The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004

August 13, 2008

By Shizue Morita

August 13, 2008

 

In the paper "The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004," Visiting Fellow Shizue Morita from the Japanese Ministry of Defense outlines the history of the passage of the Act, as well as analyzes the Bush administration’s tepid execution of its key provisions.

 

Congress passed the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 to address the growing evidence of human rights abuses in North Korea (DPRK), authorizing 24 million dollars per year in humanitarian assistance and democracy promotion.  However, President Bush, careful not to damage America’s nuclear negotiations with the DPRK, was slow in actually implementing many of the Act’s main programs. The non-binding nature of the Act weakened its original intention, and ultimately it has become an ineffective tool in combating the DPRK’s human rights violations.

 

The complete analysis can be viewed from the pdf link on the right.

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Written by

  • Shizue Morita
    Visiting Fellow, East Asia Program, Henry L. Stimson Center, Ministry of Defense of Japan