Human rights in North Korea are severely limited. International human rights organizations assess North Korea as a category of its own with no parallel in the contemporary worldwhen it comes to human rights violations.Despite numerous rights being enshrined in the country's constitution, in practice there is no right to free speech, and the only radio, television, music and news providers that are deemed legal are those operated by the government.Based on defectors' testimonies, an estimated 150,000–200,000 prisoners are incarcerated in various prison camps, including camps that are dedicated to political crimes, and are subject to forced labour, physical abuse and execution.
The North Korean government makes it very difficult for foreigners to enter the country for purposes other than tourism and it strictly monitors their activities when they do. Aid workers are subject to considerable scrutiny and are 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 international criticism of its human rights record is a pretext for overthrowing its Juche-based socialist system, while the abuses of its critics go unpunished.