In a March 3, 2026, statement, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) said South Korea’s North Korean Human Rights Foundation remained unlaunched, delaying systematic research and policy development on rights in the North.
The North Korean Human Rights Act took effect Sept. 4, 2016, and requires the government to establish the foundation. The law assigns it research into human rights conditions in North Korea, policy development, recommendations to the government and support for civil groups.
The foundation may have up to 12 directors. The minister of unification recommends two, while the National Assembly recommends the rest. Assembly recommendations are divided equally between the negotiating group of the president’s current or former party and other negotiating groups; the minister appoints the directors. Filling the board therefore depends on nominations from both the minister and parliamentary groups.
The Korea Herald reported that People Power Party lawmakers accused the Democratic Party of Korea of failing to recommend five directors at a parliamentary audit on Oct. 29. The newspaper also reported that NHRCK Chair Ahn Chang-ho urged cooperation to launch the foundation.
The Herald’s account did not include a current response from the Democratic Party. The NHRCK’s description of the party’s position in its 2023 release is historical and does not address the later allegation.
The commission had called for appointments before. In a recommendation dated Sept. 25, 2023, it asked the Democratic Party floor leader to send five director candidates to the National Assembly speaker and urged the speaker to move the process forward. The NHRCK said the party had told it then that it was still discussing provisions of the act.
The commission says lawmakers approved the measure on March 2, 2016, by 212 votes to none, with 24 abstentions.
