Speaking during the interactive dialogue on North Korea (March 13, 2026), UN Watch details how Kim Jong Un’s regime has transitioned from domestic repression to active participation in international conflicts—supplying Russia with ballistic missiles, artillery, and troops for the war in Ukraine, and aligning with Iran to destabilize the Middle East.

Full Speech:

Luis Pelaez (UN Watch): Madam Vice President,

The DPRK remains one of the world’s most repressive states. A system of political prison camps, collective punishment, forced labor, and total control over information continues to deny millions of North Koreans their most basic human rights.

But the danger posed by Kim Jong Un and his generals does not stop at their borders.

Today, the DPRK is actively supporting global aggression. It has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles, artillery, ammunition, and even troops used in attacks against Ukrainian cities, helping sustain Moscow’s illegal invasion and the suffering of countless civilians. 

At the same time, Pyongyang continues to align itself with the Islamic Republic of Iran as it recklessly attacks countries across the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Cyprus, and Israel. The DPRK has long provided missile technology and political backing to the IRGC as it terrorizes its own people and, indeed, the world. 

This pattern reveals a troubling reality: the DPRK is not only a prison for its own population—it is also a partner in a growing axis of authoritarian governments that fuel conflict and undermine international peace and security.

We urge the Council and the international community to confront this threat and ensure accountability for the dictatorship’s crimes against its own people and its destabilizing actions abroad.

Thank you.

The post North Korea’s Role in the Global Axis of Aggression appeared first on UN Watch.

Joint statement by United Nations Watch and Ingénieurs du Monde, delivered by intern Alexandra Gabriel before the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, 23 September 2025. Agenda Item 4, Enhanced interactive dialogue on High Commissioner report on Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea.

Full Speech:

Thank you, Mr. President.

We are deeply alarmed by today’s report on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Last year, the DPRK’s delegate claimed legislative changes aimed at correcting unjust trial practices.

But make no mistake, with 99% of political cases resulting in convictions, the people of the DPRK are not receiving fair trials.

Once they are sentenced they face years of torment in labor camps. Survivors of these camps describe 15-hour workdays starvation, torture, and rape.

In the harshest facilities, annual death rates have reached up to 25%. These prisoners are not only robbed of human rights; they are seen as subhuman.

Today, the DPRK’s propensity for human rights has made its way past the country’s borders. Its quote, “special alliance of trust and friendship with Russia,” has allowed both countries to disregard international law.

By supplying 1.2 million artillery shells and at least 11,000 troops since 2023, the DPRK is enabling Russia’s war in Ukraine and prolonging the suffering of civilians.

This alliance forms part of a troubling trend of collaboration between Russia, DPRK, and the Islamic Republic of Iran in which they trample international law and then shield each other from the consequences.

We ask this Council when will you take action for the victims of the DPRK’s abuses both within and beyond its borders.

I thank you.

The post North Korea Confronted at UN Over Human Rights Abuses appeared first on UN Watch.

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Full Transcript:

The post Former North Korean Political Prisoner Asks the UN: “How much longer must my people suffer?” appeared first on UN Watch.

GENEVA, March 25, 2025 — In a joint statement, UN Watch intern Cole Hecker took the floor of the UN Human Rights Council to condemn North Korea for its atrocities against the Ukrainian people after joining Russia’s war of aggression.

During the address, the representative for North Korea interrupted the two-minute speech a staggering five times by invoking a procedural point of order, without any basis accusing UN Watch of speaking off-topic while failing to “observe the rules of procedure” of the Council.

After the North Korean delegate asked the Chair of the Council to “stop this intervention,” the representative from Belgium interrupted to lend support to UN Watch.

“I would request, Madam Vice President, you to allow NGO representative to finish what they have to say. Their participation in this Council is absolutely necessary,” the Belgian delegate said.

Not withstanding one more attempt by North Korea to shut down UN Watch’s address, the speech was then allowed to continue, concluding by calling for the launch of an inquiry into North Korea’s “war crimes in Ukraine.”

