A report, launched on 5 February in Parliament, revealed that the motivation for people defecting from North Korea has changed over time and that the regime is being gradually affected by pressures put upon it by the international community.
The report, Movies, Markets and Mass Surveillance: Human Rights in North Korea after a Decade of Change, is based on information directly provided to the report’s authors by over 100 respondents, including North Korean escapees. It examines changes in economic modes of survival, information flows from outside North Korea, defection patterns, freedom of expression and criticism of the state, and changes in human rights in law and practice.
People want freedom
One escapee said: ‘In the beginning, people defected because they were starving. They went to China to find food. But it is different now. For example, I was doing okay in North Korea. I could live. But more and more people want freedom, opportunities and hope.’
There is also anecdotal evidence that although the human rights situation remains one of the worst in the world, international condemnation is having an effect on the regime. But, in terms of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief in particular, there is absolutely no change, and any sign of any belief other than total devotion to the Kim family is severely punished.
