UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY: HIGH-LEVEL MEETING TO ADDRESS THE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AND VIOLATIONS BEING COMMITTED IN THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Statement by Sheona McKenna, Acting Deputy Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations
20 May 2025
Australia remains deeply concerned by persistent and egregious human rights violations taking place in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
These violations are well documented by United Nations reporting, including the 2014 report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK.
It is disappointing that the DPRK has done little to improve the situation of its citizens since the Commission’s report, which detailed evidence of systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations including arbitrary detention, forced labour, torture and the denial of fundamental freedoms.
Australia unequivocally condemns these violations, which are not isolated; they are entrenched in state policy.
We are disturbed that the DPRK continues to prioritise military expenditure over the wellbeing of its own people, resulting in a lack of sanitation and inadequate food, healthcare services and education, particularly for women and girls.
The DPRK’s concerning military cooperation with Russia, which is frequently in contravention of UNSC resolutions, is not only destabilising for regional and global peace, but further diverts critical resources away from the welfare of North Korean people.
Australia is a proud and active supporter of the multilateral human rights system. The UN is central to holding perpetrators of human rights abuses and violations to account and advocating on behalf of vulnerable populations.
Australia strongly supports the continued mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Seoul.
These mechanisms play a critical role in documentation, accountability and maintaining international pressure.
Australia also underscores the importance of the Universal Periodic Review as a vital tool to engage the DPRK on its human rights obligations.
At the 47th session of the UPR in 2024, Australia presented six recommendations on how the DPRK could improve its human rights situation.
We also supported the Republic of Korea to put the human rights situation in the DPRK on the UNSC agenda, to highlight the impact of the DPRK’s prioritisation of military, nuclear, and missile programs on the country’s most vulnerable populations.
We urge all UNSC members and the DPRK to act on the recommendations made by the Commission’s 2014 report and other human rights mechanisms.