1. On January 7, Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho met with UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Ojea Quintana, who is on a visit to the Republic of Korea.

2. Vice Minister Lee shared with the Special Rapporteur the progress made over the past year toward denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula; mentioned that in the process, agreements and progress had been made on humanitarian matters, as could be seen from the reunions of families separated during the Korean War and the repatriation of remains of US soldiers killed in the Korean War, among others; and voiced hope that going forward, inter-Korean relations would advance and peace would be established, which would have positive impact on efforts to substantially promote human rights of the people of the DPRK.

3. Special Rapporteur Quintana, hailing the recent progress toward denuclearization and the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula, expressed support for the ROK government’s efforts to that end. He went on to underscore the need for the DPRK to work more closely with the international community, including the UN human rights mechanisms, in a bid to achieve progress in the field of human rights.

4. The purpose of Special Rapporteur Quintana’s visit to the ROK, his fifth since his taking up the post in August 2016, is to gather information necessary for writing a report that will be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2019.

° During his visit to the ROK from January 7 till 11, Special Rapporteur Quintana will meet with officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Unification and other relevant government agencies, as well as North Korean defectors and members of civil society; and hold a press conference at the Press Center, Seoul, at 15:00, January 11.

* unofficial translation