Officially established in 2003, NKDB has made it its mission to advance the human rights of the North Korean people.
| 2024 | ㆍHanna Song appointed as the Executive Director ㆍPublication of 3rd UPR Monitoring Report on North Korea ㆍPublication of 2024 White Paper on North Korean Human Rights ㆍReceived the Korea Financial Industry Foundation (KFIF) Contribution Award (for Happy Plus Project) ㆍParticipated in and advocated for North Korea’s 4th UPR at the United Nations (Geneva) ㆍJointly hosted webinar on “North Korea in the Russian War: Exploring Perpetration, Victimhood, and Accountability in Armed Conflicts” ㆍ<잔존하는 ㅁ에 대하여: The Silent Lightning> North Korean Human Rights Pop-up Exhibition in Samcheong-dong |
| 2023 | ㆍParticipated in “Conference on the Human Rights of Women and Girls in the DPRK” jointly hosted by the South ㆍKorea Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea ㆍTestified at the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) Hearing on the “Forced Repatriation of North Korean Refugees” ㆍHosted seminar on the “Forced Repatriation of the North Korean Escapees Detained in China” ㆍPublication of “Behind Closed Doors: Mapping the System of Command in the Ministry of State Security and Social Security” ㆍLaunch of “The Echo Never Stops” Exhibition ㆍHosted seminar on “Memorializing North Korean Human Rights: The Pathway to Establishing a Museum on North Korean Human Rights” |
| 2022 | ㆍUN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture support project renewed for an 9th year ㆍLaunch of the NKDB Center for Human Rights Legal Support ㆍLaunch of the North Korea SDG Data Portal ㆍPublication of the English Translation of Prisoners in Military Uniform: Human Rights in the North Korean Military ㆍLaunched of Seasonal Academies in the NKDB Education Center for Korean Integration (North Korean Education, Religion in North Korea, Psychological Understanding) ㆍRelease of the Korean Translation of The North Korean Conundrum: Balancing Human Rights and Nuclear Security (in conjunction with Stanford University) ㆍLaunch of the HappyPlus Financial Mentoring Program ㆍLaunched the first Inter-Korean Integration Academy |
| 2021 | ㆍUN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture support project renewed for an 8th year ㆍEstablishment of the NKDB Scholarship Association ㆍConstruction of the Perpetrator Database ㆍHeld a two-day workshop titled, "Understanding the SDGs and its Linkage to North Korean Human Rights" ㆍPublication of The Human Rights Guide to DPRK's SDGs ㆍPublication of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 2021 Progress Report on the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals ㆍ Held a conference titled, "Seeking Accountability and Collecting Data on Perpetrators of Gross Human Rights Violations in North Korea" ㆍLaunched the first Unification Law Academy |
| 2020 | ㆍUN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture support project renewed for a 7th year ㆍYoung Ho Shin (former Dean of the Korea University School of Law) appointed as the 4th Chairman of the Board of Directors ㆍYang Ho Hong appointed as Director of the NKDB Education Center for Korean Integration ㆍKi Sik Choi appointed as the 3rd Director of the North Korean Human Rights Archives ㆍSelected and entrusted with operation of the West Gyeonggi Hana Center ㆍPublication of North Korea’s "Wives Have the Economic Power and Husbands Are Belittled” Marital Conflict in North Korea : A Collection of Defector Testimonies ㆍLaunch of the online North Korean Human Rights Larchiveum ㆍRelaunch of the North Korean Human Rights VISUAL ATLAS ㆍPublication of North Korean Defector Story Books (A Black Streetlight, Treasure Island in My Heart) |
| 2019 | ㆍUN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture support project renewed for a 6th year ㆍEstablished the ‘Committee for the Establishment of North Korean Human Rights Records Center’ ㆍHeld a joint side event with Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) at the Geneva Religious Freedom Conference (sponsored by the Dutch Foreign Ministry and the Polish Mission to the UN in Geneva) ㆍConducted advocacy activities and participated in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for North Korea at the UN in Geneva ㆍPublished A Second Chance: North Korea’s Implementations of its Recommendations during its Second Universal Periodic Review ㆍConducted a series of workshops titled, “The SDGs and North Korean Human Rights” (in conjunction with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation) ㆍHeld a seminar and published a report titled, SDG 3: The Right to Health in North Korea ㆍSeminar at the National Assembly titled, ‘Developing Policies and Assigning Accountability for Forced Repatriation of North Korean Defectors’ ㆍPublished North Korean Defector Story Books (My Third House, Finding My Way in Life Again, Blue Triangle Mountain) |
