India, Nov. 2 -- North Korea is building factories and hospitals, rolling out smartphones and mobile banking, and passing new laws at an unprecedented rate. But its people are more cut off from the outside world than at any point in the country's history, according to a top UN human rights official in the South Korean capital.
A team headed by James Heenan, head of the UN human rights office, monitors North Korea from beyond its borders because, as he puts it, "almost no one" can get in.
UN News quoted Heenan describing it a country where hunger remains a constant phenomenon, forced labour touches every family, and the border with China is so tightly sealed that even illegal crossings have all but stopped.
Yet, he warned against seeing N...