A/HRC/46/51 missions to monitor and implement crucial lifesaving projects. While the Sanctions Committee has expedited exemptions for humanitarian assistance and has simplified the exemptions procedures50, humanitarian goods bound for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have remained at the border with China for months due to restrictions on imports of goods. Such extended storage has incurred additional costs for humanitarian organizations. 41. The Korea International Trade Association reported that trade between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s and China decreased by 80 percent in 2020 compared to 2019. The reduction in trade with China has resulted in a significant decrease in market activities, reducing earnings for many families who relied on small-scale market activities. There have been shortages of essential goods, medicines, agricultural inputs for farming and raw materials for State-owned factories. The authorities continue to emphasize self-reliance by producing essential goods domestically. Concerns remained that the Government’s crackdown on market activity to prevent the spread of COVID-19 could stymie efforts to institutionalize and legalize market processes.51 General Secretary Kim Jong Un in his speech to the eighth Congress of the Workers Party of Korea in January 2021 highlighted the need to restore the State’s leading role in commerce activities, signaling a tightening of government control over market activities. 42. The Special Rapporteur urges the authorities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to explore alternative measures to strike a balance between necessary disease prevention measures and the basic economic and social rights of the people. In light of expenditures on the military and the security sector, the Government should also realign priorities and dedicate its resources to ensure freedom from hunger and other essential minimum living standards for citizens. Finally, the Government should increase cooperation with the international community and allow humanitarian agencies to reach out the people in need while following safety protocols. It is time that the Government acted prudently to make sure that the negative consequences of prevention measures do not become disproportionately greater than the impact of the pandemic itself. V. Engagement 43. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that cooperation and engagement is the only way to overcome human and social crises. The isolation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea means the isolation of ordinary people who are already subject to patterns of serious human rights abuses. Providing entry points for the authorities to gradually open up dialogue and grant access to the country is critical, especially when the Government is exceptionally suspicious and reluctant to discuss human rights. It is worth mentioning that in the recent years the Government has made substantive decisions to allow further cooperation on human rights. It ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2016 and invited the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities to the country in May 2017.52 The Government participated in the review by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child in 2017. It also submitted its initial report to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2018. The UN Strategic Framework for Cooperation between the United Nations and the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (2017-2021) has explicitly stated that a human rights-based approach and gender equality are crosscutting approaches for its implementation. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea actively participated in the Third Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in May 2019, and accepted some, but not all, of the resulting recommendations. Members of the State delegation that attended that review participated in a human rights workshop organized by OHCHR and the Department of Political Affairs in Geneva. The Government continued to show interest in technical 50 51 52 On 30 November 2020, the approved updates to its seventh implementation assistance notice entitled “Guidelines for Obtaining Exemptions to Deliver Humanitarian Assistance to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”. https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/sc14375.doc.htm. OHCHR Report “The Price is Rights”, pp. 15-17. The Special Rapporteur has encouraged other thematic mandate holders to engage with the Government with a view of visiting the country, and meetings with the UN mission have taken place. He continues fostering these contacts. 15