State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2009 - Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is one of the world's most homogeneous countries in linguistic and ethnic terms and officially there are no minorities, though there are reportedly about 50,000 Chinese-speakers and 1,800 Japanese-speakers. Freedom of religion is severely curtailed. An estimated 6,000 Christians are incarcerated in Prison No. 15, located in the northern part of the country. Refugees claim that religious prisoners are given the most dangerous tasks while in prison and are subject to constant abuse from prison officials in an effort to force them to renounce their faith. When they refuse, they are often beaten and sometimes tortured to death.