On May 3rd, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea will publish a case book of 60 incidences of human rights violations in North Korea including information on the alleged perpetrators, which the organization hopes will make it easier for those who abuse human rights now to be prosecuted in a unified Korea later on.

The detailed information in the book has been drawn from among the approximately 800 cases of human rights abuses accepted by NHRCK since it started dealing accepting depositions in March last year. Many of the cases have been derived from the most serious violations of human rights known to have occurred in the North to date, including those of 278 individuals with experience of detention in four of North Korea’s political prison camps; Bukchang, Hoiryeong, Kaecheon and Yodok.

Kim Tae Hoon, who chairs the special NHRCK committee tasked with overseeing issues of North Korean human rights, told Daily NK today, “The very biggest meaning of this report is that it lists the perpetrators of human rights abuses.”

“Bearing in mind the sensitivity of the matter we do not expect to make public the real names of the perpetrators,” Kim conceded, before adding, “but this report will provide legal evidence allowing us to punish them after unification.”

“This publication sends a tacit warning to North Korea’s human rights violators, deterring them from actions that violate human rights,” he added.