In this July 26, 2015, file photo, North Koreans look at paintings on display in Pyongyang, North Korea. Human Rights Watch's recent report showed that North Korea remains one of the world's most repressive states. AP

North Korea remains one of the world's most repressive states, an international rights group said Friday, urging countries like the United States, South Korea and China to increase pressure on Pyongyang to improve the situation.

"In his seventh year in power, Kim Jong-un -- who serves as chairman of the States Affairs Commission and head of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea -- continues to exercise almost total political control," Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2019 on North Korea.

North Korea has long been labeled one of the world's worst human rights violators. The communist regime does not tolerate dissent, holds hundreds of thousands of people in political prison camps and tightly controls the flow of outside information.

Despite such dire situations, the U.S. and other key countries are failing to address the issue, it said.

U.S. President Donald Trump stopped short of raising human rights issues publicly when he met with Kim at their summit in Singapore in June, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in also failed to raise the issue in his three summits with Kim, the group said.

China, which is "the most influential international actor in North Korea," has declined to pressure the North on human rights, it said.

Last month, the U.N. passed a resolution on North Korea's human rights situation, calling for accountability for gross human rights violations in the communist nation. It marked the 14th consecutive year the global body has passed such a document.

The North has bristled at such criticism on its human rights situation, calling it a U.S.-led attempt to undermine the regime. (Yonhap)