IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 976 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that complete, verifiable, 
and irreversible human rights improvements in the Democratic People’s 
Republic of North Korea should be part of a United States strategy 
for a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and a free and open Indo-Pacific 
region. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 28, 2018 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mrs. HARTZLER, and Mr. PITTENGER) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
complete, verifiable, and irreversible human rights im-
provements in the Democratic People’s Republic of North 
Korea should be part of a United States strategy for 
a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and a free and open 
Indo-Pacific region. 
Whereas the threat from nuclear proliferation from the 
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) is 
a clear and present danger to the United States and re-
gional allies; 
Whereas the Administration’s efforts to engage in diplomatic 
negotiations to return American hostages and the re-
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mains of Americans killed during the Korean War, and 
to 
seek 
the 
complete, 
irreversible 
and 
verifiable 
denuclearization of the Korean peninsula are welcome 
and commendable achievements; 
Whereas the Government of North Korea continues to engage 
in systematic, widespread, and gross human rights viola-
tions, including arbitrary detentions, torture, forced abor-
tion, human trafficking, particularly severe religious free-
dom abuses, public execution of political prisoners, the 
death of United States citizen Otto Warmbier and polit-
ical purges of relatives and family members, including 
through the use of chemical weapons; 
Whereas these violations, including the creation of large ref-
ugee flows and famines, the abduction of Japanese, 
South Korean, and United States citizens, and the traf-
ficking of North Korean citizens, remain a distinct threat 
to regional stability, whether or not North Korea pos-
sesses nuclear weapons; 
Whereas the human trafficking of North Korean citizens has 
provided the Government of North Korea with foreign 
currency which supports its efforts to avoid international 
sanctions and supports its nuclear ambitions; 
Whereas there remain an estimated 80,000 to 120,000 polit-
ical prisoners in North Korea, detained in a system of po-
litical prison labor camps; 
Whereas in 2014, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry 
on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of 
Korea found that the violations perpetrated against the 
people of North Korea were established at the highest 
level of the Government of North Korea, and such gross 
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human rights violations amount to crimes against hu-
manity in many instances; 
Whereas the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on 
Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of 
Korea also found that North Korean nationals forcibly 
repatriated by the Government of the People’s Republic 
of China are subject to torture, prolonged arbitrary de-
tention and, in some cases, sexual violence, including 
invasive body searches; 
Whereas North Korean nationals found to have been in con-
tact with officials or nationals from the Republic of 
Korea (South Korea) or with Christian churches or hu-
manitarian aid workers may be forcibly ‘‘disappeared’’ 
into prison labor camps, imprisoned in ordinary prisons, 
or even summarily executed; 
Whereas the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on 
Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of 
Korea urged the Chinese Government to caution relevant 
officials that repatriation of North Korean nationals 
could amount to the aiding and abetting of crimes 
against humanity where repatriations and information ex-
changes lead to the facilitation or commission of crimes 
against humanity in North Korea; 
Whereas China arrests, detains, or imprisons those individ-
uals who try to assist North Korean refugees inside Chi-
na’s borders; and 
Whereas, notwithstanding high-level advocacy by the United 
States, South Korea, and the Office of the United Na-
tions High Commissioner for Refugees, China has forc-
ibly repatriated tens of thousands of North Koreans: 
Now, therefore, be it 
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Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) requests that the President— 
(A) make complete, verifiable, and irrevers-
ible human rights improvements in the Demo-
cratic People’s Republic of Korea (North 
Korea) part of United States negotiating strat-
egy with North Korea, the People’s Republic of 
China, and regional allies; 
(B) even in the event of concluding an 
agreement of a complete, verifiable and irre-
versible denuclearization of the Korean penin-
sula, condition economic or other assistance and 
the lifting of individual sanctions currently im-
posed on North Korean officials on complete, 
verifiable, and irreversible human rights im-
provements in North Korea; 
(C) seek the dismantling of North Korea’s 
political prison labor camps and the release of 
all political and religious prisoners, estimated at 
between 80,000 to 120,000; 
(D) as part of a comprehensive, ongoing 
negotiating strategy with North Korea, consult 
international experts about the strategic and 
political relevance of the cult of personality sur-
rounding the Kim family (sometimes referred to 
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as ‘‘Juche’’), including by seeking options for 
addressing this quasi-religious ideology in talks 
with North Korea; 
(E) seek the Chinese Government’s compli-
ance with its international obligations to protect 
and resettle North Korean refugees and to halt 
the trafficking of persons; and 
(F) consider placing any North Korean 
and Chinese officials complicit in the abuses de-
scribed in the preamble of this resolution on the 
list of specially designated nationals and 
blocked persons maintained by the Office of 
Foreign Assets Control of the Department of 
the Treasury under existing sanctions authori-
ties; 
(2) requests that the Secretary of State submit 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate, not later than 90 days after 
the date of the adoption of this resolution, a report, 
that should include— 
(A) a strategy to realize the complete, 
verifiable, and irreversible human rights im-
provements in the Democratic People’s Republic 
of Korea (North Korea) and the protection of 
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North Korean asylum seekers in China or else-
where and including efforts to increase inter-
national coordination and cooperation, whether 
unilaterally, bilaterally, or multilaterally to ad-
dress human rights in North Korea; 
(B) information about the system of prison 
labor camps in North Korea and options avail-
able for United States diplomacy to perma-
nently close these camps and seek the release of 
an estimated 80,000 to 120,000 political and 
religious prisoners; 
(C) information and an assessment of ef-
forts to provide uncensored news and other in-
formation into North Korea and whether addi-
tional resources are needed to expand such ef-
forts; 
(D) information on efforts to stop the Gov-
ernment of North Korea and other countries 
from benefitting from human trafficking of 
North Korean citizens; 
(E) information about what sanctions are 
being employed as part of the effort to achieve 
complete, verifiable, and irreversible human 
rights improvements, including sanctions that 
may be employed under the International Reli-
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