Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

As President Bush noted when he signed the 2004 North Korean Human Rights Act (NKHRA), the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) remains one of the most repressive countries in the world and stands in stark contrast to democratic governments elsewhere in Asia. The country, one of the world’s most closed and militarized societies, is a dictatorship under the absolute rule of Kim Jong Il, General Secretary of the Korean Workers’ Party. An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 persons are believed to be held in detention camps in remote areas, many for political reasons. Defectors report that many prisoners have died from torture, starvation, disease, exposure, or a combination of these causes. North Korean officials reportedly prohibited live births in prison, and forced abortions were performed, particularly in detention centers holding women repatriated from China. Over the years, there have been unconfirmed reports from a few defectors alleging the testing on human subjects of a variety of chemical and biological agents up through the early 1990s. The regime controlled many aspects of citizens’ lives, denying freedom of speech, religion, the press, assembly, and association. The deportation of North Koreans from China to the DPRK was a matter of particular concern to the United States. A number of repatriated North Koreans faced severe punishment upon their return, including execution in some cases. On multiple occasions, U.S. officials expressed objections to any such actions to the Chinese government. The North Korean regime also severely restricted freedom of movement and worker rights. There were widespread reports of North Korean women and girls being trafficked in China. In December, the Government terminated international humanitarian assistance, including the UN World Food Program.

The 2004 NKHRA was enacted to raise awareness of the serious human rights situation in the country, and to find durable solutions for North Korean refugees. Since enactment of the law, the United States has heightened its engagement on the North Korean human rights issue. In August 2005, the President appointed a Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea under the NKHRA. Since his appointment, the Special Envoy has urged other countries, including the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan, to join the growing international campaign urging the DPRK to address and improve its human rights conditions.

In 2005, the U.S. Government funded a series of three conferences and related programs on North Korean human rights; the NGO Freedom House held its first conference on the issue in Washington in July. The Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs and several Members of Congress addressed the conference. At the second conference in this series, held in Seoul in December, the Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea and the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea expressed concern about the human rights situation in the country, and urged the North Korean Government to respond to growing international concern about its human rights conditions. The third Freedom House conference is scheduled to take place in Europe this spring. In addition, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor continued to support the National Endowment for Democracy to support ROK-based NGOs in their efforts to improve and expand monitoring of and reporting on the human rights situation in the country.

Numerous U.S. officials worked to raise awareness of the country’s human rights abuses and humanitarian issues with the international community and before U.S. audiences. The United States regularly raised concerns about the country with other governments in both multilateral and bilateral forums. U.S. officials urged other countries to call for concrete, verifiable, and sustained improvements in North Korean human rights as an important component of their bilateral relations with the country. In April 2005, several State Department officials testified before the House International Relations Committee on North Korea’s human rights record and U.S. Government efforts to implement the NKHRA. The Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs has publicly stated that dialogue on the country’s human rights record and establishment of benchmarks for improvement would be necessary for the country to join the international community and normalize relations with the United States.

For the third consecutive year, the U.S. also worked with other concerned governments to win passage of a resolution condemning North Korea’s human rights record at the UN Commission on Human Rights. The resolution called on the country to fulfill its obligations under human rights instruments to which it is a party. The resolution further urged the North Korean Government to invite UN special representatives to visit the DPRK, and to ensure that humanitarian organizations have free access to the country. In November 2005, the United States co-sponsored a similar resolution before the UN General Assembly that condemned the country’s poor human rights record, marking the first time the General Assembly passed such a resolution on North Korea.

The United States remained deeply concerned about the plight of North Korean refugees, and continued to work to find durable solutions for this vulnerable population as outlined in the NKHRA. The United States worked with governments in the region to urge protection of, and assistance to, North Korean refugees, and to facilitate their permanent resettlement. The United States consistently urged China to fulfill its international obligations under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and as a signatory to its 1967 Protocol. The United States continued to call upon China to allow the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) access to this vulnerable population to assess their needs and determine their status. The United States has addressed the issue of North Korean refugees in China with the UNHCR, and sought to coordinate our approach with allies who share our concerns.

In 2005, the Secretary of State again designated the DPRK a "Country of Particular Concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act for severe violations of religious freedom. The DPRK was designated as is a Tier 3 country in the U.S. Trafficking in Persons report and is subject to U.S. sanctions for its failure to address trafficking in women and girls.