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North Korea's appalling human rights record is no secret. Following the death of Kim Jong-il
in 2011, any hope of improvement in the country was short-lived with the appointment of successor,
Kim Jong-un. The young dictator quickly became more ruthless than his father, inflicting
mass atrocities against his population. In September, a UN investigation revealed shocking
evidence from defectors who compared life in DPRK to that of the German-run concentration
camps in WWII. Prisoners in the gulags lucky enough to escape described atrocities including
witnessing a woman forced to drown her own baby in a bucket. 120,000 people are still
thought to be held in gulags. Public executions by firing squad have also continued at unprecedented
levels under Jong-un's rule, including the execution of the dictator's own uncle and
former girlfriend. The Security Council has been criticized for failing to refer the matter
to the International Criminal Court, a move that seems unlikely given North Korea's long
alliance with China.