Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘North Korean Human 
Rights Reauthorization Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The North Korean Human Rights Act of 
2004 (Public Law 108–333; 22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.) 
(in this section referred to as ‘‘the Act’’) was the prod-
uct of broad, bipartisan consensus in Congress regard-
ing the promotion of human rights, transparency in 
the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and refugee 
protection. 
(2) In addition to the longstanding commitment 
of the United States to refugee and human rights ad-
vocacy, the United States is home to the largest Ko-
rean population outside of northeast Asia, and many 
in the two-million strong Korean-American commu-
nity have family ties to North Korea. 
(3) Human rights and humanitarian conditions 
inside North Korea are deplorable, North Korean ref-
ugees remain acutely vulnerable, and the findings in 
section 3 of the Act remain accurate today. 
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(4) The Government of China is conducting an 
increasingly aggressive campaign to locate and forc-
ibly return border-crossers to North Korea, where they 
routinely face torture and imprisonment, and some-
times execution. According to recent reports, the Chi-
nese Government is shutting down Christian churches 
and imprisoning people who help North Korean defec-
tors, and has increased the bounty paid for turning 
in a North Korean refugee by a factor of sixteen, to 
an amount roughly equivalent to the average annual 
income in China. 
(5) In an attempt to deter escape attempts, the 
Government of North Korea has reportedly stepped up 
its public execution of border-crossers and those who 
help others cross into China, including the February 
20, 2008, shooting of 13 women and 2 men in Onsung 
County, and the March 30, 2008, execution of three 
residents in Hyesan. As is commonly the case, em-
ployees and residents of nearby institutions, enter-
prises, and neighborhoods were required to attend and 
observe those killings. 
(6) In spite of the requirement of the Act that the 
Special Envoy on Human Rights in North Korea (the 
‘‘Special Envoy’’) report to the Congress no later than 
April 16, 2005, a Special Envoy was not appointed 
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until August 19, 2005, more than four months after 
the reporting deadline. 
(7) The Special Envoy appointed by the Presi-
dent has filled that position on a part-time basis 
only. 
(8) On February 21, 2006, a bipartisan group of 
senior Members of the House and Senate wrote Sec-
retary of State Condoleezza Rice ‘‘to express [their] 
deep concern for the lack of progress in funding and 
implementing the key provisions of the North Korean 
Human Rights Act’’, particularly the lack of North 
Korean refugee admissions to the United States. 
(9) Although the United States refugee resettle-
ment program remains the largest in the world by 
far, the United States has resettled only 37 North Ko-
reans in the period from 2004 through 2007. 
(10) From the end of 2004 through 2007, the Re-
public of Korea resettled 5,961 North Koreans. 
(11) Extensive delays in assessment and proc-
essing at overseas posts have led numerous North Ko-
rean refugees to abandon their quest for United States 
resettlement, and long waits (of more than a year in 
some cases) have been the source of considerable dis-
couragement and frustration among refugees, many of 
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whom are awaiting United States resettlement in cir-
cumstances that are unsafe and insecure. 
(12) From 2000 through 2006, the United States 
granted asylum to 15 North Koreans, as compared to 
60 North Korean asylum grantees in the United 
Kingdom, and 135 in Germany during that same pe-
riod. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the United States should make it a priority 
to seek broader permission and greater cooperation 
from foreign governments to allow the United States 
to process North Korean refugees overseas for resettle-
ment in the United States, through persistent diplo-
macy by senior officials of the United States, includ-
ing United States ambassadors to Asia-Pacific na-
tions; 
(2) at the same time that careful screening of in-
tending refugees is important, the United States also 
should make every effort to ensure that its screening, 
processing, and resettlement of North Korean refugees 
are as efficient and expeditious as possible; 
(3) the Special Envoy for North Korean Human 
Rights Issues should be a full-time position within the 
Department of State in order to properly promote 
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and coordinate North Korean human rights, humani-
tarian, and refugee issues, as intended by the North 
Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108– 
333; 22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.); 
(4) in an effort to more efficiently and actively 
participate in humanitarian burden-sharing, the 
United States should approach our ally, the Republic 
of Korea, to revisit and explore new opportunities for 
coordinating efforts to screen and resettle North Kore-
ans who have expressed a wish to pursue resettlement 
in the United States and have not yet availed them-
selves of any right to citizenship they may enjoy 
under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea; and 
(5) because there are genuine refugees among 
North Koreans fleeing into China who face severe 
punishments upon their forcible return, the United 
States should urge the Government of China to— 
(A) immediately halt its forcible repatri-
ation of North Koreans; 
(B) fulfill its obligations pursuant to the 
1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the 
Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Relating to 
the Status of Refugees, and the 1995 Agreement 
on the Upgrading of the UNHCR Mission in the 
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People’s Republic of China to UNHCR Branch 
Office in the People’s Republic of China; and 
(C) allow the United Nations High Com-
missioner for Refugees (UNHCR) unimpeded ac-
cess to North Koreans inside China to determine 
whether they are refugees and whether they re-
quire assistance. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 5(1)(A) of the North Korean Human Rights 
Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–333; 22 U.S.C. 7803(1)(A)) 
is amended by striking ‘‘International Relations’’ and in-
serting ‘‘Foreign Affairs’’. 
SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY 
PROGRAMS. 
Section 102(b)(1) of the North Korean Human Rights 
Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7812(b)(1)) is amended by inserting 
after ‘‘2008’’ the following: ‘‘and $4,000,000 for each of fis-
cal years 2009 through 2012’’. 
SEC. 6. RADIO BROADCASTING TO NORTH KOREA. 
Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) 
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees, 
as defined in section 5(1) of the North Korean Human 
Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7803(1)), a report that de-
scribes the status and content of current United States 
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broadcasting to North Korea and the extent to which the 
BBG has achieved the goal of 12-hour-per-day broadcasting 
to North Korea pursuant to section 103 of such Act (22 
U.S.C. 7813). 
SEC. 7. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION. 
Section 104 of the North Korean Human Rights Act 
of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7814) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘2008’’ and 
inserting ‘‘2012’’; and 
(2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘in each of the 
3 years thereafter’’ and inserting ‘‘annually through 
2012’’. 
SEC. 8. SPECIAL ENVOY ON NORTH KOREAN HUMAN 
RIGHTS ISSUES. 
Section 107 of the North Korean Human Rights Act 
of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7817) is amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘HUMAN 
RIGHTS
IN
NORTH
KOREA’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES’’; 
(2) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in the first sentence— 
(i) by striking ‘‘human rights in North 
Korea’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘North 
Korean 
human rights issues’’; and 
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(ii) by inserting before the period at 
the end the following: ‘‘, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate’’; 
(B) in the second sentence, by inserting be-
fore the period at the end the following: ‘‘who 
shall have the rank of ambassador and shall hold 
the office at the pleasure of the President’’; 
(3) in subsection (b), by inserting before the pe-
riod at the end the following: ‘‘, including the protec-
tion of those people who have fled as refugees’’; 
(4) in subsection (c)— 
(A) 
by 
redesignating 
paragraphs 
(1) 
through (6) as paragraphs (2) through (7), re-
spectively; 
(B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so 
redesignated, the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(1) coordinate the implementation of activities 
carried out pursuant to this Act;’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, by 
striking ‘‘section 102’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 
102 and 104’’; and 
(5) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘for the subse-
quent 5 year-period’’ and inserting ‘‘thereafter 
through 2012’’. 
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SEC. 9. REPORT ON UNITED STATES HUMANITARIAN AS-
SISTANCE. 
Section 201(a) of the North Korean Human Rights Act 
of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7831(a)) is amended, in the matter pre-
ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘in each of the 2 years 
thereafter’’ and inserting ‘‘annually thereafter through 
2012’’. 
SEC. 10. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED OUTSIDE OF NORTH 
KOREA. 
Section 203(c)(1) of the North Korean Human Rights 
Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7833(c)(1)) is amended by striking 
‘‘2008’’ and inserting ‘‘2012’’. 
SEC. 11. ANNUAL REPORTS. 
Section 305(a) of the North Korean Human Rights Act 
of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7845(a)) is amended— 
(1) in the subsection heading, by inserting ‘‘AND 
REFUGEE’’ before ‘‘INFORMATION’’; 
(2) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘for each of the following 5 
years’’ and inserting ‘‘through 2012’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘which shall include—’’ 
and inserting ‘‘which shall include the fol-
lowing:’’; 
(3) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘the number of aliens’’ and 
inserting ‘‘The number of aliens’’; and 
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(B) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end and in-
serting a period; 
(4) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the number of 
aliens’’ and inserting ‘‘The number of aliens’’; and 
(5) by adding at the end the following new para-
graphs: 
‘‘(3) The number of aliens who are nationals or 
citizens of North Korea who contacted United States 
personnel overseas and expressed an interest in pur-
suing resettlement in the United States, irrespective of 
whether such aliens pursued the resettlement process 
to its conclusion. 
‘‘(4) A detailed description of the measures un-
dertaken by the Secretary of State to carry out section 
303, including country-specific information with re-
spect to United States efforts to secure the cooperation 
and permission of the governments of countries in 
East and Southeast Asia to facilitate United States 
processing of North Koreans seeking protection as ref-
ugees. The information required under this paragraph 
may be provided in a classified format, if necessary.’’. 
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Union Calendar No. 392 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5834 
[Report No. 110–628] 
A BILL 
To amend the North Korean Human Rights Act of 
2004 to promote respect for the fundamental 
human rights of the people of North Korea, and 
for other purposes. 
MAY 13, 2008 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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