South Korea to carry out 1st probe into forced labor in North Korea

A person visits an exhibition displaying the 2023 North Korean Human Rights Report in Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul on May 26. [YONHAP]

South Korea will conduct its first in-depth probe into forced labor issues in North Korea by interviewing defectors who fled to the South over the past five years.

The Center for North Korean Human Rights Records will meet with defectors through the end of the year to learn details of the forced labor practices taking place at North Korea's detention facilities, schools and various social organizations, those familiar with the matter said Sunday.

The inquiry by the center affiliated with the unification ministry will look into changes in forced labor practices before and after the launch of the Kim Jong-un regime and the relevant laws and systems of forced labor. Kim took over North Korea in 2011 after the sudden death of his father and longtime leader, Kim Jong-il.

The results will not be disclosed to the public and will only be used by the government to draw up North Korean human rights policies.

Last year, the unification ministry conducted an in-depth inquiry into women's rights and labor rights in North Korea.

In 2014, the UN Commission of Inquiry issued a report after a yearlong probe that stated North Korean leaders are responsible for "widespread, systematic and gross" human rights violations.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO, YONHAP [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]