Kim Jong Un
General Secretary of the Workers' Party and President of the State Affairs

Kim Tok Hun
Premier of the Cabinet

Choe Ryong-hae
Chairman of the SPA Standing Committee and First Vice President of the SAC

North Korea functions as a highly centralized, one-party totalitarian dictatorship.^[92]^[93]^[94]^[95] According to its constitution, it is a self-described revolutionary and socialist state "guided in its building and activities only by great Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism".^[96] In addition to the constitution, North Korea is governed by the Ten Principles for the Establishment of a Monolithic Ideological System (also known as the "Ten Principles of the One-Ideology System") which establishes standards for governance and a guide for the behaviors of North Koreans.^[97] The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), a communist party led by a member of the Kim family,^[98]^[99] has an estimated 6.5 million members^[100] and is in control of North Korean politics. It has two satellite parties, the Korean Social Democratic Party and the Chondoist Chongu Party.^[101]

Kim Jong Un of the Kim family is the current Supreme Leader or Suryeong of North Korea.^[102] He heads all major governing structures: he is the general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs.^[103]^[104] His grandfather Kim Il Sung, the founder and leader of North Korea until his death in 1994, is the country's "eternal President",^[105] while his father Kim Jong Il who succeeded Kim Il Sung as the leader was announced "Eternal General Secretary" and "Eternal Chairman of the National Defence Commission" after his death in 2011.^[103]

According to the constitution, there are officially three main branches of government. The first of these is the State Affairs Commission (SAC), which acts as "the supreme national guidance organ of state sovereignty".^[106]^[107] Its role is to deliberate and decide the work on defense building of the State, including major policies of the State, and to carry out the directions of the president of the commission, Kim Jong Un.^[108] The SAC also directly supervises the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Social Security.^[108]

Thumb — Mansudae Assembly Hall, seat of the Supreme People's Assembly

Legislative power is held by the unicameral Supreme People's Assembly (SPA).^[109] Its 687 members are elected every five years by universal suffrage,^[110] though the elections have been described by outside observers as similar to elections in the Soviet Union.^[111]^[112] Elections in North Korea have also been described as a form of government census, due to the near 100% turnout. Although the elections are not pluralistic, North Korean state media describes the elections as "an expression of the absolute support and trust of all voters in the DPRK government".^[113]^[114] Supreme People's Assembly sessions are convened by the SPA Standing Committee, whose Chairman (Choe Ryong-hae since 2019) is the third-ranking official in North Korea.^[115] Deputies formally elect the chairman, the vice chairpersons and members of the Standing Committee and take part in the constitutionally appointed activities of the legislature: pass laws, establish domestic and foreign policies, appoint members of the cabinet, review and approve the state economic plan, among others.^[116] The SPA itself cannot initiate any legislation independently of party or state organs. It is unknown whether it has ever criticized or amended bills placed before it, and the elections are based around a single list of WPK-approved candidates who stand without opposition.^[117]

Executive power is vested in the Cabinet of North Korea, which has been headed by Premier Kim Tok Hun since 14 August 2020,^[118] who's officially the second-ranking official after Kim Jong Un.^[115] The Premier represents the government and functions independently. His authority extends over two vice premiers, 30 ministers, two cabinet commission chairmen, the cabinet chief secretary, the president of the Central Bank, the director of the Central Bureau of Statistics and the president of the Academy of Sciences.^[119]

North Korea, like its southern counterpart, claims to be the legitimate government of the entire Korean Peninsula and adjacent islands.^[120] Despite its official title as the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea", some observers have described North Korea's political system as a "hereditary dictatorship".^[121]^[122]^[123] It has also been described as a Stalinist dictatorship.^[124]^[125]^[126]^[127]

