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Committee for Human Rights in North Korea

U.S. non-governmental organization From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
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The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) is a Washington, D.C.-based non-governmental research organization founded in 2001.[1][2][3][4] It investigates and raises awareness of human rights abuses in North Korea.[5][6][7][8]

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HRNK produces in-depth research reports on North Korea’s human rights conditions. Its publications have documented the country’s network of political prison camps through the combined use of satellite imagery and survivor testimony,[9][10][11] examined other internal dynamics,[12][13][14][15] and investigated international dimensions such as abductions, illicit activities, terrorism links, and the use of forced labor abroad.[16][17][18][19][8]

HRNK’s research has been cited by international bodies and governments in their assessments of human rights in North Korea. Reports documenting political prison camps were referenced by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry in its 2014 findings on crimes against humanity,[11][5][20] and the U.S. State Department has drawn on HRNK publications in its annual human rights reporting.[21] HRNK’s analyses have also informed policy discussions on sanctions and forced labor, with its work noted in U.S. government guidance on North Korean overseas workers and in debates over targeted measures against the regime.[19][8] The organization's experts have also provided testimony before U.S. congressional hearings.[22][23][24][25]

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Mission

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HRNK’s mission is to document and raise international awareness of human rights conditions in North Korea, going beyond the broader mandates of larger human rights organizations by focusing exclusively on the DPRK.[26][27][28]

According to its leadership, HRNK pursues seven guiding objectives: to close North Korea’s political prison camps, open the country’s borders, inform its citizens, foster sound economic principles, promote outside access, feed the hungry, and link development assistance to human rights improvements.[2][1] Since its establishment, HRNK has published more than sixty reports and coordinated research with defectors, scholars, and policy experts.[1][2][29]

HRNK has been described as a bridge-building organization with members from both liberal and conservative backgrounds, providing a bipartisan platform for research and advocacy on North Korea.[27][30][7][31] Commentators have compared its in-depth reporting with the work of larger groups such as Amnesty International, noting HRNK’s focus on satellite analysis and survivor testimony as a distinguishing feature.[26][32] The organization’s reports have been recognized as contributing to the evidentiary record of crimes against humanity in the DPRK and informing both scholarship and policy.[33][34][35][36]

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History

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Executive Director Greg Scarlatoiu, giving testimony in April 2015, at the U.S. Congress' Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, on the topic "North Korea's Forced Labor Enterprise: A State-Sponsored Marketplace in Human Trafficking".[37]

HRNK was founded in 2001 as nonprofit based in Washington D.C. by a group of foreign policy and human rights specialists to fill a gap in non-governmental expertise on North Korea.[1][2][38][30] Well-established organizations such as Amnesty International initially found it difficult to incorporate North Korea, about which information was often scarce, into their models of research and advocacy.[26]

In 2003 HRNK released the first edition of The Hidden Gulag by David Hawk, the first comprehensive study of North Korea's prison camp system, which combined defector testimony with satellite imagery to document facilities the government denied existed.[9][39][10]

Chuck Downs, a former Pentagon officer focused on North Korea, played a leading role in the early years.[40] Since 2011 HRNK has been directed by Greg Scarlatoiu.[40][41][1][42]

In 2012, HRNK as part of a group of a coalition of nonprofits, called for a more in-depth United Nations-led investigation into human rights conditions in the DPRK.[43][44][45] The following year, the UN Human Rights Council established the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK.[46][47] HRNK contributed evidence and analysis to the Commission, whose 2014 report concluded that crimes against humanity had been committed in the country.[11][33][20][48] In 2015, HRNK presented Service Awards to the three UN COI leaders.[49][50]

Memberships and coalitions

HRNK is a member of the International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK), a global network of NGOs and survivor groups advocating accountability for abuses.[45]

in 2018, after an extended process marked by opposition from some UN member states,[51][52][53] HRNK was granted consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), enabling it to participate in UN forums.[54][55][56][57]