| 2018 | ㆍYeosang Yoon appointed as the 3rd Chief Director of NKDB ㆍSoon Hee Lim appointed as 2nd Director of the North Korean Human Rights Archives ㆍKorean publication of report titled, Prisoners in Military Uniform: The State of Human Rights in North Korea’s Military ㆍCrowdfunding campaign for female victims of torture ㆍNorth Korean Human Rights Concert, ‘Now & Then’ ㆍSeminar regarding policies to improve the North Korean Human Rights Act held at the South Korean National Assembly ㆍSeminar titled, ‘The State of Menstrual Health of North Korean Women and Measures for Delivering Effective Assistance’ ㆍConducted an investigation for a special report on forced labor in North Korea with collaboration with the Leiden Asia Centre (sponsored by the Walk Free Foundation) ㆍFundraising event held at the NKDB Education for Korean Integration (sponsored by LocknLock) ㆍLaunched the first Together for Unification Academy ㆍConducted the first Dream Plus Forum Youth Academy |
| 2017 | ㆍOffice moved to Chungmuro and opening of the NKDB Education Center for Korean Integration ㆍSeminar titled, ‘The Current Situation of North Korean Overseas Laborers and Human Rights’ held in the Netherlands and Japan ㆍPresentation on the results of North Korea’s implementation of the UPR recommendations titled, ‘Monitoring of the Universal Periodic Review of North Korea,’ (Sponsored by the UniKorea Foundation) ㆍJoint Seminar titled, ‘The North Korean Human Rights Situation: Comparisons with Human Rights Cases in the Former East Germany’ held with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Institute for Transitional Justice and Integration (ITJI) ㆍLaunched the first Unification Social Welfare Academy |
| 2016 | ㆍJai Chun Lee (former ROK Ambassador to Russia) appointed as 3rd Chairman of the Board of Directors ㆍRanked No. 16 on Hankyung Business Magazine’s Top 100 Korean Think Tanks in the field of Security and Diplomacy ㆍEuropean seminar on overseas laborers held in Warsaw, Poland, Berlin, Germany, and London, UK ㆍPublication of An Evaluation Report of the North Korean Human Rights Situation after the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry Report ㆍPublication of North Korean Political Prison Camps: A Catalogue of Political Prison Camp Staff, Detainees, and Victims of Enforced Disappearance ㆍParticipated in a Seminar titled, ‘The North Korean Regime’s Human Rights Record’ at the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (inalco) (National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations) in Paris, France ㆍSeminar titled, ‘Changes in the Internal German Borderlands Before and After Unification: Lessons for the Korean Peninsula’ ㆍSeminar titled, ‘North Korean Citizens’ Narcotic Drug Use: Situation and Challenges’ ㆍ100,000 entries logged in the NKDB Unified Human Rights Database, 10th Anniversary of the White Paper on North Korean Human Rights ㆍEstablishment of the NKDB Education Center for Korean Integration (Jung-tae Kim appointed as Director) ㆍEstablishment of NKDB’s North Korean Human Rights Watch Functions ㆍLaunched the first Psychological Counseling Academy |
| 2015 | ㆍSeminar titled, ‘The North Korea outside North Korea: Publicizing the state of overseas laborers and human rights’ held in South Korea, Brussels (European Parliament), Washington D.C. ㆍSeminar held with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation titled, ‘Overcoming 70 Years of Division: Experiencing 25 years of German Unification’ ㆍHosted a discussion at the South Korean National Assembly titled, ‘The Korean War through the Voices of Returned Prisoners of War’ ㆍLaunched support programs for ‘unprotected’ North Korean escapees (North Korean escapees who do not receive governmental support) ㆍLaunched the first Unification Diplomacy Academy |
| 2014 | ㆍProfessor Jong Hun Park (Korea University Medical School) appointed as the 2nd Chairman of the Board of Directors ㆍSeminar on the ‘Enactment of the North Korean Human Rights Act and the Improvement of the Human Rights Situation in the DPRK’ ㆍResearch begins on South Korean perceptions and discrimination against North Korean escapees ㆍNorth Korean Political Prison Camp Atlas created with the support of the US Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor ㆍProvision of psychological counseling to victims of torture and assault through funding from the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (UNVFVT) ㆍInternational ‘Seminar on the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Transitional Justice and Social Integration in Unified Germany: Lessons for the Korean Peninsula’ held in September 2014 |