Political ideology

Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism is the official ideology of North Korea and the WPK, and is the cornerstone of party works and government operations.^[96] Juche, part of the larger Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism along with Songun under Kim Jong Un,^[128] is viewed by the official North Korean line as an embodiment of Kim Il Sung's wisdom, an expression of his leadership, and an idea which provides "a complete answer to any question that arises in the struggle for national liberation".^[129] Juche was pronounced in December 1955 in a speech called On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work in order to emphasize a Korea-centered revolution.^[129] Its core tenets are economic self-sufficiency, military self-reliance and an independent foreign policy. The roots of Juche were made up of a complex mixture of factors, including the popularity of Kim Il Sung, the conflict with pro-Soviet and pro-Chinese dissenters, and Korea's centuries-long struggle for independence.^[130] Juche was introduced into the constitution in 1972.^[131]^[132]

Juche was initially promoted as a "creative application" of Marxism–Leninism, but in the mid-1970s, it was described by state propaganda as "the only scientific thought... and most effective revolutionary theoretical structure that leads to the future of communist society".^{[citation needed]} Juche eventually replaced Marxism–Leninism entirely by the 1980s,^[133] and in 1992 references to the latter were omitted from the constitution.^[134] The 2009 constitution dropped references to communism and elevated the Songun military first policy while explicitly confirming the position of Kim Jong Il.^[135] However, the constitution retains references to socialism.^[136] The WPK reasserted its commitment to communism in 2021.^[137] Juche's concepts of self-reliance have evolved with time and circumstances, but still provide the groundwork for the spartan austerity, sacrifice, and discipline demanded by the party.^[138] Scholar Brian Reynolds Myers views North Korea's actual ideology as a Korean ethnic nationalism similar to statism in Shōwa Japan and European fascism.^[139]^[140]^[141]

Kim family

Thumb — North Korean citizens paying respect to the statues of Kim Il Sung (left) and Kim Jong Il at the Mansudae Grand Monument

Since the founding of the nation, North Korea's supreme leadership has stayed within the Kim family, which in North Korea is referred to as the Mount Paektu Bloodline. It is a three-generation lineage descending from the country's first leader, Kim Il Sung, who developed North Korea around the Juche ideology, and stayed in power until his death.^[142] Kim developed a cult of personality closely tied to the state philosophy of Juche, which was later passed on to his successors: his son Kim Jong Il in 1994 and grandson Kim Jong Un in 2011. In 2013, Clause 2 of Article 10 of the newly edited Ten Fundamental Principles of the Workers' Party of Korea stated that the party and revolution must be carried "eternally" by the "Mount Paektu Bloodline".^[143]

According to New Focus International, the cult of personality, particularly surrounding Kim Il Sung, has been crucial for legitimizing the family's hereditary succession.^[144] The control the North Korean government exercises over many aspects of the nation's culture is used to perpetuate the cult of personality surrounding Kim Il Sung,^[145] and Kim Jong Il.^[146] While visiting North Korea in 1979, journalist Bradley Martin wrote that nearly all music, art, and sculpture that he observed glorified "Great Leader" Kim Il Sung, whose personality cult was then being extended to his son, "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il.^[147]

Claims that the family has been deified are contested by B. R. Myers: "Divine powers have never been attributed to either of the two Kims. In fact, the propaganda apparatus in Pyongyang has generally been careful not to make claims that run directly counter to citizens' experience or common sense."^[148] He further explains that the state propaganda painted Kim Jong Il as someone whose expertise lay in military matters and that the famine of the 1990s was partially caused by natural disasters out of Kim Jong Il's control.^[149]

The song "No Motherland Without You", sung by the North Korean army choir, was created especially for Kim Jong Il and is one of the most popular tunes in the country. Kim Il Sung is still officially revered as the nation's "Eternal President". Several landmarks in North Korea are named for Kim Il Sung, including Kim Il Sung University, Kim Il Sung Stadium, and Kim Il Sung Square. Defectors have been quoted as saying that North Korean schools deify both father and son.^[150] Kim Il Sung rejected the notion that he had created a cult around himself and accused those who suggested this of "factionalism".^[151] Following the death of Kim Il Sung, North Koreans were prostrating and weeping to a bronze statue of him in an organized event;^[152] similar scenes were broadcast by state television following the death of Kim Jong Il.^[153]

Critics maintain that Kim Jong Il's personality cult was inherited from his father. Kim Jong Il was often the center of attention throughout ordinary life. His birthday is one of the most important public holidays in the country. On his 60th birthday (based on his official date of birth), mass celebrations occurred throughout the country.^[154] Kim Jong Il's personality cult, although significant, was not as extensive as his father's. One point of view is that Kim Jong Il's cult of personality was solely out of respect for Kim Il Sung or out of fear of punishment for failure to pay homage,^[155] while North Korean government sources consider it genuine hero worship.^[156]

Administrative divisions

More information Map, Name ...

