Gov't weighs scrapping annual report on North Korean human rights
Published: 12 Aug. 2025, 16:59
![Defector Maeng Hyo-shim speaks about her experience living and escaping North Korea during a public hearing hosted by the United Nations Human Rights Office in Seoul on Wednesday. [PARK SANG-MOON]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/08/12/b143a227-0123-482d-9311-bddbc0fb1ded.jpg)
Defector Maeng Hyo-shim speaks about her experience living and escaping North Korea during a public hearing hosted by the United Nations Human Rights Office in Seoul on Wednesday. [PARK SANG-MOON]
The Unification Ministry is weighing a decision to discontinue its annual report on North Korean human rights conditions, an official said Tuesday, in what appears to be a conciliatory gesture to improve frayed ties with Pyongyang.
“The government is conducting a review regarding the publication of the results of its probe into North Korean human rights conditions, keeping various options open,” the ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
The official was referring to the annual government report on North Korean human rights, published every year since 2018 to expose rights violations by the North Korean regime.
The report had, however, not been released to the public until the previous conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration made the 2023 and 2024 editions publicly available.
The official noted difficulties in collecting firsthand testimonies from North Korean defectors, which are needed to update the report every year, suggesting that the government may be leaning toward discontinuing its publication.
About 200 North Korean defectors arrive in South Korea each year, but most have lived in a third country for up to 10 years, making it difficult to collect testimonies about the latest situations in North Korea, according to the official.
The ongoing review, coming on the heels of the new Lee Jae Myung administration's recent overtures for dialogue with North Korea, also appears aimed at appeasing Pyongyang as part of efforts to improve inter-Korean ties.
During his confirmation hearing last month, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young expressed concerns about raising North Korean human rights issues, saying, “It is not appropriate to use North Korean human rights as a means of criticizing the regime.”
yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)