EMPLOYMENT FOR CITIZENSArticle 70 of the Constitution of the DPRK states:Citizens have the right to work. All able-bodied citizens can choose occupations according to their desires and skills and receive stable jobs and working conditions. Citizens work according to their abilities and are paid according to the quantity and quality of their work. In reality, DPRK citizens cannot choose their own occupations, but rather they are dictated by the state. Once again, songbun is a determining factor of the type of job an individual is assigned and how much he or she is able to progress in that career. Heavy manual labor is always assigned to the lower classes of songbun, while administrative and government positions are reserved for those with good songbun. There is little economic competition in the DPRK and private commercial enterprise has been officially banned since 1958, so citizens must accept the livelihood assigned to them for life without any real prospect of change. Food rations and housing are tied to employment, so citizens cannot choose to leave their jobs without also losing their homes and food. They are therefore forced to endure precarious conditions and exploitation in the workplace. Even those working for state-owned enterprises that have ceased operations due to dilapidated equipment and economic difficulties are unable to leave their jobs, despite receiving no wages. Following the economic collapse of the DPRK in the 1990s, a certain degree of unofficial private enterprise began to emerge. However, with this comes corruption, as those who have the resources, contacts and ability to pay the bribes necessary to engage in business tend… middle of paper… a rights agency. The regime deeply fears foreign influence and allows its citizens no access to information from beyond its borders. The citizens of the DPRK who risked their lives to escape the regime and were fortunate enough to do so bear witness to the horrors of life beyond the gaze of the world and the silent screams of the world's most repressed population. However, there are still many unanswered questions and much more unknown about life within this totalitarian dictatorship. It will only be when the regime finally opens its doors to the world, due to economic or political collapse, or due to international pressure, that we will truly know what has happened inside the country in recent years. When this happens, an even more terrifying picture than the current one will likely emerge.