A British daily recently put North Korea on the list of the world's 10 most dangerous countries to avoid this year, citing its various human rights violations.The nine other countries are Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, said the Daily Express. The daily drew up the list based on the Global Peace Index (GPI), annually compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace, a global think tank based in Sydney.
"North Korea is listed as the least peaceful country in the Asia-Pacific area on the GPI," the daily said in its Jan. 18 edition.
The daily said, citing Amnesty International's 2016 report, "North Koreans continued to suffer denial and violations of almost every aspect of their human rights."
"Authorities continue to arbitrarily arrest and detain individuals without fair trial or access to lawyers and family, including nationals of South Korea," it said.
Little progress has been made in addressing cases of abductions and enforced disappearances of foreign nationals, it said.
Launched in 2007, the GPI measures each nation's peacefulness by gauging the levels of 23 factors such as violence, crime, military expenditures and wars.