SW News: The UN human rights chief said on Thursday that the severe, widespread, and long-standing crimes against North Koreans by their own government cannot be seen in isolation from larger peace and security challenges on the Peninsula.

Volker Türk briefed the UN Security Council on a number of human rights violations, noting that many of them stem directly from, or support, the increasing militarization of the country.

His claim was supported by UN independent human rights expert Elizabeth Salmón, who informed ambassadors that North Korean authorities frequently ordered people to tighten their belts to the point of starvation in some cases so that the available resources could be used to fund the government.

High Commissioner Türk explained how Pyongyang's need to build weapons is supported by the widespread use of forced labor, notably in political prison camps, minors who are made to harvest crops, and the seizure of foreign workers' earnings.

Following the nation’s fourth intercontinental ballistic missile launch of the year, the Council convened a month ago to discuss the alarming and unsustainable situation on the Peninsula, which also affects neighboring nations like Japan.

He said North Korea has been painfully closed to the outside world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Turk called for accountability for victims of rights abuses both through the International Criminal Court and by truth-telling and reparations programs.

Turk claimed that thousands of North Koreans face the danger of being forcibly sent home, where they might be subjected to torture and indefinite confinement. He encouraged all states to provide them with the necessary protections and humanitarian support instead of exiling their citizens.

“Sustainable peace can only be built by advancing human rights, and its corollaries: reconciliation, inclusion, and justice,” he concluded.