Common core document forming part of the reports of States parties

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea *

[Date received: 11 April 2016]

Contents

Page

I.Land and people3

A.Land 3

B.People, language and religion3

II.General political structure3

A.Brief political history3

B.General political structure4

III.General legal framework within which human rights are protected6

A.Legislative measures taken for human rights protection6

B.General legal structure for human rights protection8

IV. Information and publicity9

Annex10

I.Land and people

A.Land

1.Korea, situated in the north-eastern part of the Asian continent, consists of the Korean peninsula and 4,198 islands around it. It is surrounded by seas on three sides. Its total area is 222,200 square kilometers, 80% of which is covered by mountains.

2.Korea was liberated from the Japanese colonial rule on August 15, 1945. It was divided into the north and the south at the 38th parallel of North latitude soon after the liberation and later by the military demarcation line defined in the Armistice Agreement of the Korean War. The area of the country over which the DPRK exercises its sovereignty is 123,138 square kilometres.

B.People, language and religion

3.The DPRK is a homogeneous nation State. Koreans have long lived on the Korean territory since the early era of human morphogenesis, creating its own history and culture.

4.As of 2014, the population of the DPRK is 24,895,000. The capital cityof Pyongyang has 3,160,400 people.

5.The national languageis Korean.

6.There are Buddhism, Christianity, Roman Catholicism and Chondoism in the DPRK. It has no State religion.

II.Generalpolitical structure

A.Briefpolitical history

7.Korea was formed and developed as a State before the 30th centuryB.C.

8.It was colonized by Japan in the early 20th century on the basis of the illegally fabricated “Ulsa 5-point Treaty” (1905), the “Jongmi 7-point Treaty” (1907) and the “Korea-Japan Amalgamation Treaty”(1910).

9.The Korean people waged a vigorous armed struggle against Japanese imperialist aggressors for over 20 years under the leadership of the President Kim Il Sung and achieved the historic cause of national liberation on August 15, 1945.

10.After the liberation, Korea was divided into the north and the south owing to the interference of foreign forces, and the two sides followed diametrically different courses: socialism in the north and capitalism in the south.

11.In the north, the Provisional People’s Committee of North Korea was established on February 8, 1946 based on the local power organs formed in all areas on the initiative of the people and, under its guidance, democratic reforms were carried out to set up a genuine people’s democratic system.And by the first democratic elections of historic significance, the People’s Committee of North Korea was formed in February 1947 and the transition to socialism began.

12.In response to crisis of national division, general elections for a united central Government were held throughout the whole territory of the north and south of Korea in August 1948 and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea(the DPRK), representing the interests of all the Korean people, was founded on 9 September 1948. The founding of the DPRK meant the advent of an independent people’s power of a new type and was a historic proclamation of the birth of Juche Korea.

13.The Korean people won the fatherland liberation war of 1950-1953 against the US and its satellite countries and defended the country with honor. The Korean people completed the socialist transformation of the relations of production in urban and rural areas within only four to five years after the war and established the socialist system free from exploitation and oppression of man by man.

14.The DPRK, in the course of carrying out the tasks of socialist construction of various stages from the 1960s to the 1990s, invincibly consolidated the people’s power and the socialist system relying on the single-minded unity and patriotic efforts of the entire people who are the masters of the State and the society, and realized socialist industrialization to lay the foundation for an independent national economy. The DPRK built the socialist culture that contributed to enhancing the creativity of the working people and satisfying their healthy cultural and emotional needs and strengthened the national self-defence capability based on the all-people and nationwide defence system.

15.The DPRK, under the outstanding leadership of the great leader ComradeKim Il Sung and Comrade Kim Jong Il, developed into a people-centred socialist state, overcoming ordeals of history under the banner of Juche idea.

16.Today under the wise leadership of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un who carries out the politics of love for the people, the Korean people with fresh confidence are making a vigorous onward march towards building a prosperous and powerful nation which fully realizes ideals and desire of the people.

