the product of broad, bipartisan consensus regarding 
the promotion of human rights, documentation of 
human rights violations, transparency in the delivery 
of humanitarian assistance, and the importance of 
refugee protection. 
(2) The human rights and humanitarian condi-
tions within North Korea remain deplorable and 
have been intentionally perpetuated against the peo-
ple of North Korea through policies endorsed and 
implemented by Kim Jong-un and the Workers’ 
Party of Korea. 
(3) According to a 2014 report released by the 
United Nations Human Rights Council’s Commis-
sion of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic 
People’s Republic of Korea, between 80,000 and 
120,000 children, women, and men were being held 
in political prison camps in North Korea, where they 
were subjected to deliberate starvation, forced labor, 
executions, torture, rape, forced abortion, and infan-
ticide. 
(4) North Korea continues to hold a number of 
South Koreans and Japanese abducted after the 
signing of the Agreement Concerning a Military Ar-
mistice in Korea, signed at Panmunjom July 27, 
1953 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Korean War 
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Armistice Agreement’’) and refuses to acknowledge 
the abduction of more than 100,000 South Koreans 
during the Korean War in violation of the Geneva 
Convention. 
(5) Human rights violations in North Korea, 
which include forced starvation, sexual violence 
against women and children, restrictions on freedom 
of movement, arbitrary detention, torture, execu-
tions, and enforced disappearances, amount to 
crimes against humanity according to the United 
Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in 
the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. 
(6) The effects of the COVID–19 pandemic and 
North Korea’s strict lockdown of its borders and 
crackdowns on informal market activities and small 
entrepreneurship have drastically increased food in-
security for its people and given rise to famine con-
ditions in parts of the country. 
(7) North Korea’s COVID–19 border lockdown 
measures also include shoot-to-kill orders that have 
resulted in the killing of— 
(A) North Koreans attempting to cross the 
border; and 
(B) at least 1 South Korean citizen in Sep-
tember 2020. 
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(8) The Government of the People’s Republic of 
China is aiding and abetting in crimes against hu-
manity by forcibly repatriating North Korean refu-
gees to North Korea where they are sent to prison 
camps, harshly interrogated, and tortured or exe-
cuted. 
(9) The forcible repatriation of North Korean 
refugees violates the People’s Republic of China’s 
freely undertaken obligation to uphold the principle 
of non-refoulement, as a state party to the Conven-
tion Relating to the Status of Refugees, done at Ge-
neva July 28, 1951 (and made applicable by the 
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, done at 
New York January 31, 1967 (19 UST 6223)). 
(10) North Korea continues to bar freedom of 
religion and persecute religious minorities, especially 
Christians. Eyewitnesses report that Christians in 
North Korea have been tortured, forcibly detained, 
and even executed for possessing a Bible or pro-
fessing Christianity. 
(11) United States and international broad-
casting operations into North Korea— 
(A) serve as a critical source of outside 
news and information for the North Korean 
people; and 
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(B) provide a valuable service for coun-
tering regime propaganda and false narratives. 
(12) The position of Special Envoy on North 
Korean Human Rights Issues was vacant from Jan-
uary 2017 to December 2022, even though the 
President is required to appoint a Senate-confirmed 
Special Envoy to fill this position in accordance with 
section 107 of the North Korean Human Rights Act 
of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7817). In January 2023 Presi-
dent Biden nominated Julie Turner as Special 
Envoy on North Korean Human Rights and Issues 
and her nomination is currently awaiting Senate 
confirmation. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) promoting information access in North 
Korea continues to be a successful method of coun-
tering DPRK propaganda and the United States 
Government should continue to support nongovern-
mental radio broadcasting to North Korea and pro-
mote other emerging methods in this space; 
(2) because refugees among North Koreans 
fleeing into China face severe punishments upon 
their forcible return, the United States should urge 
the Government of the People’s Republic of China— 
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(A) to immediately halt its forcible repatri-
ation of North Koreans; 
(B) to allow the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees (referred to in this 
section as ‘‘UNHCR’’) unimpeded access to 
North Koreans within China to determine 
whether they are refugees and require assist-
ance; 
(C) to fulfill its obligations as a state party 
to the Convention Relating to the Status of 
Refugees, done at Geneva July 28, 1951 (and 
made applicable by the Protocol Relating to the 
Status of Refugees, done at New York January 
31, 1967 (19 UST 6223) and the Agreement 
on the upgrading of the UNHCR Mission in the 
People’s Republic of China to UNHCR branch 
office in the People’s Republic of China, done 
at Geneva December 1, 1995; 
(D) to address the concerns of the United 
Nations Committee Against Torture by incor-
porating into domestic legislation the principle 
of non-refoulement; and 
(E) to recognize the legal status of North 
Korean women who marry or have children with 
Chinese citizens and ensure that all such moth-
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