UN Human Rights Council Debate, March 25

UN Watch Joint Statement: Madam Vice President, we are alarmed by the grave human rights violations in North Korea, which not only target people domestically, but also now across borders— [Interrupted]

Vice-President: Point of order being requested. I give the floor then to DPRK.

North Korea: Thank you, Madam Vice-President, it is very regrettable to cast a second point of order in this session. I once again reiterate that the speaker is not adhering to the rules of procedure for use of names not recognized in the in the United Nations system.

I urge the chair to ensure that the speaker strictly observe the rules of procedure and manner by respect and dignifying the sovereign state. I thank you.

Vice-President: Thank you all the speakers of the need to adhere to official UN terminology when referring to countries. With this in mind, I give the floor back to Ingénieurs du Monde.

UN Watch Joint Statement: Thank you. DPRK has sent thousands of troops to serve as cannon fodder for the war of aggression against Ukraine. There are now North Korea made KN-23— [Interrupted]

Vice-President: I have to interrupt you, have another point of order, so I give the floor to DPRK.

North Korea: I apologize for the third point of order. Right now the speaker is talking about a topic that has nothing to do with this UPR, so we kindly ask the Chair to ensure that the speaker still observe the rules of procedure and manner by respecting and dignifying the sovereign state. I thank you.

Vice-President: Thank you. I want to say that we are currently discussing Agenda Item 6 of the Universal Periodic Review, and I would like to remind everyone that intervention should focus specifically on UPR outcome. I thank you once again, and let me give back the floor to Ingénieurs du Monde.

UN Watch Joint Statement: Thank you. DPRK’s actions violate international law and fuel war crimes and atrocities against the Ukrainian people. We recall that under UN Security Council sanctions in place since 2006, countries are banned from hosting North Korean trainers—[Interrupted]

Vice-President: Got to interrupt you again, because there’s another request for another point of order. Please go ahead DPRK.

North Korea: Madam Vice President, the speaker has not followed the request of the Chair and continues to refuse. That’s why I once again ask the chair to ensure the speaker steadily comply with the rules of the procedure or stop the intervention. I thank you.

Vice-President: Thank you, I would like to ask the speaker, once again, to contextualize on Agenda Item Six of the Universal Periodic Review. That is the normal procedure here when we are dealing with UPR.

I would like to also reiterate what I have already stated earlier, all speakers are abided to refer to official UN terminology when referring to countries as well. So let me give once again the floor to Ingénieurs du Monde.

UN Watch Joint Statement: Madam Vice President, I’m speaking on the DPRK’s transnational crimes. We recall that under UN Security Council sanctions in place since 2006 countries are banned from hosting North Korean trainers, advisers, or other officials for the purpose—[Interrupted]

Vice-President: I interrupt once more, I got a point of order from the DPRK.

North Korea: Madam Vice President, the speaker has not followed the request of the Chair and continues to refuse. Once again, I ask the Chair to ensure that speakers strictly comply with the rules of the procedure or stop this intervention. I thank you.

Vice-President: Thank you, I would like to say to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea that I have clearly understood what he has stated earlier. So with that in mind, I will give back the floor for the last time to Ingénieurs du Monde to finish the statement under the understanding of what we have said earlier, related to language and related to focusing on what is at stake here at the UPR.

UN Watch Joint Statement: Madam Vice President, as several countries have recommended during the UPR, North Korea must immediately end its complicity in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. When North Korean troops fall on the battlefield in Ukraine, do they even know what they are dying for?— [Interrupted]

Vice-President: I’ll interrupt you again because we have a point of order, referring to the same theme as before. First I’ll give the floor to Belgium, who have also asked for a point of order, please go ahead.

Belgium: Madam Vice President, now since some recommendations were actually related to the points that the colleague from the NGO was raising, I would request, Madam Vice President, you to allow NGO representative to finish what they have to say.

