North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 5959 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5959 To reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 7, 2025 Mrs. Kim (for herself and Mr. Bera) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2025''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress makes the following findings: (1) The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-333; 22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.) and subsequent reauthorizations of such Act aimed to promote the protection of human rights, documentation of human rights violations, transparency in the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and the importance of refugee protection. (2) According to the State Department's 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, there are ``widespread reports of political prisoners and detainees . . . most external estimates were between 80,000 and 120,000; some NGOs placed the figure as high as 200,000.''. (3) North Korea continues to hold a number of South Koreans and Japanese abducted after the signing of the Agreement Concerning a Military Armistice in Korea, signed at Panmunjom July 27, 1953 (commonly referred to as the ``Korean War Armistice Agreement''), and refuses to acknowledge the abduction of more than 100,000 South Koreans during the Korean War in violation of the Geneva Convention. (4) According to the State Department's 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Pr