The North Korean Human Rights Act
H.R. 4011, the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, passed the U.S. Senate on September 28, 2004, after a lengthy amendment process. The amended version of the bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives on October 4 without further changes.
On October 18, 2004, President George W. Bush signed the North Korean Human Rights Act, which offered U.S. support for human rights groups in North Korea and for refugees leaving the secretive state.
According to a statement released by the White House on October 21, 2004, the "Act provides with useful new tools to address the deplorable human rights situation in North Korea by focusing efforts to help both those who flee the regime and those who are trapped inside the country."
According to a March 23, 2004, House resolution, the intent of the Act is "o promote human rights and freedom in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and for other purposes."
The Act earmarked $24M a year for such causes and made North Koreans eligible for political asylum in the United States.
Sec. 302(a) of the Act states that the purpose of the Act "is not intended in any way to prejudice whatever rights to citizenship North Koreans may enjoy under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea." However, interesting and potentially significant wording found in Sec. 302(b) states that "a national of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea shall not be considered a national of the Republic of Korea." Previously, North Koreans had been treated as citizens of South Korea, which still technically claims sovereignty over the whole peninsula.
On September 23, 2008, the U.S. Congress extended the Act for four more years. The North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2008 was signed by President Bush on October 7, 2008. There were some revisions in this newest iteration of the Act, including elevating the post of U.S. special envoy on North Korean human rights to full ambassador while halving the funding for programs to promote human rights to $2 million from the initial $4 million.
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