Kaine & Sullivan Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Support Human Rights in North Korea

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) introduced the bipartisan North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act. The legislation would reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, which expired in September 2022.

"As China becomes more emboldened, the U.S. has an even greater responsibility to stand up against dictators and protect those who've been denied the most basic freedoms. Kim Jong-un and his regime have committed horrendous abuses against North Koreans for decades, and the U.S. must continue to push North Korea to stop oppressing its own people," said Kaine, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "I'm proud to introduce this bipartisan bill to support human rights in North Korea, and I'm going to keep working to get this bill across the finish line."

"For nearly eight decades, North Korea's brutal communist regime has oppressed its own people, destabilized Northeast Asia, and threatened the United States and our allies-particularly South Korea," said Sullivan. "Our legislation reauthorizes the North Korea Human Rights Act and reaffirms America's commitment to the fundamental freedoms and human dignity of the North Korean people, including their right to access uncensored information about the outside world and the basic liberties denied to them by their government. Freedom and opportunity are foundational American principles, and our sustained efforts to confront this authoritarian regime and support the North Korean people will continue to advance stability and security on the Korean Peninsula."

The North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act would:

• Reauthorize humanitarian assistance, democracy programs, and broadcasting until 2030.
• Require the State Department to increase efforts to increase North Korean refugees' participation in U.S. and South Korean resettlement programs, including disseminating in North Korea information on resettlement programs.
• Modify the North Korean Sanctions and Policy Act of 2016 to impose sanctions on Chinese and Russian officials responsible for forcibly repatriating North Koreans back to North Korea.
• Require a report from the Administration if the position of Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights is vacant. The report must include steps taken by the Department to fill this role.
• Require a report to Congress on obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian assistance for North Koreans, including aid diversion by regime officials, existing sanctions, and foreign government interference.

Full text of the bill is available here.

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