This brief examines the longstanding challenges to operationalizing R2P in the DPRK context and highlights recent dynamics that have further complicated international responses. While many DPRK human rights advocates may question the efficacy of R2P in light of the country’s worsened human rights situation, the final section considers how the principle has nonetheless shaped international response and identifies potential, if imperfect, pathways for advancing protection and accountability in an environment defined by entrenched state control, geopolitical divisions, and extreme government recalcitrance.
The briefing can be downloaded here.