B.General political structure

17.The political system of the DPRK is socialist democratic republic.

18.The sovereignty of the DPRK resides in the workers, peasants, working intellectuals and all other working people. The working people exercise power through their representative organs -the Supreme People’s Assembly and local people’s assemblies at all levels.

19.The administrative unit is comprised of 12 provinces (or municipality directly under central authority), 210 cities (or districts) and counties, and more than 4,000 ri (or up, gu, dong).

20.The system of State organs is composed of the system of power organs, the system of administrative organs and the system of judicial and procuratorial organs.

1.Systemofpower organs

21.The system of power organs consists of the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly (PSPA), local people’s assemblies and local people’s committees.

22.The SPA is the highest power organ of the DPRK. The SPA is composed of deputies elected on the principle of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot and its term of office is five years. The SPA exercises legislative power and the power of organizing leading State organs such as the National Defence Commission, the PSPA and the Cabinet, establishes the basic principles of domestic and foreign policies of the State, deliberates and approves the State plan for the development of the national economy, the State budget and its implementation result, and discusses and makes decisions on important and principled political issues of the State.

23.The National Defence Commission (the NDC) is the highest military leadership body of State power that directs the whole armed forces and defence build-up of the State, and is accountable to the SPA for its activities.

24.The first Chairman of the NDC is the supreme leader of the DPRK.

25.The PSPA is the highest organ of State power when the SPA is not in session.It deliberates and adopts the bills raised in the intervals between the SPA sessions, obtains the approval of the next session of the SPA for the important laws, supervises observance of the law by the State organs and takes relevant measures, discusses and decides important issues for the exercise of State power. The President of the PSPA represents the State. The PSPA is accountable to the SPA.

26.The people’s assembly of the province (or municipality directly under central authority), city (or district) and county is the local organ of State power. The local people’s assembly consists of deputies elected on the principle of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot and its term of office is four years.The local people’s assembly is the local representative organ of the people and exercises such sovereignty within the given area as deliberating and approving the local plan for the development of the national economy, local budget and its implementation results; adopting measures to observe State laws in the area concerned; electing or recalling members of people’s committees, judges and people’s assessors of the court at the corresponding level, etc. The local power organs when the local people’s assemblies are not in session are the people’s committees of the province (or municipality directly under central authority), city (or district) and county. The local people’s committee is also the administrative and executive organ of State power at the corresponding level. The local people’s committee consists of the chairman, vice-chairmen, secretary and members and its term of office is the same as that of the corresponding people’s assembly. The local people’s committee performs the function of the local organ of State power when the corresponding people’s assembly is not in session and exercises such sovereignty as convening sessions of the people’s assembly, organizing the election of deputies, working with the deputies, etc. The local people’s committee is guided by the corresponding people’s assembly and by the senior people’s assemblies or committees and is accountable to them.

2.Systemofadministrative organs

27.The system of administrative organs consists of the Cabinet and the local people’s committees.

28.The Cabinet is the administrative and executive body of the highest State power and the organ of overall State administration. The Cabinet consists of the Premier, Vice-Premiers, chairmen, ministers and other members as required and its term of office is the same as that of the SPA. The Cabinet takes measures for the implementation of the State policies and laws, adopts the regulations on State administration on the basis of the Constitution and the laws, drafts the State plan for the development of the national economy and the State budget, adopts measures for their implementation, organizes and executes the work of industries, agriculture, education, science, culture, public health, external affairs, etc., organizes and executes the overall administrative and economic activities of the State. The Cabinet is accountable to the SPA, and, when it is not in session, to the PSPA.

29.The people’s committees of the province (or municipality directly under central authority), city (or district) and county perform the function of the local organ of State power when the people’s assembly at the corresponding level is not in session and the administrative andexecutive organ of State power. The local people’s committee organizes and carries out all administrative and economic work in the given area, is accountable to the corresponding people’s assembly for its work and is subordinate to the people’s committees at higher levels and the Cabinet.

