NORTH KOREA ENSLAVING POLITICAL PRISONERS TO FUND WEAPONS PROGRAMME

  • 24/02/2021

North Korea has been enslaving political prisoners, including children, in coal production to boost exports and earn foreign currency as part of a system directly linked to its nuclear and missile programmes, a South Korea-based human rights group said on Thursday.

The Seoul-based Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR) released a study analysing an intricate connection between North Korea's exploitation of its citizens, the production of goods for export, and its weapons programmes.

The report, titled "Blood Coal Export from North Korea: Pyramid scheme of earnings maintaining structures of power," said Pyongyang had been operating a "pyramid fraud-like" scheme to force those held in prison camps to produce quotas of coal and other goods for export.

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