The UN special rapporteur for North Korea’s human rights, Elizabeth Salmon called for collective efforts to gather reliable information on North Korea.

During an international conference hosted by the Soongsil Institute for Peace and Unification in Seoul on Wednesday, Salmon said the need to gather more information comes as the regime is diving into an “ever-stricter isolation” from the rest of the world.

She also stressed that the scarcity of reliable information coming from the reclusive state can be “compensated by the news that we can still gather from one another.”

The UN rapporteur also touched on the country’s chronic food shortage, saying that those who receive food rations are generally state officials or those affiliated with the military.

Her comments come as she arrived in South Korea on Monday for a nine-day visit to meet with officials in Seoul, as well as North Korean defectors. 

It marks her third visit to the nation since taking the post in July 2022.