Map	Name	Chosŏn'gŭl	Administrative seat
Pyongyang Rason Nampo South Pyongan North Hwanghae South Hwanghae Kangwon South Hamgyong North Hamgyong Ryanggang Chagang North Pyongan Kaesong China South Korea Yellow Sea (Korea West Sea) Korea Bay Sea of Japan (Korea East Sea)	Directly-governed city (직할시)
	Pyongyang	평양	Chung-guyok
	Special-level city (특별시)
	Kaesong	개성	Kaesong
	Special cities (특별시)
	Rason	라선	Rajin-guyok
	Nampo	남포	Waudo-guyok
	Provinces (도)
	South Pyongan	평안남도	Pyongsong
	North Pyongan	평안북도	Sinuiju
	Chagang	자강도	Kanggye
	South Hwanghae	황해남도	Haeju
	North Hwanghae	황해북도	Sariwon
	Kangwon	강원도	Wonsan
	South Hamgyong	함경남도	Hamhung
	North Hamgyong	함경북도	Chongjin
	Ryanggang	량강도	Hyesan

Close

Foreign relations

As a result of its isolation, North Korea is sometimes known as the "hermit kingdom", a term that originally referred to the isolationism in the latter part of the Joseon Dynasty.^[157] Initially, North Korea had diplomatic ties only with other communist countries, and even today, most of the foreign embassies accredited to North Korea are located in Beijing rather than in Pyongyang.^[158] In the 1960s and 1970s, it pursued an independent foreign policy, established relations with many developing countries, and joined the Non-Aligned Movement. In the late 1980s and the 1990s its foreign policy was thrown into turmoil with the collapse of the Soviet Bloc. Suffering an economic crisis, it closed a number of its embassies. At the same time, North Korea sought to build relations with developed free market countries.^[159]

North Korea joined the United Nations in 1991 together with South Korea. North Korea is also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, G77 and the ASEAN Regional Forum.^[160] As of 2015^[update], North Korea had diplomatic relations with 166 countries and embassies in 47 countries.^[159] North Korea does not have diplomatic relations with Argentina, Botswana,^[161] Estonia, France,^[162] Iraq, Israel, Japan, Taiwan,^[163] the United States,^{[lower-alpha 7]} and Ukraine.^[164]^[165]^[166] Germany is unusual in maintaining a North Korean embassy. German Ambassador Friedrich Lohr says most of his time in North Korea involved facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid and agricultural assistance to a population plagued by food shortages.^[167]

North Korea enjoys a close relationship with China which is often called North Korea's closest ally.^[168]^[169] Relations were strained beginning in 2006 because of China's concerns about North Korea's nuclear program.^[170] Relations improved after Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese President visited North Korea in April 2019.^[171] North Korea continues to have strong ties with several Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia,^[172] and Indonesia. Relations with Malaysia were strained in 2017 by the assassination of Kim Jong-nam. North Korea has a close relationship with Russia and has voiced support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[173]^[174]

North Korea was previously designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S.^[175] because of its alleged involvement in the 1983 Rangoon bombing and the 1987 bombing of a South Korean airliner.^[176] On 11 October 2008, the United States removed North Korea from its list of states that sponsor terrorism after Pyongyang agreed to cooperate on issues related to its nuclear program.^[177] North Korea was re-designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. under the administration of Donald Trump on 20 November 2017 after continued nuclear tests.^[178] The kidnapping of at least 13 Japanese citizens by North Korean agents in the 1970s and the 1980s has had a detrimental effect on North Korea's relationship with Japan.^[179]

