Submit to:

• The Office of the President of the Republic of Korea

• The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs

• Ministry of Unification

• United Nations Human Rights Council

• International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances

Subject: We urge the Republic of Korea to take immediate steps to ratify and implement the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED). This treaty, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2006, is a critical international legal instrument that seeks to prevent and address enforced disappearances—a practice that has profoundly affected the Korean Peninsula for decades.

Background: During and after the Korean War (1950–1953), the DPRK carried out the systematic abduction of South Korean civilians and prisoners of war, many of whom were never returned or accounted for. Conservative estimates place the number of South Korean civilians abducted during the war at over 80,000, with thousands more forcibly detained in the years since. Families across South Korea continue to live with the trauma of unresolved disappearances, with no access to truth, justice, or redress. Despite these grave violations, South Korea has yet to fully utilize international legal frameworks—such as the ICPPED—to pursue accountability and protect its own citizens from further harm.

Ratifying the ICPPED will allow South Korea to:

• Officially define and criminalize enforced disappearance in its domestic law

• Establish clear state obligations to investigate, prevent, and punish such crimes

• Advance the rights of victims and families to truth, justice, and reparation

• Strengthen international cooperation to hold North Korea accountable for decades of abductions

• Provide a legal and diplomatic framework to respond to cases of forced repatriation and transnational disappearances

As a treaty party, South Korea would also be empowered to report violations to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, and support global efforts to document, monitor, and deter enforced disappearances across national borders.

We urge for the ROK to:

1. Immediately ratify the ICPPED

   1. Align national human rights policy with international standards

   2. Recognize the rights of victims and their families under international law

2. Criminalize enforced disappearance in domestic law

   1. Ensure that enforced disappearance is defined as a distinct crime under the Criminal Code

   2. Introduce protections for witnesses, victims, and investigators

3. Establish an independent truth and accountability mechanism

   1. Investigate historical cases of wartime and postwar abductions

   2. Create a centralized database for tracking victims and missing persons

   3. Facilitate cooperation with international institutions and civil society

4. Engage international mechanisms to hold the DPRK accountable

   1. Support global efforts, including through the UN Special Rapporteur on North Korea, to investigate abductions and disappearances

   2. Cooperate with countries facing similar issues, such as Japan, to pursue coordinated advocacy and accountability

5. Protect and advocate for North Korean escapees at risk of disappearance

   1. Oppose forced repatriation policies

   2. Provide support and asylum to defectors at risk of arbitrary detention or disappearance upon return to the DPRK