ROK-U.S. Consultations on North Korean Human Rights Take Place in Washington, D.C. on April 15

1. Chun Young-Hee, Director-General for Korean Peninsula Peace Regime of the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs, co-hosted the second ROK-U.S. Consultations on North Korean Human Rights with Julie Turner, Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues of the U.S. Department of State, in Washington, D.C. on April 15. Various relevant authorities participated in the meeting in order to explore broader avenues of cooperation between the two countries.

2. Both sides emphasized that North Korea's obsession with nuclear and missile development has led to violations of the basic rights of North Korean people, resulting in a further deterioration of the human rights situation in North Korea. They stressed that the international community should focus on improving access to information for North Korean residents to help them realize the true realities of North Korea.

3. In relation to this, Director-General Chun expressed concern about North Korea's Internet users being less than 0.1% of the total population, the lowest in the world, and emphasized the need to raise voices calling for the abolition of North Korea's excessive control measures, such as the "Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act," to bridge the information gap between North Korea and the outside world.

4. Furthermore, both sides agreed to continue efforts to raise awareness of the North Korean human rights situation as well as to pursue accountability measures for human rights abuses by the North Korean regime.

5. Both sides discussed cooperative measures for resolving the issues of abductees, detainees and unrepatriated prisoners of war, as agreed upon during the ROK-U.S. Summit in April 2023, as well as the ROK-U.S.-Japan Trilateral Summit in August 2023. They further shared an understanding of the necessity to continue raising this issue on various occasions, including in multilateral forums. Both sides agreed to continue urging North Korea to comply with international human rights norms and faithfully implement the recommendations of the relevant UN resolutions and the Universal Periodic Review.

6. In addition, Director-General Chun emphasized that the ROK government has designated July 14 as "North Korean Defectors' Day" and has been making efforts to support the settlement of North Korean defectors in Korea. Furthermore, he highlighted that efforts are being made to strengthen protection and support for overseas North Korean defectors.

7. Special Envoy Turner assessed that there is significant alignment in both countries' priorities for promoting North Korean human rights. She emphasized the need to continue closely coordinating concrete measures to bring about changes in the lives of North Korean people. Both sides agreed to hold the next consultations in the second half of this year.

8. In addition, Director-General Chun had a meeting with Jung Pak, the U.S. Senior Official for the DPRK, to exchange views on developments around the Korean Peninsula, Russia-North Korea relations, and both countries' policy on North Korea.