The U.S. State Department has said the human rights situation in North Korea remains very serious, in its first country-specific human rights report under the second Trump administration.

In its 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, released Tuesday, the department says the North Korean government maintained control of the country through “brutality and coercion,” including executions, physical abuse, enforced disappearances and collective punishment.

But the annual report on the North is less than half as long as those issued under the Biden administration, and the latest report omits criticism of Pyongyang’s political system.
   
The 2024 report says there were no significant changes in the human rights situation in North Korea during that year, adding that the North did not take credible steps or action to identify and punish officials who committed human rights abuses.

The department said the “significant” human rights concerns include credible reports of arbitrary or unlawful killings; disappearances; torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; involuntary or coercive medical or psychological practices; and arbitrary arrest or detention.