S. Korea to release report on N. Korea's economic, social situations for 1st time

Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, left, and Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup talk before a cabinet meeting at the presidential office building in Seoul, May 2. Yonhap

South Korea's unification ministry said Tuesday it plans to publish a report on economic and social situations in North Korea for the first time in November to help better understand people's lives in the secretive regime.

The report will include statistical analysis on social and demographic features in North Korea, and show changes in the North's economic and social situations, based on testimonies from the North's defectors, according to the ministry.

Since 2010, the government has collected in-depth information about North Koreans' economic and social activities from around 6,000 North Korean defectors. The ministry has compiled related reports but not made them public so far.

The government will also seek to release an English version of the report for foreign readers.

In late March, the ministry publicly released a report on North Korea's human rights situations for the first time, highlighting widespread rights abuses, such as public executions and torture.

President Yoon Suk Yeol has stressed the need for letting the international community get to know about the dismal rights and living conditions facing North Koreans, as he has taken a hard-line stance against the North. (Yonhap)