3.Systemofjudicial and procuratorial organs

30.The system of judicial and procuratorial organs consists of courts and public prosecutors’ offices.

31.The system of procuratorial organs consists of the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, the public prosecutors’ offices of the province (or municipality directly under central authority), city (or district) and county and the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office. The Prosecutor General of the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office is appointed and dismissed by the SPA and public prosecutors of various levels by the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office. The procuratorial organs supervise the observance of laws. Investigation and prosecution are conducted under the unified direction of the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, and all Public Prosecutor’s Offices are subordinate to their higher offices and the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office. The Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office is accountable to the SPA and the PSPA when the SPA is not in session.

32.The system of judicial organs is composed of the Supreme Court, the court of the province (or municipality directly under central authority), the people’s court and the special court.The President of the Supreme Court is elected by the SPA, and its judges and people’s assessors by the Presidium of the SPA.Judges and people’s assessors of local courts are elected by the corresponding local people’s assemblies.Judges of the special court are appointed by the Supreme Court and its people’s assessors elected by soldiers of the unit concerned or by employees at their meetings. The Supreme Court is the highest judicial organ of the DPRK and is accountable to the SPA and to the PSPA when the SPA is not in session. The local courts are accountable to their respective people’s assemblies.

III.General legal frameworkwithin which human rights are protected

A.Legislative measures taken for human rights protection

33.The socialist system of the DPRK is a people-centred socialist system which embodies the Juche idea. In the DPRK people are the masters of society and everything in the society serves them.

34.The DPRK regards human rights as the independent rights which people ought to exercise as social beings in political, economic, cultural and all other fields and actively strives to protect and realize them.

35.Embodying the new philosophical principle that man is the master of everything and decides everything as well as the demands of the Juche idea that man be placed in the centre of all considerations concerning nature and society and everything made to serve him, the President Kim Il Sung set forth the idea of human rights that man, the most precious being in the world, should be freed from all social subordination and inequalities and enjoy an independent and creative life to the full.

36.The Juche-oriented idea of human rights was first laid down in the “Ten-Point Programme of the Association for the Restoration of the Fatherland” published in May 1936, during the anti-Japanese armed struggle.

37.With a view to ensuring completely the social and political rights of all people, Article 6 of this Programme stipulates: “Freedom of speech, the press, assembly and association shall be realized, the Japanese terrorist rule and the remnants of feudal ideas opposed and all political prisoners released.” And on human equality and respect of all people, article 7 states: “Discriminatory status systems and other inequalities shall be abolished, human equality irrespective of sex, race, religion, etc. guaranteed, social position of women improved and the dignity of females respected.”

38.In order to provide social, economic and cultural rights, the Programme and the Declaration of the Association for the Restoration of the Fatherland called for the “adoption of popular and democratic policies of economy and culture”, “abolition of slave labour and education”, enforcement of “free compulsory education” and “eight-hour working day”, “improvement of working conditions and raise of wage” and “relief of the unemployed”.

39.After liberation, the Provisional People’s Committee of North Korea set forth the programme for defending the people’s rights and interests by proclaiming the Twenty-Point Platform to be pursued by the democratic government that would be set up soon.

40.In accordance with the Platform, the Committee took various legislative measures to ensure people their rights and freedom.

41.For the democratic socio-political reform and the democratization of the judicature, in 1946 the Committee formulated andput into practice the Rules of the Provisional People’s Committee of North Korea, the Basic Principles of the Composition and Function of the Judicial Board, theCourt, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Provisional People’s Committee of North Korea, the Rules of the Criminal Justice of the North Korean Judicial Organs and the Law on the Criminal Hearing by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Preliminary Examination of Security Organs of North Korea.

42.In the same year, the Law on the Agrarian Reform in North Korea, the Law on Nationalization of Industries in North Korea, the Labour Law for the Factory and Office Workers in North Korea, the Law on Equality of the Sexes, and other laws and regulations were formulated and put into practice for securing democratic socio-economic reform.

