The ‘North Korean Human Rights Resolution,’ condemning North Korea’s systematic and widespread human rights violations, was adopted for the 20th consecutive year by the United Nations General Assembly’s Third Committee, which deals with human rights issues.
On November 20th (local time), the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee held a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York and adopted the North Korean human rights resolution, co-sponsored by South Korea and 61 other countries, by consensus, without a vote, passing it on to the General Assembly.
The Third Committee has been adopting the North Korean Human Rights Resolution annually since 2005. This year’s resolution not only conveys a united message from the international community urging improvements in North Korean human rights but also includes new content absent from previous resolutions.
One prominent new inclusion relates to North Korea’s “hostile policy towards South Korea.” The resolution notes that “North Korea announced it would no longer pursue unification with South Korea starting January 2024,” expressing concern over the negative impacts such policy direction could have on human rights situations, including family reunification issues.
Furthermore, the Third Committee criticized North Korea’s severe restrictions on freedom of thought and conscience through laws such as the “Anti-Reactionary Thought and Culture Rejection Law,” “Youth Education Guarantee Law,” and “Pyongyang Cultural Language Protection Law,” urging the abolition or reform of all such practices and legislations.
This is the first instance where the UN North Korean Human Rights Resolution explicitly calls for the repeal and reform of the three so-called “evil laws” and expresses concerns over the hostile bilateral relations. These matters were also major themes in the recent Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of North Korea by the UN.
According to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, the resolution mentions a case involving a 16-year-old boy sentenced under the Anti-Reactionary Thought and Culture Rejection Law in a clause addressing children’s rights, with a report expressing concerns submitted to the UN Secretariat.
Although focusing on North Korean human rights, the resolution did not directly address controversies such as North Korean military dispatch to Russia or issues related to the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT). However, a Foreign Ministry official indicated that the report reflects concerns that North Korea’s extreme militarization is closely linked to the human rights violation situation.
The Third Committee also accused North Korea of funding illegal nuclear and missile programs through human rights abuses and forced labor, stating that the disproportionate allocation of the national budget to military spending results in insufficient respect and protection for human rights.
Moreover, it called for the immediate repatriation of all abduction victims from Japan and South Korea.
The resolution also demands the UN General Assembly President to convene a high-level meeting to listen to testimonies from civil society actors and various experts to address the human rights abuses and mistreatment in North Korea.
In his remarks following the adoption of the resolution, Deputy Permanent Representative Kim Sang-jin stated that the human rights situation in North Korea, classified as crimes against humanity in the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) report, has worsened. He emphasized that North Korea needs to heed the broadly supported human rights resolutions of the last 20 years and engage in addressing human rights issues.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a congratulatory statement by the spokesperson, welcoming the adoption of the resolution, noting that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the UN COI report. The statement highlighted the significance of the international community expressing concern over the grave human rights situation in North Korea through this resolution and sending a consistent and united message urging North Korea to improve the situation.
The resolution adopted will be presented for formal adoption at the UN General Assembly’s plenary session scheduled for December. While UN General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding under international law, they carry political and moral obligations due to the unified demand of the international community.