1. UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea) Ojea Quintana will visit the Republic of Korea from July 17 to 21.

※ The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on human rights in the DPRK was established in 2004 pursuant to Resolution 2004/13 of the then UN Commission on Human Rights to probe the human rights situation in North Korea and report its outcome to the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council.

- Special Rapporteur Ojea Quintana is the third such official after Special Rapporteurs Muntarbhon and Darusman.

2. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha will meet with the Special Rapporteur on July 17 to share with him the ROK government’s policy on North Korean human rights and discuss ways to work with the UN and the rest of the international community to improve the human rights situation in the North.

3. During his visit to the ROK, Special Rapporteur Quintana will meet with officials of such government agencies as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Unification and the Ministry of Justice as well as North Korean defectors and members of civil society.

° At 14:00, July 21, the Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference in Seoul on the outcome of his visit.

4. The purpose of the visit of Special Rapporteur Quintana, who made his first visit to the country in November 2016 after taking up the post in August in the same year, is to gather information necessary for writing his report that will be submitted to the UN General Assembly in 2017.


* unofficial translation