National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2015
3. visited the UK and Germany from December 10th to 16th to study what made many North
Part I
their escape, and to strengthen cooperation with the local authority; and
Korean defectors take refuge in Europe and how they are settled there, launching a joint
project with local NGOs to promote North Korean human rights as well.
Commission has:
1. hosted the 4th North Korea Human Rights Forum and operated the Special Committee on
Human Rights in North Korea;
2. hosted the International Symposium in Jakarta to raise awareness on North Korean human
rights and strengthen cooperation on February 10th;
3. hosted a discussion meeting on ‘dispersed families’, the opening of the UN Office of High
Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) in Seoul, and transitional justice;
4. hosted a human rights workshop for inter-Korean university students on December 21st
and 22nd;
5. had in-person meetings with major figures related to North Korean human rights, including
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human
Rights Situation in the DPRK, and the Chief of the UN OHCHR in Seoul; and
6. published a collection of the NHRCK's Resolutions on Human Rights in North Korea (40
cases) in both Korean and English, as well as a guidebook in English.
Chapter 4.
Evaluation and Challenges
Year 2015 was a new turning point for the Commission in many ways, as it began to work
on its mid-term work plan, the 4th National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of
Human Rights, welcomed the inauguration of its 7th Chairperson, and moved into a new office.
Through surveys on the human rights situation on various fronts, and reviewing laws and
institutions related to human rights, the Commission strengthened its capacity to make policy
Part I Introduction | 15
Introduction
To raise awareness on North Korean human rights and to strengthen cooperation, the