The Wall Street Journal | 060418
Torture and starvation in political prison camps, public executions and forced abortions persist
Early in the reign of North Korea’s current supreme leader, merchant Kim Young-hee shared a flea-infested prison cell for a year with more than two dozen other women, enduring regular whippings from guards. Her crime was helping her sister’s child flee one of the world’s most repressive dictatorships.
Conditions have only grown harder. Kim Jong Un, the nation’s third-generation dictator, has tightened border controls to prevent escapes since taking power at the end of 2011. Those caught risk prolonged imprisonment.