By Lee Chi-dong
WASHINGTON, June 1 (Yonhap) -- North Korea was again labeled Wednesday as a country with the world's worst human rights record in an annual report by a U.S. human rights group.

   Freedom House, headquartered in Washington, gave North Korea the lowest possible score of seven both in political rights and civil liberties, along with several other nations such as Somalia, Burma and Libya.

   North Korea is the only nation that has been at the bottom of the ratings scale every year since group's "Freedom in the World" survey began nearly 40 years ago.

   "The regime in this severely isolated country holds its nearly 23 million citizens in a state of virtual slavery," it said in the update of its global human rights report.

   "Over 200,000 people are confined in a network of Kwan Li So, or political prison camps, where they endure horrific conditions including forced labor, severe malnutrition and torture," it added.

   The group provided no details on sources for the information.

   It is notoriously difficult to figure out what is going on in the tightly controlled communist nation. The outside world usually assesses the situation there on the basis of North Korean defectors' statements and private informants.

   lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)