DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA 16 The government severely restricted freedoms of peaceful assembly and of association. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly While the constitution provides for freedom of peaceful assembly, the government did not respect this provision and continued to prohibit public meetings not previously authorized and not under government control. Freedom of Association The constitution provides for freedom of association, but the government failed to respect this provision. There were no known organizations other than those created by the government. Professional associations existed primarily to facilitate government monitoring and control over organization members. c. Freedom of Religion See the Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report at https://www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/. d. Freedom of Movement The law provides for the “freedom to reside in or travel to any place”; however, the government did not respect this right. In-country Movement: The government restricted freedom of movement for those lawfully within the state. Those who violated travel regulations were subject to warnings, fines, or forced labor. Only members of a very small elite class and those with access to remittances from overseas reportedly had access to personal vehicles. Security checkpoints on main roads at entry and exit points from every town hampered movement. KINU’s white paper for 2019 reported that individuals were able to move more freely within their own province as the use of bribery as a means to circumvent the law became more widespread. An increasing number of persons traveled without a permit, only to pay a bribe when caught. The government strictly controlled permission to reside in, or even to enter, Pyongyang, where food availability, housing, health, and general living conditions Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2020 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor