Regular Briefing by Spokesperson Cho Joonghoon
Date: Monday,
July 25, 2022
Time: 10:30-10:35 A.M.
1. Unification Ministry to request to recommend directors of the
North Korean Human Rights Foundation
As the composition of the second half of the National Assembly was
finalized on Friday last week, the Unification Ministry sent an
official document today to request the National Assembly to recommend
directors of the North Korean Human Rights Foundation.
The North Korean Human Rights Act stipulates that “the North Korean
Human Rights Foundation shall have not more than 12 directors,
including one chief director, and among whom two persons shall be
recommended by the Minister of Unification, the remainder by the
National Assembly; when the National Assembly recommends directors,
the negotiating body of the political party to which the President
currently belongs or formerly belonged, and the other negotiating
bodies, shall recommend one half of the members, respectively, and the
Minister of Unification shall appoint such directors.”
The Government aims to launch the North Korean Human Rights
Foundation as stipulated in the North Korean Human Rights Act as it is
one of the Government’s main tasks, and the President also called for
the launch of the foundation at an early date when Unification
Minister Kwon Youngse reported the Ministry’s work plan on Friday July 22.
Concerns have been raised at home and abroad for the fact that legal
obligations are not practically implemented as the foundation is still
yet to be established even after the North Korean Human Rights Act
went into effect in September 2016.
The Government intends to establish the foundation as soon as the
recommendation for its directors are finalized by the National
Assembly, and plans to improve the human rights of North Korean
residents and address humanitarian difficulties as mandated by law.
In addition, the Ministry plans to request the recommendation for
members of the National Assembly for the North Korean Human Rights
Advisory Committee as stipulated in Article 5 of the North Korean
Human Rights Act.
The North Korean Human Rights Advisory Committee advises on
promoting North Korean human rights, and is comprised of not more than
10 members, recommended one half of the members by both the ruling and
opposition parties of the National Assembly respectively.
2. Minister’s Schedule
Minister Kwon will attend the National Assembly’s interpellation
session on politics, foreign affairs, unification, and security
sectors today(7.25) at 2 P.M.
On Wednesday July 27, the Minister will attend a study meeting
hosted by the People Power Party at the National Assembly to give a
lecture on the situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula and how the
Government plans to promote inter-Korean relations.
On the same day, the Minister will attend an event to celebrate the
launch of the Unification Education Officials.
3. Q&A
Q. There was a report yesterday evening that a corpse of a woman
with a North Korean badge was found near the Gunnam Dam. Could the
Ministry provide more information regarding this report?
A. On July 23, a woman was found dead near the downstream of the
Imjin River. As this case is currently going under investigation by
responsible agencies, we will let you know with necessary measures at
the Ministry’s level once this person is confirmed to be a North
Korean resident. At this point, the Ministry does not have relevant information.