The Trilateral Meeting on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Opening Remark

1.
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

At a time when the trilateral solidarity of our three nations, based on the values of freedom and human rights, is growing ever stronger,
I find it deeply meaningful that Korea, the United States, and Japan are holding the first-ever joint event on North Korean human rights.

First and foremost, I would like to extend a warm welcome and express my gratitude to all participants who have joined the 'Trilateral Meeting on North Korean Human Rights,' despite your busy schedules.

Last August, the leaders of Korea, the United States, and Japan, reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing cooperation to promote human rights in North Korea and to promptly resolving the issues of abductees, detainees, and prisoners of war through the Joint Statement at Camp David Summit.

Today's event marks an important first step in realizing that commitment through trilateral cooperation and action.

I hope that this event will offer a message of hope to the North Korean people, who have been thoroughly deprived of even the most basic universal rights, and that it will present practical ways to improve human rights in North Korea.

2.
The international community has been in solidarity for decades to address the North Korean human rights issue.

For over 20 years, the United Nations has adopted resolutions on North Korean human rights, and key countries like the United States and Japan have enacted their own 'North Korean Human Rights Acts.'

In 2014, the COI report provided a significant turning point in addressing North Korean human rights.

However, despite these efforts, extreme human rights violations, such as arbitrary detention, torture, and execution highlighted in the COI report continue to be perpetrated under the North Korean regime, even a decade later.

With the North Korean regime having shut off all avenues of dialogue and communication, the area north of the Korean Peninsula's Demilitarized Zone remains, to this day, a 'devil's triangle' of human rights abuses.

If we turn a blind eye to these issues, the perpetrators will only become more brazen, and the human rights situation for the North Korean people will further deteriorate.

We must continue to ensure accountability, sending a strong warning that no act of human rights abuse will be tolerated, and that there will be no safe haven anywhere in the world for the perpetrators.

Furthermore, in response to the North Korean people's yearning for freedom, we must actively seek ways for them to access information and the truth from the outside world.

We must also tirelessly strive to resolve the issues of South Korean abductees, detainees, and prisoners of war, and Japan's abductees, while raising international awareness of the fact that the North Korean regime has severely violated the human rights of not only its own people but also those of South Korean and Japanese citizens.

3.
Recently, the Republic of Korea's government announced the 'August 15th Unification Doctrine,' a value-based strategy for unification, clearly outlining the vision of a 'Unified Korea based on Freedom, Peace, and Prosperity.'

The unification of the Korean Peninsula means extending the freedom we enjoy to the northern regions, where freedom has been stripped away and people suffer from poverty and hunger.

Only with the firm support and attention of the international community can we change the present and future of the North Korean people.

I hope that today's meeting will be the starting point for gaining broad international support for a 'Unified Korea' where all members of the Korean Peninsula fully enjoy freedom and human rights.

Thank you.

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