The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), established in 2003 in Seoul, is an NGO dedicated to improving human rights in North Korea and pursuing transitional justice. Our core activities include researching and documenting human rights violations, ensuring non-recurrence, assisting victims, and working towards the establishment of the North Korean Human Rights Museum to memorialize victims and inspire action for human rights promotion.

NKDB takes a holistic approach to transitional justice. Its foundation includes documenting human rights violations, as a result its Unified Human Rights Database contains over 87,000 cases and information on 56,000 individuals and is the world’s largest repository on North Korean human rights records. NKDB’s Resettlement Assistance Headquarters provides psychosocial support to victims of gross human rights violations who have resettled in South Korea. NKDB’s International Human Rights Headquarters uses the data collected to conduct advocacy efforts with the international community. NKDB has held special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council since 2023. In 2020, NKDB developed the ‘Larchiveum of North Korean Human Rights’ (www.nkhrlarchiveum.org), an online memorialization and education platform on North Korean human rights. NKDB is actively working towards establishing a physical North Korean Human Rights Museum to memorialize victims, illuminate their struggles, and foster dialogue. This museum aims to authentically represent the experiences of North Korean victims and escapees, serving as a space where their stories are reflected, validated, and preserved. Through these digital and physical initiatives, NKDB strives to raise awareness, encourage participation in the human rights movement, and pave the way for transitional justice in North Korea.