HRNK’s application for consultative status at the United Nations was for years repeatedly deferred by the UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations before finally being approved. During the review process, member states including Russia and China questioned HRNK’s independence, sources of funding, and asked whether it had acknowledged North Korea’s reported successes in areas such as education and healthcare.[58] The DPRK’s UN mission welcomed the initial rejection of HRNK’s application, describing it as “due punishment” and characterizing the organization’s work as part of a U.S. “human rights racket” against North Korea.[59]

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Activities

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Research

HRNK is known for its research reports, particularly those documenting North Korea’s prison camps by combining satellite imagery with defector testimony.[9][38][11][39] Its publications have also examined the country’s political system, social controls,[60] the songbun social classification system,[61] abductions of foreign nationals, state-linked illicit activities and terrorism, restrictions on access to information, famine, and gender-based repression.[12][16][18][62]

Government engagement

HRNK has engaged directly with U.S., European, and UN policymakers to promote accountability for abuses in North Korea. It has been among the NGOs advocating continued U.S. participation in the UN Human Rights Council and highlighting DPRK abuses in international forums.[63][64][31] Its findings have been used by officials in shaping policy discussions on sanctions, human rights, and refugee protection,[28][65][66] and are cited in the U.S. State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.[35][21][8]

U.S. Congressional testimony

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Experts from the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea have been invited to provide expert testimony before U.S. congressional hearings on the situation of defectors in China,[22][67][68] the operation of political prison camps,[23] crimes against humanity,[23] forced labor abroad,[69] and the relationship between human rights and security concerns on the Korean Peninsula.[24] Testimony has been delivered among others by HRNK executive director Greg Scarlatoiu,[22][67][70] chair Roberta Cohen,[67][71] co-chair Andrew Natsios,[23][72] and founding member Nicholas Eberstadt.[24] Their statements have also emphasized the humanitarian consequences of DPRK policies,[71][73] the importance of information access,[74] and the need for legislative and international action.[75][25]

Work with international bodies

HRNK contributed evidence and expertise to the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK, whose 2014 report concluded that crimes against humanity had been committed in the DPRK.[33][11][9][20] The organization also partnered with the International Bar Association’s War Crimes Committee to conduct the Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity in North Korean Detention Centers, which held hearings and gathered testimony to explore legal avenues for accountability.[76][77][78]

Since 2018, HRNK has held consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).[54][55][57][79] This designation allows non-governmental organizations to participate in UN processes, including attending meetings, submitting written statements, and delivering oral interventions at the Human Rights Council and other bodies.[58][56] NGOs with consultative status may also organize side events, circulate documentation, and provide expert analysis to member states and UN agencies.[58][80]

Conferences and events

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The three commissioners of the United Nations Commission of inquiry on human rights in the DPRK, receive the first Human Rights Award given by HRNK. The image shows commissioners Sonja Biserko, Marzuki Darusman, and Michael Kirby being presented the award by the organization's Co-Chair Roberta Cohen and Executive Director Greg Scarlatoiu.

HRNK has convened and participated in events in the United States and Europe.[3] These events have addressed North Korea’s political prison camps,[11] abductions of foreign nationals,[16] the country’s social classification system (songbun),[12] the humanitarian consequences of famine,[62] and the relationship between human rights and nuclear policy.[24] HRNK has also hosted discussions with members of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea to consider its findings on crimes against humanity,[33][23][81] and some of its programs have included testimony from North Korean defectors.[3] In organizing conferneces, panel discussions, and other public events, it has partnered with institutions including the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Brookings Institution,[82] and Yonsei University.[83][84][85][86]

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Publications

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Since 2003, HRNK has published a series of reports that document different aspects of life and governance in North Korea. These include detailed studies of the country’s political prison camps (Kwalliso) and re-education centers (kyohwaso),[87][88] analyses of the songbun social classification system, research on abductions of foreign nationals, and examinations of state-sponsored illicit activities such as drug production and proliferation networks.[89][16][12][18] Other publications have addressed the impact of famine and mismanagement on children’s health, the operation of local governance and social control mechanisms, and the regime’s strategies for restricting access to outside information in the digital age.[62][15][90] HRNK has also contributed reports on the relationship between North Korea’s human rights record and international security, including studies of terrorism, forced labor abroad, and accountability under international law.[91][8][78] HRNK has released over 60 reports (as of 2025).[92]

