Unification ministry not to publicly release annual report on NK human rights
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young speaks to the National Assembly's foreign affairs and unification committee in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
The government will continue compiling its annual report on North Korean human rights conditions but will halt its public release this year, a unification ministry official said Tuesday.
The official disclosed the decision, citing a government assessment that the report has had little effect in improving the North Korean human rights situation.
"The offensive policy on North Korean human rights, which has focused on disclosure and criticism, appears to have had little effect in actually enhancing the rights of the North Korean people," the official told reporters.
Still, the government will continue compiling data for its annual inquiry into North Korean human rights conditions, but it will be transferred to the justice ministry for storage without being released publicly, the official said.
The compilation began in 2018 to document rights violations by the North Korean regime under the law on North Korea's human rights.
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 decision to revert to non-public disclosure came as the Lee Jae Myung administration takes a series of conciliatory gestures to improve frayed ties with Pyongyang.