EU Statement – UN General Assembly 3rd Committee: Interactive dialogue on human rights in the DPRK

Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

Special Rapporteur,

Thank you for your latest report, which presents a sobering but evolving picture. This is why your work provides a vital service – keeping up a regular flow of reporting about a country whose government does everything in its power to restrict access to information about what is happening there.

The DPRK’s repressive political climate allows the government to divert resources to weapons development, at the expense of the welfare of the people in the DPRK. However, the human rights violations committed by the DPRK regime represent not only a heavy burden on people living there, but a menace to international security. The scale and seriousness of those violations are a matter of concern to every UN Member State.

As stated in the report, “There is a pattern that human rights violations committed by the DPRK do not stay inside the country but extend beyond its borders”. The abduction and forced disappearance of foreign nationals; the dispatching of conscripts overseas, in conditions that amount to forced labour; the military support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine; cyberattacks to fund the development of nuclear and other weapons; transnational repression of escapees. These are alarming violations of international law. It is for the General Assembly to keep sending the clear message that they must stop.

Dialogue must be given a chance to work. We acknowledge the DPRK’s engagement with certain UN human rights mechanisms and we call on DPRK authorities to build on this engagement by respecting its obligations under international human rights law. We continue to advocate for a full resumption in diplomatic engagement, and the granting of access to UN agencies and other humanitarian actors. In particular, we urge the DPRK to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur and grant her access to the country.

Ms Salmón,

After three years as Special Rapporteur, what are your thoughts about how to break out of the current impasse in relations with the DPRK?

Thank you.