| Founded | May 2003 South Korea |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit NGO |
| Headquarters | 33 Changgyeonggung-ro 1-gil, Chungmuro 4(sa)-ga, Junggu, Seoul South Korea |
| Fields | Recording human rights violations in North Korea, human rights advancement in North Korea, transitional justice, transitional justice, North Korean defectors settlement support |
Chief Director | Yeosang Yoon |
| Website | nkdb |
The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (commonly referred to as NKDB) is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, that conducts data collection, analysis, and monitoring of human rights violations experienced in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea). NKDB also offers resettlement support, psychological counseling, educational opportunities, and advocates for human rights advancement and transitional justice of past human rights violations in the DPRK.
In 2007, NKDB created the North Korean Human Rights Archives, a subsidiary organ, which has since operated the NKDB Unified Human Rights Database. The Database, through systematic management and storage of records and investigations, contains 79,114 cases of human rights infractions and over 49,017 involved persons, as of May 2021. The Database is bolstered by annual publications of the White Paper on North Korean Human Rights, White Paper on Religious Freedom in North Korea, Trends in Economic Activities of North Korean Defectors, and Survey on South Koreans' Perception of Human Rights in North Korea. Subsidiary organs of the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights include the North Korean Human Rights Archives, Resettlement Assistance Headquarters, Education Center for Korean Integration, and the North Korean Human Rights Watch Functions. Furthermore, the NK Social Research Center operates as an affiliated organization of NKDB.
NKDB was officially established on May 12, 2003, in an effort to highlight the human rights situation inside North Korea. Sang Hun Kim was appointed as the first Chairman of the Board and Yeosang Yoon was appointed as the first Chief Director. NKDB began systematically collecting cases of human rights violations in North Korea, numbering 1,000 recorded cases by 2004. The organization was recognized as a legal entity by the South Korean Ministry of Unification in 2004. Furthermore, the organization expanded through the establishment of NK Social Research and the Resettlement Assistance Headquarters, and research on different facets of North Korean defectors such as separated families, South Korean abductees, young female defectors, and those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
These initiatives were succeeded by the initiation of regular publications, in 2007, with the first release of the White Paper on North Korean Human Rights Statistics (subsequent editions are called the “White Paper on North Korean Human Rights”), “White Paper on Religious Freedom in North Korea,” and “Trends in Economic Activities of North Korean Defectors.” Woong Ki Kim, a Seoul-based human rights lawyer, became the second Chief Director in 2009.
In the 2010s, NKDB placed a greater focus on bringing greater awareness of the North Korean human rights situation to the international community. Examples of such efforts include co-hosting an event discussing human rights challenges for North Korean overseas laborers with Human Rights Without Frontiers at the European Parliament, as well as participation in a UN side event on the freedom of religion in North Korea in conjunction with Human Rights Watch and Christian Solidarity Worldwide.[1]
NKDB also enhanced its role in the education of relevant North Korean issues, beginning with the North Korean Human Rights Academy in 2011. These regular sessions are led by leading academics, civil servants, and human rights advocates. As of 2021, there are five different academies, focusing on issues ranging from human rights in North Korea, reunification of the Korean peninsula through a diplomatic approach, and counselling support for North Korean defectors. In 2012, a resettlement support center for former South Korean POWs and abductees was established, enhancing NKDB's resettlement initiatives. Support for these individuals include psychological and advocacy support.
NKDB has continued to expand its activities in the 2020s. In 2020, NKDB entered into an agreement to jointly operate the Hana Center in the western section of Gyeonggi Province, in conjunction with Korea Hana Foundation, a public organization founded by the Ministry of Unification. The purpose of the Hana Centers is to provide continued assistance to North Korean defectors after their initial education at the government-run Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees, known as Hanawon. Concurrently, NKDB re-launched the Visual Atlas, a web-based platform that enables visualization of incidents of North Korean human rights violations recorded in its Database through an interactive map. In 2020, NKDB launched the North Korean Human Rights Larchiveum, a web-based platform that aggregates available information on North Korean human rights through a consortium of civil society organizations working on the issue.
In April 2020, the South Korean Ministry of Unification refused to renew an annual contract which gave NKDB access into Hanawon.[2] NKDB conducted research of North Korean Refugees since 2003, with interviews from the Hanawon serving as the core of its annual White Paper.[3] There are now no independent civil society organizations that are permitted to enter Hanawon.
NKDB has also been involved in UN developments as it relates to North Korea. Included are monitoring reports drafted by NKDB that were submitted to the land UN Commission of Inquiry on North Korean Human Rights in 2014, reports on North Korea’s implementation of Universal Periodic Reviews issued by the UN through the North Korea Implementation of UN Recommendations Watch Group, and publications on North Korea’s status of implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. NKDB has also responded to a questionnaire request by the Special Rapporteur on Torture, made a joint submission to the UN Human Rights Committee for the adoption of the List of Issues for North Korea with regards to their obligations under their ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and provided a shadow report and an oral statement to a committee overseeing the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Since 2015, NKDB has received grants from the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (UNVFVT), which supports the organization’s counselling programs for North Korean defectors that have experienced torture prior to arrival in South Korea.[4] NKDB is one of two organizations in South Korea to receive support from the UNVFVT.
North Korean Human Rights Archives With records of 79,114 cases of human rights infractions and over 49,017 involved persons, the North Korean Human Rights Archives’ NKDB Unified Database is the largest in the world.[5] With human rights violations not being systematically documented within North Korea, a function of the Archives is to serve as evidence for any future opportunities of transitional justice.[6]
There are 8 working groups within the North Korean Human Rights Watch Functions, based on areas recognized by NKDB as needing further research and policy recommendations.
The Resettlement Assistance Headquarters provides adjustment education, psychological counselling, monetary support, and advocacy support for former prisoners of war, those abducted to North Korea, victims of human rights violations or torture in North Korea, human trafficking, and those who lost or were never granted governmental monetary support.
The Education Center for Korean Integration provides educational opportunities in an effort to increase civil society’s awareness of issues surrounding North Korea and human rights conditions there. These opportunities include academies - a series of lectures by distinguished guests - and forums to encourage discourses within the broader society.
Current list of academies:
Aims to objectively showcase and enhance public knowledge of the severity of the human rights situation in North Korea.
Strives to create discourse on potential diplomatic strategies to promote peace on the Korean peninsula and future reunification.
Provides space for discussion by bringing together individuals, born both in South and North Korea, in their 20s and 30s to discuss inter-Korean relations, democratization of North Korea, human rights, and greater integration of societies in South and North Korea.
Created to deliberate on current and potential future sources of division among those that originated in South Korea and North Korea.
Created to consider any social welfare issues that may arise in the event of reunification of the Korean peninsula, and strives to create achievable solutions.
An affiliated organization of NKDB, the NK Social Research Center conducts research and surveys on the testimonies of North Korean defectors, as well as the defectors’ resettlement process in South Korea and macro-level trends in North Korea. The organization also provides consulting services on North Korean issues.