Aijalon Gomes was imprisoned for illegally crossing into North Korea from China in 2010 and sentenced to eight years of hard labour. Journalist Laura Ling, arrested for illegally entering North Korea, said she was first held in a small cell that was enveloped in total darkness when jailers closed slats on the doors. That appears similar to the forced labour that political prisoners must perform, said Francisco Bencosme, Asia Advocacy manager of Amnesty International USA. A United Nations Commission of Inquiry estimated in 2014 that between 80,000 and 120,000 political prisoners were being detained in four large prison camps. They asked Trump to urge North Korea to allow international observers to visit all prisons and forced labour camps.

Source: National Post May 10, 2018 21:22 UTC