Prison camps

Among HRNK’s most notable works are those focused on the DPRK’s political prison camps and gulag system.[93][94][95][10] David Hawk’s The Hidden Gulag (2003, updated 2012) was the first comprehensive study to confirm the location and operation of these camps, combining defector accounts, hand-drawn maps, and satellite imagery.[9][10][89][96] Later reports such as Gulag, Inc. (2016) and The Parallel Gulag (2017) revealed how forced labor in mining, agriculture, and manufacturing formed part of the regime’s economic strategy, while confirming that conditions of malnutrition, overwork, and brutality persisted despite international scrutiny.[97][98][99][100] HRNK’s camp-specific studies, including analyses of Kaechon, Jongori, and Camp 25, offered detailed evidence of prisoner populations, industrial facilities, and attempts by the authorities to camouflage camp activity.[101][102][21][103]

HRNK’s methodological approach has centered on the integration of satellite imagery with defector and survivor testimony,[104][105][106][107] a combination that has allowed researchers to document facilities and practices that the North Korean government continues to deny.[89][108][109][9] Partnerships with commercial imagery providers such as AllSource Analysis, Airbus, and DigitalGlobe have enabled the organization to produce landmark reports that visually confirmed the location, expansion, and concealment of prison camps.[110][108][111][101] Testimonies collected from escapees further corroborated evidence of starvation, torture, forced labor, and executions,[112][113][114][115] while satellite imagery has revealed camp closures near the Chinese border, the expansion of inland facilities, and the use of camouflage and deception to mask operations.[116][117][99][118][9]

Prison camp reports are presented here by camp number in ascending order. All other reports are sorted in chronological ascending order.

General reports

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Cover of the 2012 edition of The Hidden Gulag - The Lives and Voices of 'Those Who are Sent to the Mountains'

Kwan-li-so

According to HRNK the kwan-li-so (관리소) are political prison camps, also referred to as “total control zones.” HRNK explains that these camps are administered by the Ministry of State Security and used to confine individuals identified as disloyal to the regime, frequently together with their families, often for life without the possibility of release.[119][102][106] HRNK has documented that conditions in these facilities include forced labor, chronic food shortages, and systematic abuse, and has reported that crimes against humanity are committed within them.[78][120][21][121]

Kyo-hwa-so

HRNK identifies the kyo-hwa-so (교화소) as correctional or “re-education” centers that detain persons convicted of criminal, rather than political, offenses. These facilities are generally operated by the Ministry of People’s Security (also translated as the Ministry of Public Security).[98][122][109][119] HRNK reports that despite their official designation, conditions in the kyo-hwa-so are extremely harsh, involving forced labor in industries such as mining, farming, and manufacturing, combined with inadequate food and medical care that contribute to high rates of death among prisoners.[99][100][87]

Other detention facilities

North Korean state and society

Beyond the prison camp system, HRNK has also produced major reports on wider aspects of North Korean governance and repression inside the country.[12][96][62][123][19] Robert Collins’s Marked for Life (2012) examined the songbun social classification system as a form of institutionalized discrimination.[12][96] Lost Generation (2019) focused on the long-term health consequences for children of famine and state policy failures during the 1990s and beyond, documenting how the famine years left a “lost generation” of North Korean children suffering from stunting, wasting, and chronic trauma.[62][123][124][14] These reports highlight how HRNK’s research has broadened beyond prisons to address the structural systems of discrimination, repression, and neglect that shape everyday life in North Korea.[125][126][127][15][19]

International community

HRNK has also produced reports examining how North Korea’s conduct interacts with the international community and global security concerns.[13][35] Joshua Stanton’s Arsenal of Terror (2015) argued that the DPRK’s support for international terrorism and illicit activity justified its relisting as a state sponsor of terrorism.[91][128][129][130][131] Digital Trenches (2019) analyzed the regime’s strategies to block foreign media and suppress outside information, particularly through restrictions on digital devices and surveillance of communications.[90][132][119] More recently, joint inquiries with the International Bar Association concluded there was a reasonable basis to investigate Kim Jong-un and other officials for crimes against humanity in detention centers.[78][21][2]

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