[110th Congress Public Law 346]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]


[DOCID: f:publ346.110]

[[Page 122 STAT. 3939]]

Public Law 110-346
110th Congress

                                 An Act


 
 To amend the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 to promote respect 
 for the fundamental human rights of the people of North Korea, and for 
         other purposes. <<NOTE: Oct. 7, 2008 -  [H.R. 5834]>> 

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: North Korean 
Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2008.>> 
SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7801 note.>> SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``North Korean Human Rights 
Reauthorization Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7801 note.>> FINDINGS.

     Congress finds the following:
            (1) The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 
        108-333; 22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.) (in this section referred to as 
        ``the Act'') was the product of broad, bipartisan consensus in 
        Congress regarding the promotion of human rights, transparency 
        in the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and refugee 
        protection.
            (2) In addition to the longstanding commitment of the United 
        States to refugee and human rights advocacy, the United States 
        is home to the largest Korean population outside of northeast 
        Asia, and many in the two-million strong Korean-American 
        community have family ties to North Korea.
            (3) Human rights and humanitarian conditions inside North 
        Korea are deplorable, North Korean refugees remain acutely 
        vulnerable, and the findings in section 3 of the Act remain 
        accurate today.
            (4) The Government of China is conducting an increasingly 
        aggressive campaign to locate and forcibly return border-
        crossers to North Korea, where they routinely face torture and 
        imprisonment, and sometimes execution. According to recent 
        reports, the Chinese Government is shutting down Christian 
        churches and imprisoning people who help North Korean defectors 
        and has increased the bounty paid for turning in North Korean 
        refugees.
            (5) In an attempt to deter escape attempts, the Government 
        of North Korea has reportedly stepped up its public execution of 
        border-crossers and those who help others cross into China.
            (6) In spite of the requirement of the Act that the Special 
        Envoy on Human Rights in North Korea (the ``Special Envoy'') 
        report to the Congress no later than April 16, 2005, a Special 
        Envoy was not appointed until August 19, 2005, more than four 
        months after the reporting deadline.
            (7) The Special Envoy appointed by the President has filled 
        that position on a part-time basis only.

[[Page 122 STAT. 3940]]

            (8) Since the passage of the North Korean Human Rights Act, 
        Congress has on several occasions expressed interest in the 
        status of North Korean refugees, and on February 21, 2006, a 
        bipartisan group of senior Members of the House and Senate wrote 
        Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ``to express [their] deep 
        concern for the lack of progress in funding and implementing the 
        key provisions of the North Korean Human Rights Act'', 
        particularly the lack of North Korean refugee admissions to the 
        United States.
            (9) Although the United States refugee resettlement program 
        remains the largest in the world by far, the United States has 
        resettled only 37 North Koreans in the period from 2004 through 
        2007.
            (10) From the end of 2004 through 2007, the Republic of 
        Korea resettled 5,961 North Koreans.
            (11) Extensive delays in assessment and processing have led 
        numerous North Korean refugees to abandon their quest for United 
        States resettlement, and long waits (of more than a year in some 
        cases) have been the source of considerable discouragement and 
        frustration among refugees, many of whom are awaiting United 
        States resettlement in circumstances that are unsafe and 
        insecure.
            (12) From 2000 through 2006, the United States granted 
        asylum to 15 North Koreans, as compared to 60 North Korean 
        asylum grantees in the United Kingdom, and 135 in Germany during 
        that same period.
SEC. 3. <<NOTE: 22 USC 7801 note.>> SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the United States should continue to make it a priority 
        to seek broader permission and greater cooperation from foreign 
        governments to allow the United States to process North Korean 
        refugees overseas for resettlement in the United States, through 
        persistent diplomacy by senior officials of the United States, 
        including United States ambassadors to Asia-Pacific nations;
            (2) at the same time that careful screening of intending 
        refugees is important, the United States also should make every 
        effort to ensure that its screening, processing, and 
        resettlement of North Korean refugees are as efficient and 
        expeditious as possible;
            (3) the Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues 
        should be a full-time position within the Department of State in 
        order to properly promote and coordinate North Korean human 
        rights and humanitarian issues, and to participate in policy 
        planning and implementation with respect to refugee issues, as 
        intended by the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public 
        Law 108-333; 22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.);
            (4) in an effort to more efficiently and actively 
        participate in humanitarian burden-sharing, the United States 
        should approach our ally, the Republic of Korea, to revisit and 
        explore new opportunities for coordinating efforts to screen and 
        resettle North Koreans who have expressed a wish to pursue 
        resettlement in the United States and have not yet availed 
        themselves of any right to citizenship they may enjoy under the 
        Constitution of the Republic of Korea; and

[[Page 122 STAT. 3941]]

