Source: Dailybhaskar.com

Aug 04, 2012

London: There is a grim stroy behind North Korea's 14th position in the points tally. The small Korean contingent has so far managed to clinch four gold medals (fifth highest).

According to Defected Korean athletes, the secret of North Korea's success in the Olympics lies in its policy of training them from a very young age at specialized schools, backed up by rewards like cars and refrigerators for winners.

However, the losers are subjected to labour camps were severe hardship and torture awaits them, the reports said.

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In a review meeting the lossing players are expelled from sports federation and assigned time in labor camps.
Defectors have described abysmal conditions and horrors such as torture, executions, and starvation. Human Rights Watch estimates about 200,000 people could be held in such camps, where prisoners are often forced to do "difficult physical labor such as mining, logging, and agricultural work ... with rudimentary tools in dangerous and harsh conditions."

The communist nation has 56 athletes competing in 11 sports. Its hopes for additional medals lie in boxing, wrestling, diving, table tennis, judo, and archery. The best Olympic result in the past was four gold medals and five bronzes in Barcelona 1992. That pride is exactly what the country's new 28 year-old leader Kim Jong Un is looking for. He has taken control of the impoverished nation of 25 million after his father Kim Jong Il passed away last December. Decades of famine have left many North Koreans bitter and analysts say this Olympic Games' fever is a perfect opportunity to generate loyalty and devotion among his subjects.

Human rights in North Korea are heavily restricted. Freedom of speech is forbidden, and the only radio, television, and news organizations that are deemed legal are those operated by the government. It is estimated that between 150,000 and 200,000 political prisoners are detained in concentration camps, where they perform slave labour and face torture and execution.

It is difficult to assess the full extent of human rights abuse in North Korea. The North Korean government makes it very difficult for foreigners to enter the country and strictly monitors their activities when they do. Aid workers are subject to considerable scrutiny and excluded from places and regions the government does not wish them to enter. Since citizens cannot freely leave the country, it is mainly from stories of refugees and defectors that the nation's human rights record has been constructed. The government's position, expressed through the Korean Central News Agency, is that North Korea has no human rights issue, because its socialist system was chosen by the people and serves them faithfully. According to North Korea, 'the "resolution on human rights" against the DPRK was railroaded through the 60th UN General Assembly due to the pressure and the lobbying operation of the U.S., Britain, Japan and other hostile forces. The "resolution" is peppered with lies and fabrications defaming the advantageous Korean-style socialist system centered on the popular masses.'

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