43.In order to secure the democratization of social and cultural life, the Committee enacted in 1947 the Law on the Protection of Life, Health, Freedom and Honour , the Law on the Abolition of the Remnants of the Feudal Customs, the Law on the Protection of Private Property and the Law on Crimes against Public Health.

44.The democratic laws and new regulations adopted after the establishment of the People’s Committee of North Korea consolidated the achievements of democratic reform by law.

45.The DPRK, after its foundation in September 1948, adopted its Constitution (September 9, 1948) to fix and reaffirm by law the achievements, successes and the democratic rights of the citizens in the sectors of political, economic, social and cultural life.

46.The DPRK took measures to effectively protect the rights of citizens by promulgating the Law on Composition of the Court (1 March, 1950), the Criminal Law (3March, 1950), the Criminal Procedures Law(3 March, 1950) and other related laws.

47.The DPRK adopted the Socialist Constitution on 27 December 1972 in line with the established socialist system and amended it, in April 1992, October 1998, April 2009, April 2010, April 2012 and April 2013 to consolidate the achievements of the socialist construction and to better protect the genuine democratic freedom and rights of the citizens.

48.On the basis of the Socialist Constitution, the DPRK adopted hundreds of relevant laws for the promotion and protection of human rights in keeping with the developing realities.

49.The DPRK instituted new Criminal Law and Criminal Procedures Law on 19December 1974, Civil Procedures Law in 1976, Civil Law and Family Law in 1990.

50.It also enacted other laws and regulations including the Law on Nursing and Upbringing of Children (1976), the Labour Law (1978), the Public Health Law (1980), the Law on the Protection of the Environment (1986), the Law on Elections to the People’s Assembly at all Levels (1992), the Nationality Law (1995), the Appeal and Petition Law (1998), the Law on External Civil Relations (1995), the Law on Composition of the Court (1998), the Law on Lawyers (1993), the Notary Public Law (1995), the Education Law(1999), the Law on Prevention of Epidemics (1997), the Insurance Law(1995) and the Foreign Trade Law (1997),the Law on the DPRK Red Cross Society(2007), the Social Security Law (2008), the Law on the Protection of the Elderly (2007), the Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities (2003), the Law on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Children (2010), the Law on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Women (2010), the Law on Labour Protection (2010), the Law on Higher Education (2011), the Law on General Education (2011), the Law on Libraries (1998), the Law on Sports (1997), the Law on Tobacco Control (2005), the Law on Public Hygiene (1998), the Law on Foodstuff Hygiene (1998), the Law on Dwelling Houses (2009) and the Law on Economic Development Zones (2013), so that citizens may better enjoy their democratic rights and freedom and their material and cultural life in all the political, economic, social and cultural fields.

B.General legal structure for humanrights protection

51.The major bodies responsible for democratic rights and freedom of the people are the people’s committees at all levels. These committees are responsible for the promotion of human rights of citizens in such fields as public health, education, labour, commerce, foodstuff and daily necessities, food administration, sport, environmental protection, complaints and petition, etc. Judicial, procuratorial and people’s security organs also assume the important mission and function of protecting human rights. Besides, human rights protection work is conducted by social organizations such as the Association for Human Rights Studies, Central Committee of Korean Federation for the Protection of Persons with Disabilities,Korean Committee on Measures for the Victims of Sexual Slavery for the Imperial Japanese Army and Forcible Drafting, the Democratic Lawyers’ Association, the bar association, the youth league, trade union, the women’s union, Korean Association for Supporting the Children, the Korea Education Fund, etc.

52.There is a system of compensation for damage for the citizens whose rights are violated, which are civil compensation and criminal compensation.Citizens may lodge complaints or appeals with, or bring an action before the State organs, or judicial or other State organs when their rights are violated.The State organs investigate the case in accordance with due procedures and have the victim properly rehabilitated or compensated if the communication or appeal prove to be reasonable. Civil Compensation is made in accordance with the Law on Compensation for Damages and its Implementing Regulations, and criminal compensation in accordance with the Regulations on Criminal Compensation.

