The United States says North Korea’s human rights record last year remained poor and its government continued to commit serious abuses.

In its 2008 Human Rights Report released Thursday, the State Department described North Korea as a "dictatorship" where citizens are subject to “rigid control” over many aspects of their lives.

The report noted the communist state lacked the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion, and worker rights, adding that there continued to be reports of extrajudicial killings, disappearances, arbitrary detention, and political imprisonment.

On South Korea’s conditions, the U.S. report said the government generally respected the human rights of its citizens.

However, it said that women, persons with disabilities, and minorities continued to face societal discrimination while rape, domestic violence, child abuse, and trafficking in persons remained serious problems.

The report also said China's human rights record remained poor, and in some cases worse. Russia was criticized for "continued negative trajectory in its overall domestic human rights record."