South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s pledge to “engage in dialogue with North Korea” and “seek ways to coexist” could soon be reflected in a major policy shift.
The South Korean government recently announced the possible scrapping of the country’s annual report on human rights violations in the North.
The Ministry of Unification confirmed it is “considering various options” for the report’s publication, Asianews reported. If dropped, it would be the first time the document has been omitted since its release began in 2018.
A senior ministry official, speaking to reporters in a closed-door briefing, said “not many unpublished testimonies from North Korean defectors have been collected since last year’s publication.”
About 200 defectors have arrived in recent years, the official noted, but most had lived abroad for more than a decade, making it difficult to secure recent and meaningful accounts.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young signaled the administration’s approach during his parliamentary confirmation hearing, stressing that “using North Korea’s human rights issues as a means to attack the North Korean regime is inappropriate.”
He warned that such actions could breach the Inter-Korean Fundamental Agreement, which prohibits the two Koreas from interfering in each other’s internal affairs.
The report, compiled by the North Korean Center for Human Rights, relies on defectors’ testimonies—an approach that has long angered Pyongyang.
Under former president Moon Jae-in, the document was classified as Level 3 confidential and withheld from public release to protect defectors’ personal information.
Lee’s engagement policy has already led to the lifting of restrictions on private contact between citizens of the two Koreas. Since the end of July, such exchanges have been allowed, provided the ministry is notified in advance.
The opening comes amid continuing military tensions. On Wednesday, Pyongyang staged artillery drills, seen as a response to the upcoming Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, set for August 18.
KCNA said the drills were aimed at “honing the entire army’s warfighting ability and battle readiness.”
The Unification Ministry downplayed the scale of the maneuvers, citing the limited number of weapons used and the absence of leader Kim Jong Un, who often oversees such events.
Officials suggested the drills were intended as a warning without fully undermining recent diplomatic overtures.
