improving the human rights of North Koreans (the right to freedom and social rights), ii) enhancing the human rights of North Korean defectors, and iii) resolving three priorities related to the human rights of war prisoners, abductees and separated families after the Korean War. In 2012, the NHRCK, with the aim of facilitating extensive discussions on the issue of North Korean human rights, hosted the Special Committee on North Korean Human Rights (SCNKR), the North Korean Human Rights Forum, and other meetings. The Commission also acted as a mediator and promoter for the improvement of North Korean human rights through negotiation and cooperation with the government, related authorities and organizations. In particular, “Compilation of North Korean Human Rights Violations” was translated into English and distributed to urge the international community to pay more attention to the status of human rights in North Korea, which ultimately received attention from major foreign press agencies. The Commission co-hosted an international symposium in LA with University of California Los Angeles in order to instigate paying attention to North Korean human rights issues in the U.S. Also, the Commission issued a statement urging the government to make efforts to thoroughly investigate the detention and torture on North Korean human rights activists done by the Chinese government, to prevent the reoccurrence of such incidents, and to protect its nationals. It was a timely response to the current issue of North Korean human rights. The Commission also expressed its opinion about the proposed revision of the Act on the Repatriation, the Treatment of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces Prisoners of War, paying special attention to human rights violations that prisoners of war and their family members are currently being subjected to. Furthermore, the Commission presented its opinion about improving the right of North Korean defectors to good health, to reiterate the necessity of taking measures to help North Korean defectors who are suffering from poor health. Introduction 27