On the 26th of April, the NKDB was invited to speak at a panel discussion on the ‘Meaning and Challenges of the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) Follow-up Report’, organized by the Ministry of Unification. The forum was designed to gather the views of experts in the field in preparation for the comprehensive follow-up report since the (2014) COI report.
Various diplomats, experts in the field, and civil society representatives shared their views and thoughts on preparing the follow-up report. Topics discussed were creating accountability for human rights violations and judicial mechanisms, the need for public and private cooperation, and the importance of acknowledgment of abductees, detainees, and prisoners of the Korean War that were not repatriated.
NKDB’s Executive Director, Ms. Song, highlighted the importance of the upcoming UPR as one of the few mechanisms to engage with the DPRK directly. Therefore, she recommends member states cooperate and strategize in the preparation for the UPR. Additionally, she shared the NKDB’s efforts of releasing three reports that have analyzed the DPRK’s accepted recommendation in the UPR and its progress on those. Finally, Ms. Song stressed that the follow-up report should ultimately be for the North Korean people to show that the international community is listening.
Various diplomats, experts in the field, and civil society representatives shared their views and thoughts on preparing the follow-up report. Topics discussed were creating accountability for human rights violations and judicial mechanisms, the need for public and private cooperation, and the importance of acknowledgment of abductees, detainees, and prisoners of the Korean War that were not repatriated.
NKDB’s Executive Director, Ms. Song, highlighted the importance of the upcoming UPR as one of the few mechanisms to engage with the DPRK directly. Therefore, she recommends member states cooperate and strategize in the preparation for the UPR. Additionally, she shared the NKDB’s efforts of releasing three reports that have analyzed the DPRK’s accepted recommendation in the UPR and its progress on those. Finally, Ms. Song stressed that the follow-up report should ultimately be for the North Korean people to show that the international community is listening.