Pyongyang: The content of the recently released footage has sent shock waves as it shows children forced to work on railway lines in North Korea.
According to a Daily Mail report, the footage shows young children, believed to be taken out of school, being subjected to labour up to 10 hours a day, hammering metals in rails.
It has been claimed that some children are as young as five years old, raising concerns over human rights abuses in the country.
Michael Glendinning, who works for humanitarian organisation, The European Alliance of Human Rights, described child labour as one of the worst form of abuses in North Korea.
“Millions of North Korean children are forced to work in back-breaking roles that rob them of the chance of a happy childhood. The impact of the work on their physical development, their physical and mental health, and on their education can’t be understated”, he added.
The Global Slavery Index 2016 states that 1.1 million North Koreans, that is almost five per cent of the total population are involved in forced labour.
