The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has established a “North Korean Human Rights Team” and placed it in charge of all departmental affairs related to the issue.
The team head, Lee Yong Geun said his team would look to organize more seminars, debates and conferences on North Korean human rights issues with defectors in South Korea. He added that the team is planning to create mid- and long-term roadmaps for each issue such as defectors, POWs, abductions and separated families.
Lee added in an interview with The Daily NK, “We have been seeking out the reality of human rights abuses, but sooner or later we will start practical activities.”
The NHRCK conducted surveys of defectors’ circumstances in 2005 and the reality of defectors lives when settling down in South Korea in 2007. Besides those, in 2008 it held two debates, and one in 2009 on human rights abuses against female defectors.