Their participation in this Council is absolutely necessary, whether we like what they have to say or not. We have to listen to what they have to say. Their contribution is essential for an inclusive participation and for the work of this council. I thank you.

Vice-President: I give the floor to the DPRK.

North Korea: Thank you, Madam Vice President. The issue raised by the delegation is that it is not the issue of the UPR, it depends on the rules of procedure, that’s why I kindly ask the Chair for speakers to strictly observe the rules of procedure. I thank you.

Vice-President: Thank you. I would like to give back the floor to the speaker in order for him to conclude with the statement, you have the floor, Ingénieurs du Monde.

UN Watch Joint Statement: Esteemed delegates. This Council cannot remain silent as the DPRK’s brutality now extends beyond its borders.

We call on the Council to launch an inquiry into DPRK’s role in the commission of war crimes in Ukraine. This inquiry should also be mandated to report all member states that aid and abet this gross abuser of human rights. We thank you.

The post Outrageous: North Korea Interrupts Speaker Five Times During UN Watch Joint Statement appeared first on UN Watch.

UN Watch brought Ukrainian MP Lisa Yasko to the floor of the U.N. Human Rights Council to call out North Korean human rights violations being committed related to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.

Full Transcript:

My name is Lisa Yasko a member of the Parliament of Ukraine and I ask you to condemn as much as you can North Korean human rights violations that they are committing in cooperation with Russian aggression against Ukraine.

When, in 2024, they openly joined Russian forces to commit crimes against humanity on Ukrainian land and in the war against Ukraine we were sure that the world reactions would be very strong but in fact, it was not.

Because there is no proper reaction North Korea is continuing to help Russia immensely. Do you know that most of the ammunition that Russia is actually receiving it is receiving from North Korea? Do you know that the ballistic missiles no one is giving so many ballistic missiles to Russia as North Korea.

For North Koreans, this cooperation with Russia is actually very progressive and they really like the idea that they are gaining militaristic experience in committing more and more war crimes and they are gaining technologies that will allow them to have more wars to start more wars in the future.

Please raise your voice. Make a proper statement to condemn North Korea.

The post Ukrainian MP Lisa Yasko Condemns North Korean Participation in Russia’s War on Ukraine at the UNHRC appeared first on UN Watch.

Speeches

4 Videos

Full Event | Human Rights in North Korea | HRC54 Side Event

53:19

Hiller Neuer | Human Rights in North Korea | HRC54 Side Event

4:21

Jeong-ah Kim | Human Rights in North Korea, UN HRC 54

20:02

Timothy Cho | Human Rights in North Korea | UNHRC54 Side Event

10:42

GENEVA, September 22, 2023 — UN Watch in collaboration with the group Rights for Female North Koreans (RFNK) hosted an event today at the United Nations on the plight of North Korean refugees in China. 

Attended by numerous diplomats and NGO delegates, the event featured testimonies of gross and systematic violations by North Korean and Chinese authorities, and was held on the sidelines of the 54th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council, where China’s record will be subject to a review in January.

Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, opened the panel sharing harrowing statistics on the mistreatment of North Koreans refugees in China where up to 80% of female refugees become victims of human traffickers who exploit them in an illicit sex trade industry that generates over $100 million annually. 

South Korea’s Ambassador the UN in Geneva, Mr. Seong deok Yun, noted several important steps taken by his country on the international stage to spotlight the plight of the North Korean people who suffer recurring imprisonment, torture, forced child separation, and sexual violence. He called upon the international community to take decisive action against these human rights violations. 

Jeong-ah Kim, Korean activist, survivor and head of RFNK, bore witness about the devastating impact of Chinese forced repatriation policies on North Korean refugee mothers. She described the unimaginable trauma endured by North Korean women who were trafficked and became mothers in China, but were then forcefully repatriated back to Korea never to see their children again. Many of these children remain stateless with no access to education and health services.

