August 10, 2023
(The following is a joint statement delivered by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Representative of the United States to the United Nations, in the United States’ national capacity, on behalf of Albania, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States.)
The United States and co-penholder Albania – along with Japan and the Republic of Korea – are pleased to announce that we requested a meeting of the Security Council for the morning of August 17th to discuss the DPRK’s human rights abuses and violations, and the links to international peace and security.
This is the first Security Council open briefing on the human rights situation in the DPRK since 2017. And it’s long overdue.
The Council will receive a briefing and benefit from the expertise of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the DPRK, Elizabeth Salmón, and a civil society briefer.
Protecting people around the world is an integral part of the UN Charter and an important responsibility of the Security Council. And that means holding the DPRK regime accountable for its human rights abuses and violations.
We know the government’s human rights abuses and violations facilitate the advancement of its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles program.
The Council must address the horrors, the abuses, and crimes being perpetrated daily by the Kim regime against its own citizens – and people from other Member States, including Japan and Republic of Korea.
We must stand up to those who rightfully deserve to exercise their human rights and fundamental freedoms.