Chasing justice : victim engagement with accountability for human rights abuses in North Korea

This article considers the question of accountability for human rights abuses alleged to have been committed in North Korea, via a possible future process of transitional justice. It focusses on the efforts of South Korean nongovernmental organisations that have worked for more than two decades to document reported abuses and, more recently, to consider how perpetrators of those abuses may be held accountable. While noting the significance of this work, the article draws on research focussed on the efficacy of transitional justice from the victim perspective, to learn more about how those who may identify as victims of the North Korean regime perceive the possible methods for redress and both individual and collective recovery from abuses. The article engages with some preliminary research done with self-identifying victims of the North Korean regime and assesses some of the weaknesses in current South Korean civil society practice involving North Korean escapees. It highlights challenges to pursuing an alternative approach that places victims at the centre and provides some recommendations for how NGOs might develop and pilot new approaches to planning for and implementing a transitional justice process in North Korea if the opportunity arises.