Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced on March 31 that the 61st Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on North Korean human rights by consensus on March 30 (Geneva local time), with 50 countries — including the Republic of Korea — participating as co-sponsors. No vote was required.

The Korean government notes that the resolution welcomes North Korea's instances of compliance with human rights obligations and its participation in the Fourth Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), acknowledging the efforts made by the North Korean side. The resolution also underscores the importance of dialogue and engagement — including inter-Korean dialogue — as a means of improving the human rights situation within North Korea.

The resolution strongly condemns systematic, widespread, and grave human rights violations in North Korea — including restrictions on freedoms of thought, religion, expression, and assembly; discrimination based on the songbun class classification system; violations of the right to food and an adequate standard of living; and abuses across the entire penal system, including political prison camps, forced labor, torture, public executions, and sexual violence. The Council called on North Korea to close all political prison camps, release all prisoners, and immediately halt arbitrary and extrajudicial executions.

It also urges all states to respect the principle of non-refoulement and to protect North Korean asylum seekers, noting deep concern that forcibly repatriated individuals face imprisonment, torture, sexual violence, enforced disappearance, and execution.

The resolution further reflects the findings of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' 2025 comprehensive report on North Korean human rights, which documented specific restrictions on freedom of movement and freedom of expression and called for their improvement. Additional provisions address humanitarian concerns, including calls for the immediate repatriation of abductees and the resumption of inter-Korean family reunions, as well as encouragement for the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

The Korean government reaffirmed its commitment to continued cooperation with the international community toward the substantive improvement of human rights conditions for the people of North Korea.

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Press Release translated by AI, edited by David Kendall