Human rights conditions in North Korea continue to deteriorate, exacerbated by over two years of COVID-19 controls that have increased state control over the North Korean people, the U.N.’s DPRK human rights envoy has told NK News.

In an interview during his recent trip to Seoul, the U.N. special rapporteur for North Korean human rights Tomás Ojea Quintana sat down with NK News to discuss the current human rights situation in the DPRK, how sanctions impact human rights, the Moon Jae-in administration’s approach to civil society-level engagement on North Korea issues and what he hopes his successor will do to improve the lives of North Korean people.