UN: North Korea is increasing repression as people are reportedly starving in parts of the country

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. rights chief says North Korea is increasing its repression of human rights and people are becoming more desperate and reportedly starving in parts of the country as the economic situation worsens. Volker Türk spoke Thursday at the first U.N. Security Council open meeting on North Korean human rights since 2017. He said while in the past its people have endured periods of severe economic difficulty and repression — “currently they appear to be suffering both.” He said: “According to our information, people are becoming increasingly desperate as informal markets and other coping mechanisms are dismantled — while their fear of state surveillance, arrest, interrogation and detention has increased.” North Korea had called the planned meeting “despicable.”