This week, North Korean defectors told members of the UK Parliament about the dire human rights situation in their country. This was part of North Korean Defectors' Week in London, aimed at raising awareness of the numerous human rights abuses in North Korea.

 

Among the defectors was Kim Young Soon, who told of the appalling conditions of the Yodok concentration camp. Mrs. Kim spent nine years in Yodok, along with her parents and children. In the camp, she suffered from long work hours, malnutrition, and disease. By the time Mrs. Kim left the camp, her parents and her eight-year-old son had died from the harsh conditions. When recounting her story, Mrs. Kim states, “I have lived a life that cannot be told without tears.”

 

Today, more than 200,000 men, women, and children are imprisoned in the concentration camps, where systematic torture, starvation, and murder are daily occurrences and few are able to survive.

 

Source: The Huffington Post