North Korea
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- dictatorial communist state
- CONSTITUTION
- adopted in 1948, revised numerous times, most recently in 2009
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on the German, Japanese systems and inspired by communist legal doctrine
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- unicameral, Supreme People's Assembly (Ch'oego Inmin Hoeui)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Central Court, judges elected by the Supreme People's Assembly
RELIGIONS
majority Buddhist and Confucian; minority Christian and others
From the country
- JANUARY 8, 2004North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
Two ethnic Korean-Chinese people were executed by firing...
Two ethnic Korean-Chinese people were executed by firing squad and two others were sentenced to 25 years in prison
- OCTOBER 23, 2003North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
"The Hidden Gulag - Exposing North Korea's Prison Camps",...
"The Hidden Gulag - Exposing North Korea's Prison Camps", a report by the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, said that close to 200,000 political prisoners worked in conditions of slave labour and near-starvation in dozens of secret prison camp
- JULY 15, 2003North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
North Korean defector Soon Ok Lee, author of "Eyes...
North Korean defector Soon Ok Lee, author of "Eyes of the Tailless Animal: Prison Memoirs of a North Korean Woman," detailed her experiences at a National Endowment for Democracy (NED) conference
- JUNE 3, 2003North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
Some Chinese newspapers cited North Korean defectors...
Some Chinese newspapers cited North Korean defectors as saying that the famine in the country had gotten so bad that human flesh was being sold on the black market
- APRIL 16, 2003North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
The United Nations Human Rights Commission issued its...
The United Nations Human Rights Commission issued its first ever condemnation of North Korea, expressing "deep concern" at "systematic" rights abuses in the reclusive Communist state
- APRIL 16, 2003North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
The United Nations Human Rights Commission issued its...
The United Nations Human Rights Commission issued its first ever condemnation of North Korea, expressing "deep concern" at "systematic" rights abuses in the reclusive Communist state
- APRIL 9, 2003North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
Out of 78 North Koreans arrested in the attempt to...
Out of 78 North Koreans arrested in the attempt to escape from China to South Korea in January, 30 were handed over by the Chinese authorities to North Korean frontier guards
- FEBRUARY 6, 2003North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
"Back in the North, first-time escapees are mostly...
"Back in the North, first-time escapees are mostly set free; but repeaters are banished, often with their entire families, to Soviet-style concentration camps
- FEBRUARY 5, 2003North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
Norbert Vollertsen, in an editorial on the plight of...
Norbert Vollertsen, in an editorial on the plight of North Korean refugees, wrote: "I interviewed several hundred North Korean defectors in Seoul, as well as near the Chinese-North Korean border, plus in several other locations where they are hiding
- JANUARY 29, 2003North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
China reportedly forcibly repatriated to North Korea...
China reportedly forcibly repatriated to North Korea ten refugees arrested in China whilst attempting to reach South Korea and Japan by boat earlier in January
- JANUARY 21, 2003North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
North Koreans arrested by China while trying to escape...
North Koreans arrested by China while trying to escape by boat are likely to be jailed and could face death, their supporters said as Beijing warned aid groups away from helping the refugees
- JUNE 21, 2002North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
January 24-June 21, 2002: tens of thousands of political...
January 24-June 21, 2002: tens of thousands of political prisoners face starvation, torture and summary execution in prison camps in North Korea, according to the testimony of a prisoner to a US Senate inquiry