North Korean state media claim that orphans voluntarily offer to work in state mines and farms.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said hundreds of children “with wisdom and courage in their prime” had chosen to do manual labor for the state. Their age is unclear, but the photos suggest that they are teenagers, writes the BBC.
Human rights groups have long accused North Korea of using forced child labor, something the state denies.
In February, the BBC reported that generations of South Korean prisoners of war were being used for slave labor in North Korean coal mines to generate money for the regime and its weapons program.
It is estimated that about 26 million people live in North Korea, which is governed by a government with strict control over all parts of people’s lives.
In April, leader Kim Jong Un warned his country to prepare for the difficult times ahead. North Korea closed its borders in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, halting trade with China, its economic lifeline.
Several state media reports over the past week say so-called volunteers are doing manual labor across the country.
On Saturday, a KCNA report said 700 orphans had volunteered to work in factories, farms and forests.
And on Thursday, KCNA reported that “dozens of orphaned children rushed to the Chonae coal mining complex to fulfill their oath to pay back even a millionth of the party’s love for them.”
The US State Department’s 2020 report on human rights practices accused North Korea of practicing “the worst forms of child labor exploitation.”
NEW: North Korea is claiming its children have “volunteered” to work in coal mines:
-Human rights groups have long accused the DPRK of forced child labor
-State media says orphans are “repaying” the party’s love
-Ceremony of children before work shownhttps://t.co/e0Hq7Ybnzi pic.twitter.com/7Iuoogf5c6— NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) May 28, 2021
According to the report, employees sometimes send students to work, “to help implement special projects, such as snow clearing on major roads or achieving production goals.”
It is also said that children between the ages of 16 or 17 “were included in youth military-style construction brigades for 10 years” and suffered from “physical and psychological injuries, malnutrition, exhaustion and growth deficits as a result. of the necessary forced labor “.
North Korea has repeatedly denied the allegations. Earlier this month, the country accused US President Joe Biden of “hostile policy” towards North Korea as it prepares to publish a new US strategy to deal with Pyongyang and its nuclear program.
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