North Koreans survive by paying bribes

GENEVA (REUTERS) – North Koreans are forced to pay bribes to officials to survive in their isolated country, where corruption is “endemic” and repression rife, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday (May 28).

Officials across North Korea extort money from a population struggling to make ends meet, threatening them with detention and prosecution – particularly those working in the informal economy, it said in a report.

There was no immediate comment by Pyongyang, which was sent the UN report hours before publication.

Source: North Koreans survive by paying bribes: UN report, East Asia News & Top Stories – The Straits Times