US Human Rights Report "Prohibition of warfare against North Korea limits freedom of expression"

<Anchor> The

US State Department has released a report on human rights by country.

The report is released by the US Department of State once a year, and the report said it will point out human rights violations by the North Korean regime and hold them accountable.

I was concerned that it could limit the freedom of expression regarding the'Prohibition of Warfare Against North Korea' that went into effect yesterday (30th).

This is Kim Jong-won's correspondent from New York.

<Reporter> In

the 2020 National Human Rights Report of Korea, the U.S. State Department cited corruption and sexual harassment controversy among passport officials such as the fatherland and Park Won-soon incident, as well as restrictions on freedom of expression, including the ban on warfare against North Korea, as major human rights issues.

The Human Rights Report announced that the Korean government is restricting the activities of North Korean-related civic groups, and introduced the dissolution of the'Free North Korean Movement' established by North Korean defector Park Sang-hak and the launch of an audit of groups supporting North Korean defectors.

In particular, he has been critical of the anti-North Korean warfare law.

[Lisa Patterson/Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor: We will continue our campaign to freely flow information into North Korea.

We will cooperate with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and partners from around the world to do this.] The

North Korean side of the Human Rights Report was not much different from last year.

He pointed out that the North Korean security ministry has committed numerous human rights violations, and that illegal assassinations and disappearances by the authorities continue.

[Lisa Patterson/Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the US Department of State: Human rights issues will become an indispensable element in our policy toward North Korea.

We will hold North Korea accountable for its terrible human rights violations.] In its

policy toward North Korea, the State Department has reaffirmed that human rights issues are the center of North Korea policy, not just a means to pressure North Korea.