Research & Documentation

NK Watch 2023 Report

The Suryong Dictatorship Mechanism: Who is Ultimately Responsible for Crimes against Humanity?

This report by NK Watch outlines the organization’s efforts over the past decade to collect evidence and identify witnesses in pursuit of accountability for crimes against humanity in North Korea. Focusing on the dictatorship system led by the “suryong” or supreme leader, the study reveals a complex and sophisticated mechanism where the suryong holds ultimate responsibility for atrocities committed in North Korea. The report employs literature analysis fo confidential documents and interviews with high-ranking defectors and a former diplomat. The findings emphasize the suryong’s control over national strategies and policies, shedding light on the systematic nature of human rights abuses in North Korea and paving the way for accountability efforts.

Dr. Kwanhyung Lee (Program Director of NK Watch)
Dr. In Su Kwak (Executive Director of KAS Consultancy)

Issue date July 25th, 2023
Published by NK Watch

NK Watch 2020 Report

Effects of International Advocacy toward Human Rights of North Korea

The purpose of this research is to assess whether international human rights advocacy has
had any impact on the situation of human rights in North Korea. Using various sources and data, the research specifically focused on the UN’s and the US’s human rights advocacy, assessing how North Korea changed its stance in response to these two advocacies. In addition, the research examines changes in the treatment of prisoners in prison facilities in North Korea. The findings indicate that without continuous advocacy efforts by the international community, changes in the situation of human rights in North Korea could not have happened.

Myeong-Chul Ann (Executive Director of NK Watch) Kwanhyung Lee (Program Director of NK Watch) Hyein Nam (Manager of International Affairs of NK Watch) Hye Soo Hahn (Research Assistant of NK Watch)

Issue date May, 2020
Published by NK Watch

Records

엔케이워치는 탈북민 인터뷰를 통해 북한에서의 반인도적범죄 피해를 조사하고 있습니다. 엔케이워치는 이 조사 기록을 바탕으로 청원서를 작성하고 유엔인권이사회 산하에 있는 고문 특별보고관 (Special Rapporteur on Torture), 여성폭력 특별보고관 (Special Rapporteur on violence against women),

Records

강제실종 실무그룹 (Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances), 강제구금 실무그룹(Working Group on Arbitrary Detention), 현대판 노예제도에 대한 특별보고관 (Special Rapporteuron Contemporary forms of Slavery), 장애인권리에 대한 특별보고관 (Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities)에 제출하고 있습니다.

Records

도전과제: [상담, 인터뷰 관련 이모티콘 필요] 엔케이워치는 북한 당국으로부터 반인도적범죄 피해를 당하셨거나, 정치범수용소에 구금된 것으로 확인 혹은 추정된 가족을 두신 증언자들을 찾고 있습니다.

NK Watch is a non-profit corporation registered with the Ministry of Unification (Registration date and number: December 31, 2003, No. 117)