Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea A/RES/79/181 (xi) Widespread use of forced labour 22 and violations of workers’ rights, including the right to freedom of association and effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining, the right to strike as defined by the obligations of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the prohibition of the economic exploitation of children and of any harmful or hazardous work of children as defined by the obligations of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the exploitation of workers sent abroad from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to work under conditions that reportedly amount to forced labour, often for the purpose of generating income for the Government, and emphasizing in this context the importance, especially as there are indications of transport routes reopening, of the full implementation of the requirement that nationals of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea earning income overseas be repatriated, subject to applicable national and international law, as soon as possible pursuant to paragraph 8 of Security Council resolution 2397 (2017), the provision of final reports as soon as possible pursuant to the same and the prohibition on providing work authorizations pursuant to paragraph 17 of resolution 2375 (2017), and urges the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to promote, respect and protect the human rights of workers, including workers repatriated to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; (xii) Discrimination based on the songbun system, which classifies people on the basis of State-assigned social class and birth and also includes consideration of political opinions and religion; (xiii) Violence and discrimination against women, including unequal access to employment and discriminatory laws and regulations; (b) The continued refusal of the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to extend an invitation to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, to engage and give consideration to the reports and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or to extend cooperation to the Special Rapporteur and several other United Nations special procedures, in accordance with their terms of reference, as well as to other United Nations human rights mechanisms; (c) The continued lack of acknowledgement by the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea of the grave human rights situation in the country and its consequential lack of action to report on the state of implementation of the recommendations contained in the outcome of its first, 23 second 24 and third 25 universal periodic reviews and to give consideration to the concluding observations of the treaty bodies; 3. Condemns the systematic abduction, denial of repatriation and subsequent enforced disappearance of persons, including those from other Member States, on a large scale and as a matter of State policy, as well as denial of repatriation of prisoners of war, and in this regard strongly urges the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to engage in constructive dialogues with the parties concerned and to urgently resolve these issues of international grave concern, by clarifying their __________________ See Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Forced Labour by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, available at www.ohchr.org/en/documents/countryreports/forced-labour-democratic-peoples-republic-korea. 23 A/HRC/13/13. 24 A/HRC/27/10. 25 A/HRC/42/10. 22 8/14 24-24223