Timothy Cho, activist and survivor, recounted the horrors of his four imprisonments in North Korean and Chinese prisons, in a powerful appeal for an “act of love and humanity” to save the lives and the livelihoods of his fellow North Korean people.

Son Myung-hee, survivor and two-time defector, spoke by video to share her tragic story as a North Korean mother who escaped, was sold to a Chinese man, then imprisoned and tortured by Chinese authorities, until she was forcefully separated from her child and repatriated back to North Korea, only to escape again. 

Their stories provided a sobering glimpse into the everyday experience of thousands of North Korean refugees who suffer abuses long after their escape from one of the world’s cruelest regimes.  They also provided moments of immense courage, extraordinary resilience and hope, with a call to international action to protect these desperate victims.

Hillel Neuer

“We urge the United Nations system to use its influenced to dissuade the Chinese government from forcibly repatriating these refugees”

“China is now running for re-election to this Human Rights Council. it is time that it ends complicity in the crimes against humanity committed in and by North Korea.”

 

Ambassador Seong deok Yun

“In this room, we stand united with a clear and unwavering mission: to raise global awareness, advocate for changes, and call upon the international community to take decisive action.”

full remarks

Jeong-ah Kim 

“The pain is unbearable. Not a day goes by when I don’t think of my daughter who was forcefully separated from me 14 years ago “

“The Chinese government’s two-decade-long passive stance, marked by its silence, has effectively endorsed the human rights violations perpetrated by the North Korean regime.”

full remarks

Timothy Cho

“The Chinese soldiers starting shooting in our direction while 4 and 6 year old children, holding my hands, were screaming.”

“So what does our United Nations stand for – if not for the principle that all individuals are born free and equal in dignity and rights? No individual and nation was born to be in darkness and suffering “

full remarks

Son Myung-hee

“The severe torture culminated when my appendix burst … during the emergency appendix surgery, which was carried out without anesthesia, I remained handcuffed.”

“The continuous policies of forced repatriation not only strip us of our human rights but sever the bond between a mother and her child.”

“This treacherous escape was fueled by my maternal instinct – a desperate need to see my children and ensure they weren’t left motherless.”

Photo Gallery

The post North Korean Refugees Testify at United Nations appeared first on UN Watch.

At the annual gathering of WHO member states, which ended on May 30, Kim Jong Un’s North Korea won a seat on the WHO Executive Board, on a slate with nine other countries.

“What this means is that one of the world’s most horrific regimes is now a part of a group that sets and enforces the standards and norms for the global governance of health care. It is an absurd episode for a key U.N. agency that is in much need of self-reflection and reform,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, an independent non-governmental human rights group in Geneva.

“A seat on the executive board provides North Korea with a vote on the appointment of the WHO’s six regional directors, and potentially on an eventual replacement for Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general now serving his second and final term.

North Korea was elected in a slate with the other nominees by a secret ballot: 123 nations voting yes, 13 abstentions and 6 spoiled ballots; 35 countries were absent. Normally the elections are by consensus, but Russia challenged Ukraine’s nomination, and so a vote was held.

“The right signal from the U.N. to the North Korean regime would be an overdue referral to the International Criminal Court, and a call to investigate and prosecute Kim Jon Un’s heinous crimes against humanity — not an election to an organization that sets the standards for global health,” said Neuer.

Other countries joining the executive board are Australia, Barbados, Cameroon, Comoros, Lesotho, Qatar, Switzerland, Togo and Ukraine.

Neuer added that North Korea will remain part of the WHO’s executive board for at least the next three years, allowing current supreme leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un to influence the WHO’s agency, policies and appointments.

What happened at the @WHO's 76th assembly:
🇹🇼 Taiwan, a leader on public health, barred entryhttps://t.co/SLoGO2ADPl
🇮🇱 Israel, a biotech innovator, singled out for censurehttps://t.co/6kRozE4uHK
🇰🇵 North Korea elected to WHO leadership role https://t.co/SV4AS1P1eB https://t.co/94Neweh5Up pic.twitter.com/hU8kkI7FA2

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) May 31, 2023

The post North Korea Wins Leading Role at World Health Organization appeared first on UN Watch.

