Extract from ABC News
Orphans, conscripted soldiers and students, some appearing to be children, are "volunteering" to perform manual labour in North Korea, including in coal mines, according to state media.
Key points:
- KCNA says hundreds have volunteered to work on farms, in an iron and steel complex, in forestry and mines
- The US State Department has previously said North Korean children as young as 16 are subjected to hazardous work
- The United Nations says human rights abuses in North Korea have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic
According to reports by state news agency KCNA, hundreds of graduates of orphan schools had "volunteered to work in difficult fields".
The reports did not specify the orphans' ages, but said they had graduated from middle schools. Photos published in state newspapers showed youths who appeared to be in their teens.
On Saturday KCNA reported more than 700 orphans had volunteered to work on cooperative farms, an iron and steel complex, and in forestry, among other areas.
On Thursday, the agency reported about 150 graduates from three orphan schools had volunteered to work at coal mines and farms.
"[The graduates of orphan schools] volunteered to work in major worksites for socialist construction out of their will to glorify their youth in the struggle for the prosperity of the country," KCNA said.
Drastic measures taken by North Korea to contain COVID-19 have exacerbated human rights abuses and economic hardship for its citizens, including reports of starvation, the United Nations has said.
According to the 2020 US State Department report on human rights practices, in some cases children aged 16 and 17 were enrolled in military-style construction brigades for 10-year periods and subjected to long working hours and hazardous work.
"Students suffered from physical and psychological injuries, malnutrition, exhaustion, and growth deficiencies as a result of required forced labour," the report said, despite North Korean laws banning forced labour.
North Korea has denied reports of human rights abuses. It says the issues are politicised by its enemies.
In a letter to trade unions on Tuesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country had faced its "worst-ever difficulties" in recent years but its national strength and prestige had been enhanced by the "ennobling loyalty and heroic struggle of the workers" and others.
Recent state media reports have also described university students volunteering to work on major projects, and legions of "soldier-builders" from the country's conscript-filled military working in construction.
Reuters
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