North Korea Responds to the UN Commission of Inquiry

By David Hawk
16 October 2014

The UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) released its highly-critical report last February, of which, the findings and recommendations were strongly endorsed by UN Member States at the March UN Human Right Council meeting. In May, and then further in September and October, the DPRK responded to the COI with: 1) a report by the DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies; 2) a dramatically revised approach to a UN human rights mechanism know as the Universal Period Review (UPR); and 3) a diplomatic counter-offensive at the current UN General Assembly (GA). 38 North evaluates these three COI-provoked North Korean responses to international criticism of its human policy and practices.

1. The “Report of the DPRK Association for Human Rights Studies”

2. The Revised North Korean Approach to the UN Universal Periodic Review