Testimony by United Nations Watch to 52^nd Session of the Human Rights Council, Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, delivered by Sam Namias on 20 March 2023:

Thank you, Mr. President. I am honored to deliver this statement jointly with United Nations Watch.

We commend the Special Rapporteur for her report, and for taking a gender-sensitive approach to documenting abhorrent human rights abuses in the DPRK.

The report notes that, in 2001, the DPRK ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Moreover, in its most recent Voluntary National Review of the Sustainable Development Goals, the DPRK claimed to have, and I quote “achieved gender equality a long time ago.”

Yet the reality on the ground is starkly different. According to testimonies collected by the Korea Institute for National Unification, women who unsuccessfully try to escape the oppressive DPRK are sent to labor camps, where they often fall victim to sexual violence. They are classified as ‘criminals’ and ‘traitors.’ Repatriated pregnant women defectors are forced to have abortions, or leave their newborns unattended to die.

Women who do manage to escape are then at the mercy of Chinese traffickers. Defector Yeonmi Park has testified how her mother was raped by a Chinese broker and then sold as a slave. She spent two years hiding from Chinese police who would have sent her back to North Korea. “Even the word ‘love’,” she said, “has only one meaning in North Korea: love for the Dear Leader.”

Mr. President,

The suffering people of North Korea cannot speak for themselves. It is our duty to be their voice.

We urge this Council to hold the despotic DPRK to account for crimes committed against their own people.

I thank you.

The post UN Testimony: World Must Act for Women’s Rights in North Korea appeared first on UN Watch.

Testimony by United Nations Watch to 52^nd Session of the Human Rights Council, Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, delivered by Timothy Cho on 20 March 2023:

Special Rapporteur,

Thank you for your report, which coincides with the 10th anniversary of the COI report on DPRK.

In 18 pages, you extensively highlight how the DPRK has abandoned its primary responsibility to protect its people from hunger, and instead instigated persecution, internal repression, thought crimes, and crimes against humanity.

I will briefly address food insecurity, cited on page 3. It states that “60% of the population was food insecure” and “41.6% of the population suffered from malnourishment” by the end of 2021.

Born in this prison country, and having experienced hunger, multiple escapes and imprisonments, I know the meaning of hunger in DPRK.

I recall on personal experience when one night I woke up at a train station and I felt my back itching very badly. I asked one of my friends to take a look.

Bed bugs had burrowed under my skin while I was sleeping. My back looked horrific.

Far worse, though, was when we discovered that two other homeless children sleeping next to us, had died of hunger. Their bodies were collected in the morning.

I am appalled that the DPRK chooses to spend billions on weapons, instead of feeding its people. This can only lead to my beautiful country sinking more and more deeply into hunger, injustice and cruelty, in order for this corrupt entity to maintain its grip on power.

My country cannot flourish until this changes. It is imperative that the people’s fundamental needs of food, shelter and freedom, become their first and foremost priority.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Bravo @Timothycho08 who spoke for us now @UN_HRC: “I’m appalled North Korea spends billions on weapons instead of feeding its people. My beautiful country is sinking more and more into hunger, injustice and cruelty in order for this corrupt regime to maintain its grip on power.” pic.twitter.com/RXrVEdHVvg

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) March 20, 2023

The post UN Testimony: World must hold North Korea to account for gross human rights violations appeared first on UN Watch.

The 65-nation Conference on Disarmament, based in Geneva, is considered the cornerstone of nuclear disarmament efforts. The UN-backed body calls itself “the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community.”

“Having the North Korean regime of Kim Jong-un preside over global nuclear weapons disarmament will be like putting a serial rapist in charge of a women’s shelter,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based non-governmental organization that monitors the United Nations, and which spearheaded the joint protest.