US President Trump met with Kim in Singapore on 12 June 2018. An agreement was signed between the two countries endorsing the 2017 Panmunjom Declaration signed by North and South Korea, pledging to work towards denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.^[180] They met in Hanoi from 27 to 28 February 2019, but failed to achieve an agreement.^[181] On 30 June 2019, Trump met with Kim along with South Korean president Moon Jae-in at the Korean DMZ.^[182]

South Korea

The Korean Demilitarized Zone with South Korea remains the most heavily fortified border in the world.^[183]^[184] Inter-Korean relations are at the core of North Korean diplomacy and have seen numerous shifts in the last few decades. North Korea's policy is to seek reunification without what it sees as outside interference, through a federal structure retaining each side's leadership and systems. In 1972, the two Koreas agreed in principle to achieve reunification through peaceful means and without foreign interference.^[185] On 10 October 1980, the then North Korean leader Kim Il Sung proposed a federation between North and South Korea named the Democratic Federal Republic of Korea in which the respective political systems would initially remain.^[186] However, relations remained cool well until the early 1990s, with a brief period in the early 1980s when North Korea offered to provide flood relief to its southern neighbor.^[187] Although the offer was initially welcomed, talks over how to deliver the relief goods broke down and none of the promised aid ever crossed the border.^[188] The two countries also organized a reunion of 92 separated families.^[189]

The Sunshine Policy instituted by South Korean president Kim Dae-jung in 1998 was a watershed in inter-Korean relations. It encouraged other countries to engage with the North, which allowed Pyongyang to normalize relations with a number of European Union states and contributed to the establishment of joint North-South economic projects. The culmination of the Sunshine Policy was the 2000 inter-Korean summit, when Kim Dae-jung visited Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang.^[190] Both North and South Korea signed the June 15th North–South Joint Declaration, in which both sides promised to seek peaceful reunification.^[191] On 4 October 2007, South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong Il signed an eight-point peace agreement.^[192] However, relations worsened when South Korean president Lee Myung-bak adopted a more hard-line approach and suspended aid deliveries pending the de-nuclearization of the North. In 2009, North Korea responded by ending all of its previous agreements with the South.^[193] It deployed additional ballistic missiles^[194] and placed its military on full combat alert after South Korea, Japan and the United States threatened to intercept a Unha-2 space launch vehicle.^[195] The next few years witnessed a string of hostilities, including the alleged North Korean involvement in the sinking of South Korean warship Cheonan,^[71] mutual ending of diplomatic ties,^[196] a North Korean artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island,^[197] and growing international concern over North Korea's nuclear program.^[198]

In May 2017, Moon Jae-in was elected president of South Korea with a promise to return to the Sunshine Policy.^[199] In February 2018, a détente developed at the Winter Olympics held in South Korea.^[78] In April, South Korean president Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un met at the DMZ, and, in the Panmunjom Declaration, pledged to work for peace and nuclear disarmament.^[200] In September, at a joint news conference in Pyongyang, Moon and Kim agreed upon turning the Korean Peninsula into a "land of peace without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats".^[201]

In January 2024, North Korea officially announced through its leader Kim Jong Un that it would no longer seek reunification with South Korea. Kim instead called for "completely occupying, subjugating and reclaiming" South Korea if war breaks out.^[202] Kim Jong Un also announced to the Supreme People's Assembly that the constitution should be changed such that South Korea would be considered the "primary foe and invariable principal enemy" of North Korea.^[203] Additionally, government agencies tasked with promoting reunification were closed.^[204]

Military

The North Korean armed forces, or the Korean People's Army (KPA), is estimated to comprise 1,280,000 active and 6,300,000 reserve and paramilitary troops, making it one of the largest military institutions in the world.^[205] With an active duty army consisting of 4.9% of its population, North Korea maintains the fourth largest active military force in the world behind China, India and the United States.^[206] About 20 percent of men aged 17–54 serve in the regular armed forces,^[206] and approximately one in every 25 citizens is an enlisted soldier.^[207]^[208]

The KPA is divided into five branches: Ground Force, Navy, Air and Anti-Air Force, Special Operations Force, and Rocket Force. Command of the KPA lies in both the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea and the independent State Affairs Commission, which controls the Ministry of Defence.^[209]

