TAIPEI, Taiwan – The United Nations and the United States have both adopted resolutions condemning the human rights situation in North Korea where, its rivals say, the repressive political climate has allowed the regime to pursue its nuclear and missile programs without public scrutiny.
A U.N. General Assembly committee passed a resolution on North Korea’s human rights for the 20th consecutive year, while the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill to reauthorize and update the 2004 North Korean Human Rights Act aimed at promoting rights and freedom in the North.
“Noting with concern the possible negative impact on the human rights situation, including that of separated families, following the announcement of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in January 2024 that it would no longer pursue reunification with the Republic of Korea,” the U.N. committee said in its resolution.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea refer to North Korea and South Korea, respectively.
The resolution highlighted North Korea’s “all-pervasive and severe restrictions,” including an “absolute monopoly” on information and total control over organized social life. It also emphasized the urgent need for reforms to ensure fundamental freedoms.
Specifically, the resolution urged the North to guarantee the rights to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, opinion, expression, and association – both online and offline. It called for measures such as allowing independent newspapers and media to operate and repealing or reforming laws and practices that suppress those rights.
The resolution strongly condemned the North Korean government for financing its “unlawful” nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs through human rights violations, including forced labor. It further expressed concern over the “disproportionate” allocation of the state budget to military spending, which undermines the fulfillment of basic human rights, such as the right to adequate food.
Additionally, the resolution requested the North’s leadership to convene a high-level meeting to feature testimony from civil society representatives and experts to address human rights abuses.
It also called for the “immediate” repatriation of all abductees from South Korea and Japan, underscoring the urgency of the issue.
The resolution will be sent to a full General Assembly session for approval in December.
Since 2005, the committee has annually adopted the resolution to highlight human rights violations in North Korea and intensify international pressure on it to address the issue.
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South Korea welcomed the resolution.
“We take note of the fact that through this resolution, the international community expressed concerns over the serious human rights situation in North Korea and sent a consistent and unified message calling for the North’s action to improve the situation,” the South’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
North Korea, however, denounced it as a “document of a political plot fabricated for the ulterior purpose of defaming the dignity of the DPRK.”
“The anti-DPRK draft resolution of human rights, tabled by the European Union every year at the instigation of the United States, is a false paper worthy of no deliberation at all as it is full of the fabrication and falsehood,” said North Korea’s ambassador to the U.N., Kim Song .
“The so-called human rights issue cannot exist in our country.”
U.S. North Korean Human Rights Act
In the U.S., the House of Representatives endorsed the North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act in a 335-37 vote.
First adopted in 2004, the act was intended to promote rights and freedom of North Korean refugees. The act is updated and reauthorized periodically.
The last reauthorization ended in August 2022, and a reauthorization bill was subsequently submitted to Congress, but the bill has been delayed due to the agenda and other issues.
“The authorization for the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 lapsed in 2022. We must get this legislation signed into law this Congress,” Rep. Young Kim said during a House session.
“We cannot ignore the threat posed by North Korea and holding the North Korean regime accountable without supporting human rights is a nonstarter,” she added.
“Failing to reauthorize a landmark human rights initiative sends a signal to Kim Jong Un that the United States will allow human rights in North Korea and around the world to fall on deaf ears.”
The move came after the U.S., South Korea and Japan affirmed last month their shared commitment to addressing North Korea’s human rights issues.
This declaration came in a joint statement following their first trilateral meeting on North Korean human rights held in Washington, amid concerns that the North’s repressive political climate enables Pyongyang to advance its weapons programs unchecked.
The three countries in their statement highlighted North Korea as “one of the worst human rights violators in the world,” citing credible reports of summary executions, assassinations, abductions – including those of Japanese, South Korean, and other foreign nationals – torture, and unlawful detentions.
They called for a global shift in handling North Korean human rights, urging the international community to move beyond monitoring abuses to actively promoting accountability.
Edited by Mike Firn.