A/75/388 B. Situation of people who have escaped from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 37. In the first quarter of 2020, 135 escapees (39 male and 96 female) from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea arrived in the Republic of Korea, a 40 per cent decrease from the same period in 2019. 27 In the second quarter, only 12 escapees arrived in the Republic of Korea. Stricter border control relating to COVID -19, combined with increased oversight in transit countries and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, has likely discouraged people from leaving the country. 38. On 4 June, the Korean Central News Agency, the State news agency, reported a statement by Kim Yo Jong, the first deputy director of United Front Department of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the younger sister of Kim Jong Un, in which she strongly criticized escapees living in the Republic of Korea for sending anti-leadership leaflets to the North. She demanded that the Republic of Korea at least enact a law to “stop the farce”, in accordance with the Panm unjom Declaration on Peace, Prosperity and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula, in which both sides agreed to cease all hostile acts, including the distribution of leaflets in the areas along the Military Demarcation Line. 28 That incident highlights the severe limitations placed in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on people’s freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of their choice, as recognized in article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 39. On 8 June, the Special Rapporteur condemned the public insults and threats by the leadership of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea against escapees living in the Republic of Korea. 29 He noted that those persons, most of them women, had escaped hardships and oppression and sought opportunities for a livelihood. They were victims of human rights violations, and were entitled to respect and protection and should not suffer re-victimization. Instead of denigrating escapees with offensive, injurious and discriminatory language because of their decision to leave the country owing to human rights violations, he urged the Government to open up the country to United Nations monitoring, which was the best way to verify the situation on the ground. 40. Following the destruction of the inter-Korea joint liaison office on 16 July, the Ministry of Unification of the Republic of Korea announced that it planned to undertake the first round of business inspections of 25 registered civil society organizations. On 20 July, the Ministry requested 64 non-profit organizations working on human rights issues in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or on settlement support for escapees from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to provide all the requisite materials by 30 July to prove the legitimacy of the need for them to retain their registration license under the Ministry. On 30 July, the Special Rapporteur had an online meeting with the Ministry of Unification and expressed concern about the inspections and the fact that documents were being required only of those organizations working on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and on the resettlement of escapees in the Republic of Korea. He later recommended to the Deputy Minister that the inspection and administrative audits be put on hold, __________________ 27 28 29 20-13513 See the website of the Ministry of Unification of the Republic of Korea. Available at www.unikorea.go.kr/eng_unikorea/relations/statistics/defectors/ (accessed on 10 April 2020). Jacob Fromer and Oliver Hotham, “Stop activists sending leaflets into North Korea, Kim Yo Jong warns South”, NK News, 3 June 2020. Kelly Kasulis, “End insults against defectors, UN human rights official urges North Korea”, NK News, 8 June 2020. 15/21