Of all the KPA's branches, the Ground Force is the largest, comprising approximately one million personnel divided into 80 infantry divisions, 30 artillery brigades, 25 special warfare brigades, 20 mechanized brigades, 10 tank brigades and seven tank regiments.^[210] It is equipped with 3,700 tanks, 2,100 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles,^[211] 17,900 artillery pieces, 11,000 anti-aircraft guns^[212] and some 10,000 MANPADS and anti-tank guided missiles.^[213] The Air Force is estimated to possess around 1,600 aircraft (with between 545 – 810 serving combat roles), while the Navy operates approximately 800 vessels, including the largest submarine fleet in the world.^[205]^[214] The KPA's Special Operation Force is also the world's largest special forces unit.^[214]

North Korea is a nuclear-armed state,^[207]^[215] though the nature and strength of the country's arsenal is uncertain. As of September 2023^[update], estimates of its size ranged between 40 and 116 assembled nuclear warheads.^[216] Delivery capabilities^[217] are provided by the Rocket Force, which has some 1,000 ballistic missiles with a range of up to 11,900 km (7,400 mi).^[218]

According to a 2004 South Korean assessment, North Korea also possesses a stockpile of chemical weapons estimated to amount to between 2,500 and 5,000 tons, including nerve, blister, blood, and vomiting agents, as well as the ability to cultivate and produce biological weapons including anthrax, smallpox, and cholera.^[219]^[220] As a result of its nuclear and missile tests, North Korea has been sanctioned under United Nations Security Council resolutions 1695 of July 2006, 1718 of October 2006, 1874 of June 2009, 2087 of January 2013,^[221] and 2397 in December 2017.

The sale of weapons to North Korea by other states is prohibited by UN sanctions, and the KPA's conventional capabilities are limited by a number of factors including obsolete equipment, insufficient fuel supplies and a shortage of digital command and control assets. To compensate for these deficiencies, the KPA has deployed a wide range of asymmetric warfare technologies including anti-personnel blinding lasers,^[222] GPS jammers,^[223] midget submarines and human torpedoes,^[224] stealth paint,^[225] and cyberwarfare units.^[226] In 2015, North Korea was reported to employ 6,000 sophisticated computer security personnel in a cyberwarfare unit operating out of China.^[227] KPA units were blamed for the 2014 Sony Pictures hack^[227] and have allegedly attempted to jam South Korean military satellites.^[228]

Much of the equipment in use by the KPA is engineered and manufactured by the domestic defense industry. Weapons are manufactured in roughly 1,800 underground defense industry plants scattered throughout the country, most of them located in Chagang Province.^[229] The defense industry is capable of producing a full range of individual and crew-operated weapons, artillery, armored vehicles, tanks, missiles, helicopters, submarines, landing and infiltration craft and Yak-18 trainers, and may even have limited jet aircraft manufacturing capacity.^[230] According to North Korean state media, military expenditure amounted to 15.8 percent of the state budget in 2010.^[231] The U.S. State Department has estimated that North Korea's military spending averaged 23% of its GDP from 2004 to 2014, the highest level in the world.^[232] North Korea successfully tested a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile on 19 October 2021.^[233]

Law enforcement and internal security

North Korea has a civil law system based on the Prussian model and influenced by Japanese traditions and communist legal theory.^[234] Judiciary procedures are handled by the Central Court (the highest court of appeal), provincial or special city-level courts, people's courts, and special courts. People's courts are at the lowest level of the system and operate in cities, counties and urban districts, while different kinds of special courts handle cases related to military, railroad, or maritime matters.^[235]

Judges are elected by their respective local people's assemblies, but this vote tends to be overruled by the Workers' Party of Korea. The penal code is based on the principle of nullum crimen sine lege (no crime without a law), but remains a tool for political control despite several amendments reducing ideological influence.^[235] Courts carry out legal procedures related to not only criminal and civil matters, but also political cases as well.^[236] Political prisoners are sent to labor camps, while criminal offenders are incarcerated in a separate system.^[237]

The Ministry of Social Security maintains most law enforcement activities. It is one of the most powerful state institutions in North Korea and oversees the national police force, investigates criminal cases and manages non-political correctional facilities.^[238] It handles other aspects of domestic security like civil registration, traffic control, fire departments and railroad security.^[239] The Ministry of State Security was separated from the Ministry of Public Security in 1973 to conduct domestic and foreign intelligence, counterintelligence and manage the political prison system. Political camps can be short-term reeducation zones or "kwalliso" (total control zones) for lifetime detention.^[240] Camp 15 in Yodok^[241] and Camp 18 in Pukchang^[242] have been described in detailed testimonies.^[243]

The security apparatus is extensive,^[230] exerting strict control over residence, travel, employment, clothing, food and family life.^[244] Security forces employ mass surveillance. It is believed they tightly monitor cellular and digital communications.^[245]

Human rights

A map of political prison camps in North Korea. An estimated 40% of prisoners die of malnutrition.^[246]

The state of human rights in North Korea has been widely condemned. A 2014 UN inquiry into the DPRK's human rights record found evidence for "systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations" and stated that "the gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world",^[247] with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch holding similar views.^[248]^[249]^[250] North Koreans have been referred to as "some of the world's most brutalized people" by Human Rights Watch, because of the severe restrictions placed on their political and economic freedoms.^[249]^[250] The North Korean population is strictly managed by the state and all aspects of daily life are subordinated to party and state planning. According to US government reports, employment is managed by the party on the basis of political reliability, and travel is tightly controlled by the Ministry of People's Security.^[251] The US State Department says that North Koreans do not have a choice in the jobs they work and are not free to change jobs at will.^[252]

There are restrictions on the freedom of association, expression and movement; arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment result in death and execution.^[253] Citizens in North Korea are generally not permitted to leave the country^[254] at will and its government denies access to UN human rights observers.^[255]

The Ministry of State Security extrajudicially apprehends and imprisons those accused of political crimes without due process.^[256] People perceived as hostile to the government, such as Christians or critics of the leadership,^[257] are deported to labor camps without trial,^[258] often with their whole family and mostly without any chance of being released.^[259] Forced labor is part of an established system of political repression.^[252]

Based on satellite images and defector testimonies, an estimated 200,000 prisoners are held in six large prison camps,^[257]^[260] where they are made to work to right their wrongdoings.^[261] Supporters of the government who deviate from the government line are subject to reeducation in sections of labor camps set aside for that purpose. Those who are deemed politically rehabilitated may reassume responsible government positions on their release.^[262]

The United Nations Commission of Inquiry has accused North Korea of crimes against humanity.^[263]^[264]^[265] The International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK) estimates that over 10,000 people die in North Korean prison camps every year.^[266]

With 1,100,000 people in modern slavery (via forced labor), North Korea is ranked highest in the world in terms of the percentage of population in modern slavery, with 10.4 percent enslaved according to the Walk Free's 2018 Global Slavery Index.^[267]^[268] North Korea is the only country in the world that has not explicitly criminalized any form of modern slavery.^[269] A United Nations report listed slavery among the crimes against humanity occurring in North Korea.^[270]

According to the US State Department, the North Korean government does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so.^[252] North Korea has trafficked thousands of its own citizens allegedly as forced laborers to Russia,^[271] Poland,^[272] Malaysia,^[273] various parts of Africa^[274] and the Persian Gulf^[275] where most of the laborers' earnings are pocketed by Pyongyang.^[276]

The North Korean government rejects the human rights abuse claims,^[277]^[278]^[279] calling them a smear campaign and a human rights racket made to topple the government.^[280]^[281]^[282] In a 2014 report to the UN, North Korea dismissed accusations of atrocities as wild rumors.^[277] The official state media, KCNA, responded with an article that included homophobic insults against the author of the human rights report, Michael Kirby, calling him "a disgusting old lecher with a 40-odd-year-long career of homosexuality ... This practice can never be found in the DPRK boasting of the sound mentality and good morals ... In fact, it is ridiculous for such gay [sic] to sponsor dealing with others' human rights issue."^[278]^[279] The government, however, admitted some human rights issues related to living conditions and stated that it is working to improve them.^[282]