53.The rights set forth in the international human rights instruments are firmly protected by the Constitution and other relevant laws and regulations.

54.The DPRK makes every effort to faithfully implement the international human rights conventions to which it is a Party.

55.It has embodied the requirements of human rights instruments in its Constitution, sector-specific laws and regulations, and has taken practical measures for their implementation. As a result, the DPRK citizens are sufficiently ensured genuine democratic freedom and rights. The Constitution and relevant laws prohibit all kinds of discrimination.

56.The DPRK acceded to International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. It signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

57.The DPRK submitted several periodic reports on implementation of international human rights instruments to which it is a Party. It took part in the first and second Universal Periodic Reviews under the HRC.

58.Foreigners staying or residing in the DPRK also enjoy legal rights.

IV.Information and publicity

59.The DPRK took measures to inform the State organs, social organizations and the general public of the principles and requirements of the international human rights instruments. On the occasion of Human Rights Day and other international anniversaries, the Government actively disseminates relevant information through mass media and organizes lectures, workshops and seminars. The texts of the international human rights instruments have been translated into Korean and disseminated to the people’s power organs, judicial, procuratorial and people’s security organs, economic and cultural organs and social organizations, and human rights education is given at educational institutions. A Compilation of International Instruments on Human Rights (vols. I and II), A Compilation of International Instruments on the Rights of the Child and other references were published in Korean and disseminated.

60.Following the submission of the periodic reports on implementation of international human rights instruments to which the DPRK has acceded, the copies of reports and the notification on its submission were distributed to people’s committee at all levels, the Committees and ministries concerned, judicial, procuratorial and people’s security organs, youth league, trade unions, women’s union, bar association, association for human rights studies, and reported through mass media.

Annex

Table 1General Background

Population	24,895,000
Birth rate(per ,000 head)	13.9
Mortality rate (per 1,000 head)	8.4
Average lifespan	72.1
GDP per capita in 2013	US $ 1,013

Source : DPRK Central Bureau of Statistics 2014 .

Table 2Yearly population and its growth rate

Year	Population	Growth rate (%)	Average rate of annual increment (%)
2008	24,052 ,000	-	-
2012	24,625 ,000	102.4	0.59
2014	24,895 ,000	101.1	0.55

Source : Report on DPRK Census in 2008, DPRK Central Bureau of Statistics 2014 .

Table 3Population and composition by age group(1,000 head)

Age	Year 2008	Year 2012	Year 2014
Total	24 , 052	24 , 625	24 , 895
0-14	5,578(23.2 %)	5,286(21.5%)	5,187(20.8%)
15-59	15,319(63.7%)	16,046(65.2%)	16,369(65.8%)
60+	3,155(13.1%)	3,293(13.4%)	3,340(13.4%)

Source : Report on DPRK Census in 2008, DPRK Central Bureau of Statistics 2014 .

Table 4Proportion of male and female in population

Sex	Population (,000)	Proportion in population
Male	12,136	48.8
Female	12,758	51.2

Source : DPRK Central Bureau of Statistics 2014 .

Table 5Proportion of population by urban and rural areas in 2013

Urban area	Rural area
61.2 %	38.8 %

Source : DPRK Central Bureau of Statistics .

Table 6Proportion of expenditure for public health and education (%)

Category	Public Health	Education
2011	6.1	8.3
2013	6.4	8.4

Source : DPRK Central Bureau of Statistics .

Table 7Nutrition and health survey

C ategory	Year	Chronic malnutrition	Acute Malnutrition	Underweight
MICS 4	2009	32.4	5.2%	18.8%
Nutritional survey	2012	27.9	4.0%	15.2%

Source : Final report of the national nutritional survey, DPRK 2012 .

Table 8Annualcrop output

Year	Yield(,000 MT)
2010	5,124
2012	5,298
2014	5,713

Source : DPRK Central Bureau of Statistics .