Couples in North Korea who get divorced are being punished with up to six months of forced labour, according to a report.
Under Communist Party rule, couples in North Korea were previously banned from ending their marriage by mutual agreement.
Divorces could only be recognised by a court if it was persuaded that a spouse has ‘seriously betrayed’ their partner or the marriage cannot continue for some other reason, experts say.
It’s thought this later changed so that both parties had to agree to the divorce, even if one of them was being physically abused.
Dictator Kim Jong-un is said to have been infuriated after the rate of divorces tripled during the Covid pandemic.
He reportedly accused people seeking divorces of ‘bringing chaos into society, and being against the socialist lifestyle’.
In 2021, South Korea-based monitor Daily NK reported that individuals deemed to have ‘more fault in the divorce’ were being sent to military labour camps for up to six months.
Now, both members of a divorcing couple are punished in the same way for up to six months, according to US-based outlet Radio Free Asia.
Speaking anonymously, North Koreans told the outlet the punishment is dished out to both spouses even if physical abuse is involved.
‘I went to the Kimjongsuk County People’s Court … where 12 people received divorce decrees’, a resident of the northern province of Ryanggang told Radio Free Asia.
‘Immediately after the verdict, they were transferred to the county labor training camp.’
Even if both spouses want a divorce, whoever files reportedly gets more severely punished.
Combined with high rates of physical abuse committed by husbands, this means about twice as many women as men are in labour camps for divorcing, sources told the outlet.
My brother also divorced after three years of marriage’, one woman said. ‘His wife first submitted a divorce application to the court and received a divorce ruling.
‘She was sent to labor camp for six months, while he has to do one month.’
Previous reports indicate the Communist Party was targeting women with propaganda campaigns aimed at putting them off divorce.
Methods included publicly shaming the parents of divorcees as well as their managers at work.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
