“To reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states 10 congressional findings on North Korean human rights violations, including State Department-reported political prisoners estimated at 80,000-120,000 (or up to 200,000 by some NGOs); abductions of South Koreans and Japanese since the 1953 Korean War Armistice; arbitrary killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and gender-based violence; COVID-19-induced food insecurity and famine conditions from border lockdowns and shoot-to-kill orders; China's forcible repatriation of refugees in violation of non-refoulement obligations; religious persecution of Christians and Shamanism followers; and the vacancy of the Special Envoy position from January 2017 to December 2022.
This section expresses the sense of Congress that (1) human rights and humanitarian conditions in North Korea remain deplorable and are perpetuated by Kim Jong-Un and the North Korean government; (2) the United States should continue supporting nongovernmental radio broadcasting and other information access efforts to counter North Korean propaganda; (3) the United States should urge China to halt forcible repatriations of North Koreans, allow United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) access, fulfill its refugee convention obligations, adopt non-refoulement in domestic law, and recognize legal status and rights for North Korean women and children in China; (4) the United States should ensure effective delivery of humanitarian aid to North Korean recipients by cooperating with South Korea and international organizations; (5) the Department of State should maintain passport restrictions for travel to North Korea and increase public awareness of associated risks; (6) the United Nations should facilitate access for its human rights officials in North Korea; (7) North Korea should repeal its Reactionary Thought and Culture Denunciation Law and other laws violating freedoms of opinion, expression, thought, conscience, and religion; (8) the Rewards for Justice program should be expanded to include North Korean officials providing evidence of crimes against humanity; (9) foreign governments should cooperate to allow UNHCR and U.S. officials access to process North Korean refugees for resettlement; and (10) the Secretary of State should promote protection of North Korean refugees, escapees, and defectors through diplomacy, including with Asia-Pacific ambassadors and in cooperation with South Korea.
This section reauthorizes and modifies provisions of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 related to programs promoting human rights, democracy, and information access in North Korea, as follows: (1) extends authorization of appropriations of $2 million annually for grants to private, nonprofit organizations supporting such programs—including educational exchanges and research on North Korean human rights abuses—through FY2030 (from FY2022), and requires the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs to submit to congressional committees an initial report within 180 days of enactment and annual reports for the subsequent five years detailing related U.S. diplomatic, international coordination, NGO consultation, funded programs, strategies, and action plans; (2) extends related authorizations for freedom of information efforts through 2030 (from 2022); (3) updates a cross-reference in provisions for assistance to North Koreans outside the country from section 103(15) to 103(17) and extends specified reporting through FY2030 (from FY2022); and (4) extends annual reporting requirements on North Korean human rights through 2030 (from 2022).
This section amends Title I of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 by (1) revising section 103 to express the sense of Congress that the United States should increase support for communications platforms reaching the people of North Korea and that all U.S. government mediums intended to communicate directly with relevant international audiences should increase content dissemination to North Korea above current levels; and (2) in section 104(a), replacing references to the Broadcasting Board of Governors with "United States Government mediums intended to communicate directly with relevant international audiences." (Thus, the provision broadens U.S. government entities responsible for information dissemination into North Korea beyond the former Broadcasting Board of Governors, now the U.S. Agency for Global Media.)
This section replaces the requirement for the Special Envoy for North Korean human rights issues to submit annual reports to congressional committees on activities carried out under the position (through 2022) with a new requirement for the Secretary of State to submit a report to those committees describing efforts to appoint a new Special Envoy if the position will remain vacant for one year or longer without a presidential nomination. (The report is due not later than 90 days before the one-year vacancy mark.)
This section expresses the sense of Congress that (1) the United States and North Korea should reunite Korean American divided family members with their immediate relatives through measures such as identifying willing participants for a pilot reunion program, matching families via organizations like the Red Cross, and including U.S. citizens in South Korean inter-Korean video reunions; (2) restoring contact between divided families—physically, literarily, or virtually—is an urgent need given the inalienable nature of family; and (3) such reunions should be pursued as a humanitarian priority.