The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has advised that the State Department designate 13 countries as requiring special interest in regards to religious oppression. North Korea, China and Myanmar are all on the list.

In its 2010 annual report on "religious freedom," the commission says serious violations on such freedoms continue in North Korea.

The report says as many as 40-thousand religious followers are known to be detained in labor camps in the North.

Based on the commission's report, the State Department each fall releases a list of countries that oppress religious freedom. North Korea has been on the list since 2001.