EAI Issue Briefing Developments in North Korea’s Human Rights Issues and South Korea’s Strategy From “Monitoring” to “Accountability”: Toward the Improvement in the North Korean Human Rights Human rights issues are becoming increasingly important in the UN, and North Korea has consistently refused any attempts at monitoring human rights issues by the international community. In response, UN launched the Commission of Inquiry on human rights in North Korea, which mandates “full accountability.” Soo-Am Kim (Senior Research Fellow, Korea Institute for National Unification) traces the changes in the human rights conditions in North Korea through the UN human rights mechanisms and suggests a policy direction for South Korea.