For the first time, the United States has put North Korea's leader on the U.S. sanctions list for human rights abuses.
Kim Jong Un is among 23 entities and individuals placed on Washington's blacklist for their role in serious human rights violations, hunting down defectors or censorship in North Korea.
“We have identified 23 individuals and entities in our report, one of those individuals is Kim Jong Un, we have made the judgment that he is rather plainly, ultimately responsible for the actions of his regime including its repressive policies towards his own people,” a senior U.S. official announced Wednesday.
The State Department said human rights abuses in North Korea are among the worst in the world. Many of these abuses are committed in political prison camps, where an estimated 80,000 to 120,000 individuals are detained, including children and family members of the accused.