Investigation of North Korean Human Rights Situation to Commence Next Month

The National Human Rights Commission of South Korea (NHRC) announced on the 25th that if things go quickly, it plans to commence an investigation into the actual human rights situation inside North Korea beginning next month.

An affiliate of NHRC revealed in a telecommunication with Daily NK that “up till now, the NHRC has investigated, in cooperation with North Korean defectors, the resettlement conditions of defectors in South Korea and, indirectly, the human rights situation inside North Korea.”

The NHRC stated that it has investigated the North Korean human rights situation; however, it stopped at an indirect inquiry conducted while looking into the resettlement situation of North Korean defectors in South Korea. For this reason, the anticipated commencement of the investigation into the human rights situation inside North Korea is classified as the first conducted by the Human Rights Commission.

The NHRC additionally announced, “This year, through one of our central enterprises, the ‘Implementation of Human Rights Protection for North Korean Residents and Defectors’, we will come to know the current circumstances surrounding the whole of human rights inside North Korea,” and, “(as reported by the press) the torture of North Korean defectors will not be investigated separately.”

The NHRC maintained that “there is no plan to engage examiners at the North Korea-China border to assist in the investigation into the actual condition of human rights in North Korea,” and stated, “Fundamentally, we will look into the human rights situation inside North Korea by focusing on defectors who have resettled and are living in South Korea; through this process, will the torture of North Korean defectors not also be investigated?” By the NHRC’s statement, any reports of an “examination team dispatched to the North Korea – China border area” for the investigation into the torture of North Korean defectors were revealed to be false.

The NHRC is expecting the investigation to commence in the next month if possible, and will assign the task to an external research organization. the Commission estimates a 5 to 6 week turnaround on the investigation.