“This is a country that threatens to attack other UN member states with missiles, and that commits atrocities against its own people. Torture and starvation are routine in North Korean political prison camps where an estimated 100,000 people are held in what is one of the world’s most dire human-rights situations,” said Neuer.

Under UN rules, the North Korean ambassador to the forum, Mr. Han Tae Song, will help organize the work of the conference and assist in setting the agenda.

He will exercise all functions of a presiding officer, and represent the body in its relations with states, the General Assembly and other organs of the United Nations, and with other international organizations.

While the post is largely formal, “North Korea holding the president’s gavel is liable to seriously undermine the image and credibility of the United Nations, and will send absolutely the worst message,” said Neuer.

“At a time when China, Cuba, Libya, Kazakhstan and Venezuela are sitting on the UN’s human rights council, this won’t help.”

North Korea is world’s foremost weapons proliferator

“North Korea is the world’s foremost weapons proliferator. The regime builds its own nuclear weapons in contravention of its treaty commitments. Pyongyang sells missile and atomic know-how to other rogue regimes in blatant violation of U.N. sanctions,” said Neuer.

Yesterday, Pyongyang fired three missiles, including one thought to be its largest intercontinental ballistic missile, the latest in a string of banned ballistic missile launches that the country has carried out this year.

“If the U.N. seeks to be an institution with a moral compass, it cannot allow the likes of North Korea to head arms control agencies, and to keep electing the world’s worst abusers on its top human rights body,” said Neuer.

Democracies should walk out

“UN Watch urges the U.S., Canada, Britain, France, Germany, and all other member and observer states to refuse to send ambassadors to any meeting of this UN forum that is being chaired by North Korea. The U.S. and Canada pulled out while Iran was chair in 2013, and should do so again,” said Neuer.

It as “a fundamental conflict of interests to have North Korea as president of a disarmament forum, an act liable to be exploited by North Korean propaganda, to legitimize Kim Jong-un’s cruel regime,” said Neuer.

“A country that flagrantly violates UN Security Council resolutions explicitly prohibiting its ballistic missile launches should be barred from any formal positions in UN bodies dealing with the such vital matters as nuclear weapons disarmament,” said Neuer.

North Korea has continued developing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in 2021 in violation of UN sanctions and despite the country’s worsening economic situation, UN sanctions monitors reported in August.

“The North Korean regime of Kim Jong-un simply cannot be a credible chair of this or any other United Nations body. North Korea’s illegal development of nuclear weapons, in breach of its disarmament obligations, run counter to the objectives and principles of the Conference on Disarmament itself.”

“North Korea’s chairmanship will only undermine the integrity of both the disarmament framework and of the United Nations, and no country should support that.”

North Korea will assume the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament on May 30 and hold it over four weeks, until June 24.

Regime change: After month heading UN-backed Conference on Disarmament, Cuba passes gavel to North Korea.

🇨🇺 Cuba: “We pledge full support to North Korea.”
🇰🇵 NKorea: “I cannot find words to express our appreciation what you did. I will outline our plan during my presidency…” https://t.co/XoDLp8hKhv pic.twitter.com/On2vP6zJcZ

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) June 1, 2022

About the Conference of Disarmament

The Conference of Disarmament (CD) reports to the UN General Assembly and is billed by the UN as “the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community.”

Established in 1979 after a special UN General Assembly session, the CD is made up of 65 countries who have been divided in recent years on key issues.

The conference and its predecessors have negotiated such major multilateral arms limitation and disarmament agreements as:

• Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

• Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction

• Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction

• Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques

• Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

UN Sanctions on North Korea for Illicit Nuclear and Missile Activities

The United Nations Security Council has adopted at least nine major sanctions resolutions on North Korea in response to the country’s illicit nuclear and missile activities since 2006. Each resolution condemns North Korea’s latest nuclear and ballistic missile activity and calls on North Korea to cease its illicit activity, which violates previous UN Security Council resolutions.

