academy
Satirical drawing of Sir William Chambers, one of the founders, trying to slay the 8-headed hydra of the Incorporated Society of Artists
Study for Henry Singleton's painting The Royal Academicians assembled in their council chamber to adjudge the Medals to the successful students in Painting, Sculpture, Architecture and Drawing, which hangs in the Royal Academy. Ca. 1793.
An early RA Summer Exhibition at the Academy's original home in Somerset House
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Maguire at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival
Maguire greets fans at Spider-Man 3 premiere
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Image: Jessica Szohr at 2015 TCA