World leaders often speak of "the threat posed by North Korea," but rarely do they address the entirety of that threat. Typically, they focus on Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, its armed forces and the prospect of a military confrontation on the Korean Peninsula that could become a nuclear conflagration. On occasion, the country's growing cyber capabilities, its illicit arms sales or its counterfeiting operations are denounced.
In recent months, far less frequently has attention been paid to the extraordinary human rights abuses that occur in North Korea or the government's disrespect for international law. That is why the recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on North Korea is so important: It reminds the world of the systemic repression of rights by the Pyongyang government.
The report is based on interviews with 54 North Koreans who left the country after 2011 and eight former North Korean officials who fled the country. It concluded that sexual and gender-based violence is "endemic in North Korea." It notes that "unwanted sexual contact and violence ... has come to be accepted as part of ordinary life: Sexual abuse by officials, and the impunity they enjoy, is linked to larger patterns of sexual abuse and impunity in the country."