WASHINGTON– Religious freedom conditions in North Korea remain among the worst in the world, a U.S. government commission said Monday, recommending the U.S. government to designate North Korea as a country of particular concern.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also called on the state department to bring up human rights issues when negotiating security issues with North Korea.
“In 2021, religious freedom conditions in North Korea remained among the worst in the world,” the commission said in its annual report, noting religious adherents in the country are severely persecuted.
“The (North Korean) government attempts to provide an illusion of religious freedom to the outside world through state-backed religious organizations and sites such as the Jangchung Cathedral. In reality, religious freedom remains nonexistent in North Korea as authorities actively and systematically target and persecute religious groups and adherents,” the report added.
The report provides country-specific recommendations to the Department of State, which, in turn, produces its own annual report on religious freedom.
The state department in 2021 designated North Korea as a “country of particular concern” for a 20th consecutive year.
The USCIRF recommended the department redesignate North Korea as a country of particular concern and “impose targeted and broad sanctions” that are appropriate for religious freedom violation in the reclusive country.
The commission said the U.S. may consider lifting certain sanctions in “return for concrete progress in religious freedom and related human rights.”
In addition, the commission recommended the U.S. government “integrate security and human rights as complementary objectives in broader U.S. policy toward and in bilateral negotiations with North Korea.”
To this end, the commission called on the government to “fill and maintain the position of special envoy for North Korean human rights issues at the U.S. Department of State,” which has been vacant since January 2017.
It said the special envoy can “promote and integrate religious freedom and human rights in U.S. policy toward North Korea, including by coordinating multilateral efforts in international fora, such as in the United Nations, and with the European Union and other like-minded countries.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency