1. Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin will focus on the egregious human rights situation in North Korea in his pre-recorded congratulatory remarks to be delivered at the conference on “North Korean Human Rights and International Cooperation: The Way Forward after the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI)+10,” which will be held in Washington, D.C., on April 21, 2023, local time, sponsored by the United States Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. 

2. Foreign Minister Park will point out that even after a decade since the establishment of the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the North Korean human rights situation, the North Korean people are still suffering from systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations. He will particularly stress that the North is tightening its grip on people by strictly punishing contact with and proliferation of outside information pursuant to its “Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act.”

3. In addition, Foreign Minister Park will explain the Korean government’s efforts to enable the world to be better informed about the grave human rights situation in North Korea, including the “2023 North Korean Human Rights Report,” the first publicly available report published by the Korean government. 

4. Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Cho Hyundong and Ambassador for International Cooperation on North Korean Human Rights Lee Shin-wha will join the conference as guest speakers. The event will also bring together relevant people from political, public and academic sectors, including Deputy Special Representative for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at the U.S. Department of State Jung Pak, UN Special Rapporteur for North Korean Human Rights Elizabeth Salmon, and President and CEO of the CSIS John Hamre, for an extensive exchange of views on the human rights situation in North Korea.