NORTH KOREA. HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT CITES CONTINUED ABUSES IN COUNTRY INCLUDING EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS

one of the congressionally mandated 2004 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, released by the US Department of State, painted a grim picture of conditions in North Korea.
"The [government of North Korea's] human rights record remained extremely poor, and it continued to commit numerous serious abuses." The report cited accounts of arbitrary and extra-judicial killings, disappearances of North Korean citizens and abductions of foreign nationals, instances of forced abortion and infanticide in prisons and detention centers, and routine use of severe methods of torture.
According to the report, an estimated 150,000-200,000 persons were believed to be held in detention camps in remote areas for political reasons. Defectors claimed that the camps contained mass graves along with work sites and other prison facilities, the report said. Descriptions of starvation, forced labor and other harsh conditions were common.
"The Penal Code criminalizes defection and attempted defection, including the attempt to gain entry to a foreign embassy for the purpose of seeking political asylum," the report said, noting that would-be defectors and asylum seekers faced indefinite terms of imprisonment and forced labor, confiscation of property and even execution.