            (5) because there are genuine refugees among North Koreans 
        fleeing into China who face severe punishments upon their 
        forcible return, the United States should urge the Government of 
        China to--
                    (A) immediately halt its forcible repatriation of 
                North Koreans;
                    (B) fulfill its obligations pursuant to the 1951 
                United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of 
                Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of 
                Refugees, and the 1995 Agreement on the Upgrading of the 
                UNHCR Mission in the People's Republic of China to UNHCR 
                Branch Office in the People's Republic of China; and
                    (C) allow the United Nations High Commissioner for 
                Refugees (UNHCR) unimpeded access to North Koreans 
                inside China to determine whether they are refugees and 
                whether they require assistance.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

     Section 5(1)(A) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 
(Public Law 108-333; 22 U.S.C. 7803(1)(A)) is amended by striking 
``International Relations'' and inserting ``Foreign Affairs''.
SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY PROGRAMS.

     Section 102(b)(1) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
U.S.C. 7812(b)(1)) is amended by inserting after ``2008'' the following: 
``and $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012''.
SEC. 6. RADIO BROADCASTING TO NORTH KOREA.

     <<NOTE: Deadline. Reports.>> Not later than 120 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) 
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees, as defined in 
section 5(1) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 
7803(1)), a report that describes the status and content of current 
United States broadcasting to North Korea and the extent to which the 
BBG has achieved the goal of 12-hour-per-day broadcasting to North Korea 
pursuant to section 103 of such Act (22 U.S.C. 7813).
SEC. 7. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION.

     Section 104 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 
7814) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``2008'' and inserting 
        ``2012''; and
            (2) in subsection (c), by striking ``in each of the 3 years 
        thereafter'' and inserting ``annually through 2012''.
SEC. 8. SPECIAL ENVOY ON NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES.

    Section 107 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 
7817) is amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by striking ``human rights in 
        north korea'' and inserting ``north korean human rights 
        issues'';
            (2) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in the first sentence--
                          (i) by striking ``human rights in North 
                      Korea'' and inserting ``North Korean human rights 
                      issues''; and

[[Page 122 STAT. 3942]]

                          (ii) by inserting before the period at the end 
                      the following: ``, by and with the advice and 
                      consent of the Senate'';
                    (B) in the second sentence, by inserting before the 
                period at the end the following: ``who shall have the 
                rank of ambassador and shall hold the office at the 
                pleasure of the President'';
            (3) in subsection (b), by inserting before the period at the 
        end the following: ``, including, in coordination with the 
        Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, the protection of 
        those people who have fled as refugees'';
            (4) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (6) as 
                paragraphs (2) through (7), respectively;
                    (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so 
                redesignated, the following new paragraph:
            ``(1) participate in the formulation and the implementation 
        of activities carried out pursuant to this Act;''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated, by 
                striking ``section 102'' and inserting ``sections 102 
                and 104''; and
            (5) in subsection (d), by striking ``for the subsequent 5 
        year-period'' and inserting ``thereafter through 2012''.
SEC. 9. REPORT ON UNITED STATES HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.

     Section 201(a) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
U.S.C. 7831(a)) is amended, in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
striking ``in each of the 2 years thereafter'' and inserting ``annually 
thereafter through 2012''.
SEC. 10. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED OUTSIDE OF NORTH KOREA.

     Section 203(c)(1) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
U.S.C. 7833(c)(1)) is amended by striking ``2008'' and inserting 
``2012''.
SEC. 11. ANNUAL REPORTS.

     Section 305(a) of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 
U.S.C. 7845(a)) is amended--
            (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting ``and Refugee'' 
        before ``Information'';
            (2) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``for each of the following 5 
                years'' and inserting ``through 2012''; and
                    (B) by striking ``which shall include--'' and 
                inserting ``which shall include the following:'';
            (3) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``the number of aliens'' and 
                inserting ``The number of aliens''; and
                    (B) by striking ``; and'' at the end and inserting a 
                period;
            (4) in paragraph (2), by striking ``the number of aliens'' 
        and inserting ``The number of aliens''; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) A detailed description of the measures undertaken by 
        the Secretary of State to carry out section 303, including 
        country-specific information with respect to United States 
        efforts to secure the cooperation and permission of the 
        governments of countries in East and Southeast Asia to 
        facilitate United States processing of North Koreans seeking 
        protection

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        as refugees. The information required under this paragraph shall 
        be provided in unclassified form, with a classified annex, if 
        necessary.''.

    Approved October 7, 2008.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 5834:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 110-628 (Comm. on Foreign Affairs).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 154 (2008):
            May 13, 15, considered and passed House.
            Sept. 22, considered and passed Senate, amended.
            Sept. 23, House concurred in Senate amendments.

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