| 2013 | ㆍSubmission of a report analyzing and categorizing data obtained through investigations on North Korean human rights conditions to the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ㆍJoint seminar with the Hanns Seidel Foundation titled “International Solidarity for Human Rights in North Korea: Challenges and Tasks” (sponsored by the Ministry of Unification, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and The Dong-A Ilbo) ㆍLaunch of regular English-language briefings on North Korean human rights for foreign diplomats, international organizations related to North Korea, and foreign correspondents in South Korea ㆍResearch on forced repatriation of North Korean escapees from China and methods for improvement of the situation ㆍResearch conducted to developed customized policy improvements for the resettlement support system for North Korean escapees |
| 2012 | ㆍSeminar titled, ‘Comprehensive Evaluation of Human Rights in North Korea and Prospects for Change in the human rights situation in the Kim Jong Un Regime’ ㆍSeminar titled, “N. Korean Human Rights Case Reports and Violations: Case History and the Human Rights Movement” (sponsored by the Hanns Seidel Foundation) ㆍEstablishment of a Resettlement Support Center for abductees and prisoners of war in the Resettlement Assistance Headquarters ㆍResearch on the living conditions of elderly North Korean escapees and development of a support plan ㆍResearch on the utilization of overseas Koreans to create a foundation for an inter-Korean community |
| 2011 | ㆍLaunch of the publishing of the ‘Victims’ Voices’ a North Korean Human Rights Case Report, which had the first mention of the real names of perpetrators of North Korean human rights violations ㆍInternational seminar with Johns Hopkins SAIS titled, “Strategy for Improving North Korean Human Rights” held in Washington D.C. ㆍSeminar titled, “Evaluation of program development for projects and support to overseas North Korean defectors” ㆍPublication of Political Prison Camps in North Korea Today ㆍLaunch of the first North Korean Human Rights Academy |
| 2010 | ㆍLaunch of research on the economic and housing conditions of North Korean escapees ㆍSeminar held for a ‘Comprehensive Evaluation of the North Korean Human Rights Situation and Prospects for Changes’ ㆍJoint Seminar held with Freedom House and Johns Hopkins SAIS titled, ‘Current State of North Korean Human Rights and Seeking Measures for Improvement’ |
| 2009 | ㆍLawyer Woong Ki Kim appointed as 2nd Chief Director of NKDB ㆍResearch on the state of Political Prison Camps (Presented at the South Korean National Human Rights Commission in 2010, the first South Korean government-commissioned research on Political Prison Camps) ㆍInternational Seminar on “Developing a Strategy for Improving North Korean Human Rights” takes place at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) ㆍHolding of a public debate on the ‘Establishment and Operation of the North Korean Human Rights Archives’ ㆍImplementation of pilot program on the social integration of returned South Korean abductees ㆍStart of North Korean human rights civic education radio program |
| 2008 | ㆍImplementation of the pilot educational program for the social integration of returned Prisoners of War (POWs), Publication of the Integrated Understanding of the Prisoner of War Issue ㆍImplementation of the group program for improving the adaptation of young North Korean escapees to school and shaping their career paths |
| 2007 | ㆍEstablishment of the NKDB North Korean Human Rights Archives ㆍPublished the results of the first annual White Paper on North Korean Human Rights Statistics, White Paper on Religious Freedom in North Korea, and Trends in Economic Activities of North Korean Defectors ㆍImplementation of the national integrated support services project offered for the improvement of mental health in North Korean escapees with PTSD |
| 2006 | ㆍResearch begins on abductees, separated families, and female youth escapees ㆍPublication of the results of the annual North Korean Defector Economic Activity and Trends Survey begins ㆍDevelopment and operation of the NKDB Unified Human Rights Database begins |
| 2005 | ㆍEstablishment of the Resettlement Assistance Headquarters and NK Social Research |
| 2004 | ㆍOfficially registered as a legal entity with the Ministry of Unification ㆍConstruction of the first North Korean human rights violations database, containing 1000 cases ㆍDevelopment of the North Korean Human Rights Database using HURIDOCS |
| 2003 | ㆍOfficial establishment of the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) on May 10, 2003 (Board Chairman Sang Hun Kim, Chief Director Yeosang Yoon) |
| 1999 | ㆍInitiation of investigations of human rights in North Korea at the Ministry of Unification’s Hanawon (North Korean escapee resettlement center) |
