James Heenan is the head of the UN's Human Rights Office in Seoul. He talks about a report just published by UN Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) since 2014. The report is based in part on interviews with more than 300 victims and witnesses who escaped the country after 2014. In this Q&A, Heenan talks about the increased use in the country of the death penalty, enforced disappearances, political prison camps, and hunger. Heenan also mentions the work and impact of our Office in Seoul.

What is the human rights situation in DPRK?

The conclusion of the report is that the overall situation has not improved since 2014, when the Commission of Inquiry published its report on human rights in the DPRK, and in many instances, the situation has degraded. One key concern is the increase in both executions and the number of crimes for which you can be executed, in contravention of international law. We also see increasing repression, which has accelerated in the past five years. Now you can not only be sent to prison just for watching foreign media, but in some cases, you can be executed for watching and distributing it. We're also concerned about the existence of political prison camps, which have been there for many decades. These institutions are a total anomaly in 2025, and the report calls for their immediate closure. The report concludes that no other population is under such restrictions in today’s world.

What can you say about enforced disappearances in the country?

The DPRK is responsible for the enforced disappearance of over 100,000 people going back decades, including its own nationals, nationals of the Republic of Korea and other foreign nationals, notably from Japan. There's been no information given as to the fate of these individuals. This is a tragedy, particularly because most of the disappeared, their families and even the direct perpetrators are all now of a very advanced age.

The report talks about chronic food insecurity. How serious is it?

Almost all the people from the DPRK that the Office interviewed for this report mentioned hunger, sometimes bordering on starvation. Many of them also said that they had witnessed people starving to death, particularly during the COVID period. This is a chronic situation that the Government publicly recognizes, but it continues. Those in rural areas suffer more, as do other groups such as those in detention.

Have you recorded any positive developments?

We have recorded isolated positive developments. Escapees have told us of some small improvements in the treatment of some detainees and that some guards seem to be aware of human rights standards. The legal framework also appears to have been strengthened, with new laws in the last five years that — in theory — can provide more human rights protection, but the issue is whether they are being implemented. Another example is the huge number of new housing units built by the Government, which is welcome. However, the way housing projects have been implemented in the past has raised issues of forced eviction, forced labour and discrimination.

How do you monitor human rights in a context like DPRK?

We rely on first-hand testimonies from victims and witnesses: the thousands of people who have left the DPRK for other countries. We also use information published by the Government of the DPRK, as well as other open-source data such as satellite images. We use other sources, such as information from civil society organizations, to corroborate what we hear. For this report, the Office interviewed 314 victims and witnesses who left the country after 2014. We located these people with the help of our partners, including civil society.