This article was originally posted on Yonhap News.
WASHINGTON, April 25 (Yonhap) — Religious freedom conditions in North Korea remain among the worst in the world, a U.S. government commission said Monday, recommending the U.S. government to designate North Korea as a country of particular concern.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also called on the state department to bring up human rights issues when negotiating security issues with North Korea.
“In 2021, religious freedom conditions in North Korea remained among the worst in the world,” the commission said in its annual report, noting religious adherents in the country are severely persecuted.
“The (North Korean) government attempts to provide an illusion of religious freedom to the outside world through state-backed religious organizations and sites such as the Jangchung Cathedral. In reality, religious freedom remains nonexistent in North Korea as authorities actively and systematically target and persecute religious groups and adherents,” the report added.
The report provides country-specific recommendations to the Department of State, which, in turn, produces its own annual report on religious freedom.
The state department in 2021 designated North Korea as a “country of particular concern” for a 20th consecutive year.
The USCIRF recommended the department redesignate North Korea as a country of particular concern and “impose targeted and broad sanctions” that are appropriate for religious freedom violation in the reclusive country.
The commission said the U.S. may consider lifting certain sanctions in “return for concrete progress in religious freedom and related human rights.”
Nadine Maenza, head of the USCIRF, noted sanctions alone may not be enough to get North Korea to change when asked how they may promote religious freedom in the reclusive country.
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