In addition to imposing sanctions, the resolutions give UN member states the authority to interdict and inspect North Korean cargo within their territory, and subsequently seize and dispose of illicit shipments.

______

CIVIL SOCIETY APPEAL TO PROTEST NORTH KOREA AS CHAIR OF CONFERENCE OF DISARMAMENT

The undersigned non-governmental and human rights organizations call on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the United States, the European Union and all other democracies to strongly protest North Korea’s absurd chairmanship of the UN-backed Conference on Disarmament, starting on May 30, 2022, and for all ambassadors to walk out during the four weeks of the rogue regime’s presidency.

North Korea is a country that threatens to attack other UN member states with missiles, and that commits atrocities against its own people. Torture and starvation are routine in North Korean political prison camps where an estimated 100,000 people are held in what is one of the world’s most dire human-rights situations.

As Chair of the world’s top disarmament forum, North Koren Ambassador Han Tae Song will help organize the work of the conference and assist in setting the agenda, exercise all functions of a presiding officer, and represent the body in its relations with states, the General Assembly and other organs of the United Nations, and with other international organizations.

North Korea holding the president’s gavel is liable to seriously undermine the image and credibility of the United Nations, and will send absolutely the worst message. At a time when China, Cuba, Eritrea, Libya, Kazakhstan and Venezuela are sitting on the UN’s human rights council, this will only further erode the standing of the United Nations.

North Korea is the world’s foremost weapons proliferator. The regime builds its own nuclear weapons in contravention of its treaty commitments. Pyongyang sells missile and atomic know-how to other rogue regimes in blatant violation of UN sanctions.

Kim Jong-un has carried out a dozen ballistic missile tests since the beginning of the year, threatens to carry out more, and, according to intelligence assessments, may be ready to resume underground nuclear testing.

If the UN seeks to be an institution with a moral compass, it cannot allow the likes of North Korea to direct arms control agencies.

We therefore urge the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Australia and all other states to refuse to send ambassadors or other delegates to any meeting of this UN forum that is being chaired by North Korea.

We recall that several countries rightly pulled out of this forum when the Iranian regime became the head in 2013, and under Syrian Assad regime’s presidency in 2018, and we urge all states to stand up for the credibility of the United Nations by doing so again when North Korea outrageously is handed the gavel.

Sincerely,

Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, United States
United Nations Watch, Switzerland
The Family Research Council, United States
International Network of Liberal Women, Netherlands
World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women, UK
International Association for Water Law, Italy
Asociación Española para el Derecho Internacional de los Derechos Humanos, Spain
Thin and High, United States
Structural Analysis of Cultural Systems, Germany
Edmund Rice International, Switzerland
Romanian Independent Society of Human Rights
Lebanese American Renaissance Partnership, Lebanon
Institute of Noahide Code, United States
Society for the Widows and Orphans, Nigeria
InnerCity Mission for Children, Nigeria
Riba Foundation, United States
India Media Centre, India
Business and Professional Women Voluntary Organization, Sudan
Educational Foundation for African Women, Nigeria
Amis de l’Afrique Francophone-Bénin, Benin
Ashiana Collective Development Council, Pakistan
Kinder in Kenia, Switzerland
Global Academy Institute of Technology Foundation Inc., Philippines
Association Mauritanienne des Droits de l’Homme, Mauritania
Welfare Togo, Togo
Association Mouvement pour la Défense de l’Humanité et l’Abolition de la Torture, Cameroon
Save the Climat, Democratic Republic of Congo
Vivekananda Sevakendra-O-Sishu Uddyan, India
Credo-Action, Togo
World Jewish Congress, United States
Buddies Association of Volunteers for Orphans, Disabled and Abandoned Children, Cameroon
Global Economist Forum, Bangladesh
Association pour la promotion de la lutte contre les vîolences faites aux femmes et la participation au développement de la Femme Africaine, Cameroon
Coup de Pouce, Democratic Republic of Congo
NGOs Computer Literacy, Shelter Welfare, Pakistan
VIVAT International, United States
Forum méditerranéen pour la promotion des droits du citoyen, Morocco
MIROSLAVA International Alliance, Ukraine
Liberians United to Expose Hidden Weapons, Liberia
Sisters of Charity Federation, United States
Global Vision India Foundation, India
Peter-Hesse-Stiftung (Solidarity in Partnership for One World), Germany
Karlen Communications, Canada
Halley Movement for Social and Community Development, Mauritius
Foundation of International Servant leadership Exchange Association, Republic of Korea
Asian Marine Conservation Association, India
Major Alliance Education Centre, Tanzania
Youth for a Better World, United States
Kikandwa Rural Communities Development Organization, Uganda
Victims of Crisis Aid Society, Nigeria
Le Comité français des ONG pour la liaison et l’information des Nations Unies, France
Fondation Espoir et Vie Pays, Democratic Republic of Congo

