A/HRC/25/CRP.1 political confrontation and conspiracy”.9 In a letter dated 10 May 2013, the DPRK directly conveyed to the President of the Human Rights Council that it “totally and categorically rejects the Commission of Inquiry”. Regrettably, this stance has remained unchanged, despite numerous efforts by the Commission to engage the DPRK. 22. In a letter addressed to the Permanent Mission of the DPRK in Geneva dated 18 June 2013, the Commission requested a meeting. This was followed by another letter sent on 5 July 2013, in which the Commission solicited the DPRK to extend cooperation and support by facilitating access to the country. The Permanent Mission of the DPRK in Geneva acknowledged the receipt of the two letters to the Commission’s Secretariat, but explicitly repeated the rejection of the mandate of the Commission. 23. The Commission reiterated its request to have access to the territory of the DPRK in a letter sent on 16 July 2013 to Mr Kim Jong-un, Supreme Leader and First Secretary of the Workers’ Party of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This letter was unanswered. 24. The Commission also invited the authorities of the DPRK to send a representative or representatives to scrutinize the evidence and to make submissions during public hearings held by the Commission in Seoul, London and Washington D.C. There was no response to these invitations. The Commission is unaware of whether the DPRK made arrangements for the public hearings to be attended by a representative. 25. On 17 September 2013, during the interactive dialogue at the Human Rights Council, the Chair of the Commission reaffirmed that the Commission reached out in friendship to the DPRK and remained available to visit and engage in a dialogue on any terms that the authorities would consider appropriate. During the interactive dialogue at the Third Committee of the General Assembly on 29 October 2013, in the presence of the representatives of the DPRK to the United Nations in New York, the Chair again offered the opportunity of dialogue and interaction without any preconditions. These offers have not been followed up by the DPRK. 26. As late as 7 January 2014, the Commission provided written assurances to the authorities of the DPRK of its resolve to seek the advancement of the enjoyment of human rights by all people in the DPRK through the discharge of its mandate in an independent, impartial and transparent manner. The Commission reiterated its continued commitment to ensuring that its work be fully informed by the perspectives of the Government of the DPRK. It also emphasized that getting access to the concerned country and hearing the position of the authorities of the DPRK would contribute to a better understanding of the human rights situation inside the country. On this occasion, the Commission also offered to the Permanent Mission in Geneva to discuss the progress in the preparation of the report. All the above approaches to the DPRK have been ignored. 27. Before publication, the Commission shared the findings of this report, in their entirety, with the Government of the DPRK and invited comments and factual corrections. A summary of the most serious concerns, in particular those indicating the commission of crimes against humanity, was also included in a letter addressed to the Supreme Leader of 9 According to the DPRK’s state-operated Korean Central News Agency, this position was conveyed through a Foreign Ministry spokesperson. See “UN Human Rights Council’s “Resolution on Human Rights” against DPRK Rejected by DPRK FM Spokesman”, KCNA, 22 March 2013. Available from http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2013/201303/news22/20130322-39ee.html; ���S. Korean Regime Denounced for Trying to Fabricate “Human Rights Resolution” against DPRK”, KCNA, 26 March 2013. Available from http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2013/201303/news26/20130326-12ee.html. 9