Dealing with North Korea’s Human Rights

• Session: Session IV / Pavilion (Ronald Reagan Building)
• Date/Time: June 25, 2013 / 13:50-15:00

Panel Description

In March 2013, the UN Human Rights Council unanimously voted to set up the first UN Commission of Inquiry into human rights abuses in North Korea, which will examine allegations of prison camps, torture, slave labor, and food deprivation. North Korea’s prison camps are estimated to hold approximately 150,000 to 200,000 political prisoners, and are reportedly expanding under the Kim Jong-un regime. Concerns with North Korean human rights abuses also include the coerced repatriation of North Korean defectors and the North Korean government’s refusal to allow the outside world to enter the country to monitor the human rights situation on the ground. How has the international community attempted to address North Korean human rights? What steps can be taken to address human rights issues in North Korea?