S. Korean Puppet Forces Slammed for Their Ruthless Human Rights Abuses

Pyongyang, April 28 (KCNA) -- The DPRK Measure Council for Human Rights in South Korea on April 18 issued a white paper lashing out at the south Korean puppet conservative group for driving the people's living into dire destitution and ruthlessly violating their elementary right to live.
    The white paper laid bare the miserable life of the south Korean people.
    Last year the number of the unemployed was 2.875 million while that of semi-unemployed such as temporary and daily workers receiving low wages who are hired for a day or for several months reached 6.077 million, an all-time high.
    According to data released by the Labor Society Institute of south Korea, there were 18.77 million wage workers as of August last year and 2.27 million of them or 12.1 percent did not receive even the lowest wage. This is an increase of 570 000 workers over that in the same period of 2010.
    When the wage of men's regular workers is considered to be 100 percent, the wage of women's regular workers is 67 percent, that of men's part-time workers 54 percent and that of women's part-time workers 36 percent.
    The vital rights of peasants are being seriously threatened due to the puppet conservative group's sycophancy and treachery and unpopular moves to ruin agriculture.
    The farm land drastically decreased to 1.71 million hectares in 2013 from 2.3 million hectares early in the 1970s, and the population in the countryside dropped to 2.84 million from 14 million in the same period. As a result, the south Korean agriculture is at the crossroads of survival and ruin.
    Foreign surplus agricultural produce is flooding the south Korean market. Consequently, the grain production dwindled 60 percent and the self-sufficiency rate in food sharply dropped 33 percent in the same period. So, one of two inhabitants in south Korea is bound to starve to death unless south Korean depends on grain import from foreign countries.
    The annual average income of the rural households at present is no more than 60 percent of the income of urban households and 40 percent of the former is barely making their ends meet with the lowest living cost.
    As the house rent is jumping due to the puppet group's policy of speculation of real estate, the number of the poorest without proper shelter is on the increase.
    According to the 2013-2014 survey of housing situation, children living at the underground, dugouts, plastic sheet houses and rooftop houses numbered 1.29 million, young people 1.39 million and old persons aged 65 and above 103 000.
    670 000 persons are living underground in Seoul alone.
    The puppet group's policy of plunder through taxes is seriously threatening the living of the inhabitants.
    According to data released by the "Hanguk Bank", the average debt each resident of south Korea has to pay went beyond 20 000 U.S. dollars.
    Due to the unpopular rule of the south Korean regime and the economic crisis and the deteriorated people's living, all sorts of big accidents such as the ferry Sewol disaster have happened in an unbroken chain.
    The white paper said that south Korea witnesses the worsening social vices caused by the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor.
    The rich who account for 10 percent of the population hold 48.05 percent of the total income while the low income people who account for 40 percent of the population hold just 2 percent of the total income.
    The gap between the rich and the poor can be illustrated by the practice "Kapjil," a serious social evil in south Korea these days.
    According to the survey conducted in Jan. this year, 95 percent of the respondents said that such practice is more seriously rampant in south Korea than in any other countries.
    And 58 per cent of the respondents said that politicians, high-ranking officials and tycoons are the very groups which commit such practices in the worst way.
    The middle class is becoming poor and the gap between the rich and the poor is widening and common people are living in despair because of such burdens as taxes, house rent and school fees.
    The white paper also dealt with the fact that the south Korean puppet conservative regime is suppressing south Korean people from all walks of life such as workers and peasants in their actions against the unpopular rule and for the protection of their right to live.
    In July 2013 police brutally suppressed the demonstrators calling for making the part-timers of Hyundai Motors full-timers by firing fire extinguishers and water cannons at them and brandishing shields and iron sticks.
    The south Korean puppet group of conservatives accused more than 190 members of the railway trade union of breach of law and issued warrants of arrest for them after branding the general strike of south Korean railway workers demanding the withdrawal of the plan for the de-nationalization of railways and a halt to the crackdown upon trade unions as an illegal one. Not content with this, the puppet group fired as many as 8 500 workers and brutally cracked down on them by setting in motion fascist repressive machines such as the Ministry of Justice 죵 the Police Agency.
    The puppet group indiscriminately fired water guns at the peasants in their actions against the humiliating moves for flinging the rice market open in June 2014, brutally suppressing the demonstrations.
    The bestial actions of the fascist murderers against the south Korean people demanding the vital rights and democratic rights found a more vivid manifestation in the suppression of actions for peace rally on August 15, 2013 and the actions of peace-loving citizens demanding the probe into truth about the ferry Sewol disaster and punishment of those responsible for it in May 2014.
    The conservative group is working with bloodshot eyes to crack down on the legitimate progressive political parties and organizations aspiring after justice, truth, democracy and reunification.
    In December last year, it perpetrated without hesitation a politically-motivated terrorist act of forcibly disbanding the Unified Progressive Party, a legitimate political party, which had spoken for the oppressed toiling masses including workers and peasants for more than ten years, after branding it as a "political party following the north".
    The miserable plight of the south Korean people will never change as long as the group of traitors are allowed to stay in power. -0-