———————————

Statement by Timothy Cho, North Korean Escapee and Human Rights Advocate

Democracies must walk away as North Korea chairs UN Conference on Disarmament this week

As a North Korean escapee and an Inquiry Clerk for the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea, I am shocked by the unbelievable news that North Korea will chair a 65 nation UN-backed Conference on Disarmament from Monday, May 30th, 2022.

This news recalls my memories in North Korean prison cell and my inmates screaming and begging to live, during my two attempted escapes and four times imprisonment in China and North Korea, it is still vivid and terrifying, and in my ears and eyes.

This single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community will discuss the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Prohibition of the production and stockpiling of biological weapons, and Prohibition of the development, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons.

But all these multilateral arms limitations and disarmament agreements are completely denied by North Korea, and they continued testing, developing, producing and even using its chemical weapons ‘VX nerve agent’ to assassinate Kim Jong-Un’s half brother Kim Jong-Nam at the Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia in 2017.

Then just last week, North Korea launched three intercontinental and short-range ballistic missiles and so far over twenty intercontinental and short-range ballistic missiles, rockets, and nuclear weapons testing in the past six months. This is all upon the United Nations Security Council’s adoption of nine major sanctions resolutions on North Korea in response to the country’s illicit nuclear and missile activities since 2006. Each resolution condemns North Korea’s latest nuclear and ballistic missile activity and calls on North Korea to cease its illicit activity of threat to regional peace and security, which violates United Nations Security Council resolutions.

We must remember that all these weapons of mass destruction in North Korea are not for the millions of hungry and suppressed people. It is for the regime that they need all these weapons to rule their own people and to preserve the darkest and most totalitarian systems in the 21st century.

North Korea does not have any qualifications to chair the UN-backed conference because they have completely abandoned the state’s primary responsibility to protect their own citizens from hunger and abuses. North Korean leaders are committing crimes against humanity, starvation, oppression, persecution, imprisonment, torture, execution, forced abortion, enforced disappearance and three-generation punishment, as the UN Commission of Inquiry report 2014 concludes that – North Korea’s human rights violations make it “a state without parallel” in the contemporary world.

The United Nations must not allow the DPRK to chair the UN-backed conference in the first place, and therefore I urge all democratic representatives of the United Nations to stand up for the voiceless people of North Korea and walk away from this conference. Likewise when several countries rightly pulled out of this when the Iranian regime became the head in 2013, and under Syrian Assad regime’s presidency in 2018.

I and my North Korean brothers and sisters are not born for this chain of life in darkness, persecution and injustice in large prison society. 74 years is enough.

In solidarity,
Timothy Cho
Human Rights Advocate

BREAKING: 🇰🇵 North Korea has just taken over as chair of the Conference on Disarmament here at the United Nations in Geneva. This is not a joke.

When they preside at tomorrow's meeting, our coalition of 40 UN-accredited NGOs is calling on all democracies to walk out.

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) May 30, 2022

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