Key facts
- HRW said the General Assembly should recommend that future North Korea dialogue cover rights and security together.
- Audrey Gregg, HRW's senior coordinator for Asia, wrote that the Security Council remains deadlocked on the issue.
- Gregg said North Korean rights issues should not be displaced by security talks between the United States and South Korea.
- Gregg said forced labor in North Korea is closely linked to its nuclear weapons program, citing previous U.N. findings.
- Gregg wrote that the government devotes resources to nuclear and missile stockpiles while many North Koreans face chronic hunger.
Human Rights Watch urged the United Nations on November 9 to address North Korea's human rights situation alongside security issues in future diplomatic engagement with Pyongyang, in a commentary published by the New York-based rights group.
The group cited a recent U.N. report that it said described deepening repression in North Korea. It said the U.N. General Assembly should recommend that future dialogue with North Korea address human rights and security concerns together rather than as separate issues.
"Security and rights issues need to be addressed together. The U.N. General Assembly has the power to forge these connections, even as the Security Council remains deadlocked," Audrey Gregg, HRW's senior coordinator for Asia, wrote in the commentary.
Gregg said North Korean rights issues should not be displaced by the focus on security issues as the United States and South Korea pursue diplomatic dialogues with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. She argued that North Korea's human rights violations, particularly forced labor, are closely linked to its nuclear weapons program, citing previous U.N. findings.
"The government devotes massive resources to maintaining its nuclear weapons and missile stockpiles while many North Koreans face chronic hunger," Gregg wrote.
The commentary followed the presentation by U.N. Special Rapporteur Elizabeth Salmon of a report on North Korea's human rights situation to a U.N. General Assembly committee on October 27. According to HRW, the report highlighted North Korea's increased use of public executions, expanded surveillance and tighter restrictions on basic freedoms.