A/75/388 and disability, as such data are necessary to inform health responses and identify those most at risk of being left behind; (b) respect the freedom to seek and receive information through any medium and regardless of frontiers, especially by allowing the use of electronic communication during lockdowns, quarantines or while other special measures are in place; and (c) facilitate access to the country by international organizations providing humanitarian assistance within the context of the measures to contain COVID-19. 20. In a briefing paper issued by the Korea Institute for National Unification in August 2020, the author argued that while China might provide the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with support to mitigate the crisis resulting from COVID-19, such support would not be sufficient to offset completely the shocks that the sanctions cause to the country’s economy. 17 The sanctions imposed on the country make it difficult to enjoy the basic human right to an adequate standard of living. The negative impact of the sanctions on the people is particularly worrying when the country is further isolating itself and information received from within the country is further limited with the reduced presence of the international community and only a trickle of escapees arriving in the Republic of Korea. Under the unprecedented situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to re-evaluate parts of the sanctions regime is more compelling than ever. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the swift response of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006) to provide humanitarian exemptions. He recommends that the Security Council study the policy on a standing exemption for humanitarian organizations. He also urges the Secretary-General to conduct a study on the humanitarian impact of sanctions, as recommended by the Panel of Experts established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1874 (2009) (S/2019/171 and Corr.1, annex, para. 180). The Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is further isolating the country from the rest of the world and the authorities are slowing down the acceptance of humanitarian aid. That is a dangerous trend and the Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to reflect on that policy and urgently reverse it. The measures to contain the outbreak of COVID-19 must not compromise programmes aimed at advancing basic human rights such as the rights to health, food, water and sanitation and housing, which are equally necessary to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the short and the long term. IV. Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea A. Labour system 21. The labour system controlled by the Workers’ Party of Korea, based on the policy and practice of State ownership, central planning and the juche ideology of economic self-sufficiency 18 determines the entire life of the people in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The existing labour system warrants a detailed analysis through a human rights lens, particularly given the economic challenges facing the people in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The preamble to the Charter of the Workers’ Party of Korea states that its current goal is to build a powerful socialist nation in the “northern half of Korea” and to implement the task of national liberation and democratic revolution throughout the nation. The Workers’ Party of Korea, un der __________________ 17 18 20-13513 Hong Jea Hwan, “COVID-19 shock and North Korea economy”, p. 10. The State’s “self-reliance” ideology, established by Kim Il Sung, postulates that man is the master of his destiny and that the masses have to act as the masters of the revolution and construction under the leader. 9/21