Human Rights Report

The new Department of State human rights report on North Korea is here. Given the paucity of information, it’s a running year-by-year tally, noting changes when they have occurred, which are seldom much for the better.

One significant stat is that the State Department believes there are now no more than 30-50,000 North Koreans in China, and that this is at least partially the result of a Chinese crackdown. It could also be true that the estimate of 300,000 was inflated, but it’s also possible that a large numbers have been sent back, driven underground to where they’re not counted, or forced to flee back across the border before they were caught.