Date: Monday, April 3, 2023
Time: 10:30-10:34 A.M.

1. Minister’s Schedule

Unification Minister Kwon Youngse will attend the National Assembly’s interpellation session on foreign affairs, unification, and security sectors today at 3 P.M., and attend the cabinet meeting tomorrow.

On April 7, Minister Kwon will attend an academic conference in celebration of the 32nd anniversary of the Korea Institute for National Unification and deliver congratulatory remarks.

2. Vice Minister’s Schedule

On April 6, Vice Minister Kim Ki Woong will attend the vice-minister’s conference in the morning, and meet with Director-General for Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Funakoshi Takehiro in the afternoon.

3. Q&A

Q) Regarding the recent North Korean Human Rights Report, the Ministry mentioned last week that there are few specific cases related to the Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act. However, the full text of the revised version of the Act was released last month at the UN Human Rights Council seminar, and I am aware that the Ministry’s North Korean Human Rights Division also participated. In regards to a part of the report that says the entire text of the Act is yet to be confirmed, does it mean that the Ministry was not able to obtain the text or was it a mistake?

A) The report was written before the full text of the Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act was released. Let me confirm the details again and let you know.

Q) I understand that the publication of the English version is still in progress. Given that the full text of the Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act has already been made public, and the international community is paying close attention to the extent that the Act is cited as a major evil law, it seems likely that there will be some concerns when the report is published without mentioning the content of the Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Act. Do you have any plans to supplement the report in its English version?

A) As already mentioned, the report recorded the recent North Korean human rights situation since 2017. Assuming that the Act was enforced in 2020, North Korean defectors who escaped from North Korea after being affected by the Act are estimated to be very few. However, we will take these matters into consideration.

Q) Could you provide more details related to the meeting on April 6 between Vice Minister Kim Ki Woong and Director-General Funakoshi Takehiro?

A) Director-General Funakoshi is the Japanese chief negotiator on the North Korean nuclear issue. This meeting is part of a follow-up to the Minister's visit to Japan last month to discuss strengthening bilateral cooperation on North Korea policy.