While there is no doubt that North Korea imprisons large numbers of people for their political and religious beliefs, there are no reliable figures available for the number of political prisoners in North Korea. Different non-governmental organisations produce various figures based on the observations of defectors, but these are difficult to verify, and often out of date. That is why we have consistently pressed North Korea to allow the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea access to their country.