Two U.S. officials will co-host an international workshop in South Korea that will examine human rights violations by North Korea.
U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues Julie Turner and Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice Beth Van Schaack are scheduled to co-host the event in Seoul on Monday through Oct. 11.
The event is a “high-level workshop focused on accountability for human rights violations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” the U.S. Department of State said Wednesday in a news release.
“The United States remains steadfast in working with our allies, including the Republic of Korea, to amplify the voices of North Korean escapees and ensure their stories are heard,” the release stated.
The Center for Justice and Accountability and the State Department’s Office of Global Criminal Justice organized the workshop with the goal of focusing on North Korean leaders’ accountability for human rights violations and strengthening global efforts to address them.
Turner and Van Schaack also will meet with South Korean officials, civil society leaders and escapees from North Korea.
The five-day event will emphasize the United States’ commitment to holding North Korea accountable for human rights violations while supporting the community of escapees and defectors from North Korea.
The event also will stress the importance of international cooperation to “raise awareness of and address the ongoing human rights abuses” in North Korea, officials said.
The U.N. Commission of Inquiry in 2014 reported the North Korean government “committed systemic, widespread and gross human rights violations that constitute crimes against humanity,” Human Rights Watch reported.
Under current leader Kim Jong Un, Human Rights Watch says North Korea “maintains fearful obedience by using threats of torture, executions, imprisonment, enforced disappearances and forced labor” to control its population and maintain political power.
The North Korean government in 2023 continued using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to maintain “extreme and unnecessary measures” that include isolation, repression and border, trade and travel restrictions to maintain strong ideological control of its population.
The restrictions have made a food crisis and a lack of access to medicines, medical supplies and other necessities worse while making it harder for citizens to make a living, the HRW says,
Meanwhile, North Korean leaders continue prioritizing weapons development while opposing “freedom of thought, expression or information,” according to the HRW.
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This story was originally published October 2, 2024 at 5:03 PM