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 
product of broad, bipartisan consensus in Congress 
regarding the promotion of human rights, trans-
parency 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 
advocacy, the United States is home to the largest 
Korean population outside of northeast Asia, and 
many in the two-million strong Korean-American 
community have family ties to North Korea. 
(3) Human rights and humanitarian conditions 
inside North Korea are deplorable, North Korean 
refugees remain acutely vulnerable, and the findings 
in section 3 of the Act remain accurate today. 
(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
sometimes execution. According to recent reports, 
the Chinese Government is shutting down Christian 
churches and imprisoning people who help North 
Korean defectors, 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 Feb-
ruary 20, 2008, shooting of 13 women and 2 men 
in Onsung County, and the March 30, 2008, execu-
tion of three residents in Hyesan. As is commonly 
the case, employees and residents of nearby institu-
tions, enterprises, 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 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 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ‘‘to express 
[their] deep concern for the lack of progress in fund-
ing 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 
Koreans in the period from 2004 through 2007. 
(10) From the end of 2004 through 2007, the 
Republic of Korea resettled 5,961 North Koreans. 
(11) Extensive delays in assessment and proc-
essing at overseas posts have led numerous North 
Korean 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 consid-
erable discouragement and frustration among refu-
gees, many of whom are awaiting United States re-
settlement in circumstances that are unsafe and in-
secure. 
(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 period. 
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 reset-
tlement in the United States, through persistent di-
plomacy by senior officials of the United States, in-
cluding United States ambassadors to Asia-Pacific 
nations; 
(2) at the same time that careful screening of 
intending refugees is important, the United States 
also should make every effort to ensure that its 
screening, processing, and resettlement of North Ko-
rean refugees are as efficient and expeditious as pos-
sible; 
(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 and coordinate North Korean human 
rights, humanitarian, and refugee issues, as in-
tended 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 
Koreans who have expressed a wish to pursue reset-
tlement in the United States and have not yet 
availed themselves 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 Re-
lating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1995 
Agreement on the Upgrading of the UNHCR 
Mission in the People’s Republic of China to 
UNHCR Branch Office in the People’s Repub-
lic of China; and 
(C) allow the United Nations High Com-
missioner for Refugees (UNHCR) unimpeded 
access to North Koreans inside China to deter-
mine whether they are refugees and whether 
they require 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 fiscal years 2009 through 2012’’. 
SEC. 6. RADIO BROADCASTING TO NORTH KOREA. 
Not later than 120 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Broadcasting Board of Governors 
(BBG) shall submit to the appropriate congressional com-
(i) by striking ‘‘human rights in 
North Korea’’ and inserting ‘‘North Ko-
rean human rights issues’’; and 
(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 
before the period at the end the following: ‘‘who 
shall have the rank of ambassador and shall 
hold the office at the pleasure of the Presi-
dent’’; 
(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 ‘‘sec-
tions 102 and 104’’; and
(5) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘for the sub-
sequent 5 year-period’’ and inserting ‘‘thereafter 
through 2012’’. 
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 mat-
ter preceding 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 
(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 
paragraphs: 
‘‘(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 sec-
tion 303, including country-specific information with 
respect to United States efforts to secure the co-
operation and permission of the governments of 
countries in East and Southeast Asia to facilitate
United States processing of North Koreans seeking 
protection as refugees. The information required 
under this paragraph may be provided in a classified 
format, if necessary.’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives May 15, 2008. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5834 
AN ACT 
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.