Title 22, Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-110

§7832 Assistance Provided Inside North Korea

Title 22 › CHAPTER 85 — NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS › SUBCHAPTER II — ASSISTING NORTH KOREANS IN NEED › § 7832

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Congress wants U.S. humanitarian aid to North Korea to help needy people, be closely tracked, and not be taken by the North Korean government for military or political use. Any big increase in U.S. aid inside North Korea must wait until there are real improvements in transparency, monitoring, and access to vulnerable people. The United States also urges other countries to send food and help through monitored, transparent channels instead of giving aid directly to the North Korean government. When aid goes to a North Korean government agency, it must follow international humanitarian standards, be given based on need, reach the people it’s meant for who should know where it came from, and be available to all vulnerable groups. Nonhumanitarian aid is allowed only if North Korea shows real progress on six things: respect for basic human rights including religious freedom; family reunions with relatives in the United States; full disclosure about citizens of Japan and the Republic of Korea who were abducted; allowing those abductees and their families to leave and return home freely; reforming prison and labor camps with outside monitoring; and decriminalizing political speech and activity. The Administrator of the Agency for International Development must report to the appropriate congressional committees about compliance within 180 days after October 18, 2004.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §7832

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Humanitarian assistance through nongovernmental and international organizations

It is the sense of the Congress that—

(1)at the same time that Congress supports the provision of humanitarian assistance to the people of North Korea on humanitarian grounds, such assistance also should be provided and monitored so as to minimize the possibility that such assistance could be diverted to political or military use, and to maximize the likelihood that it will reach the most vulnerable North Koreans;

(2)significant increases above current levels of United States support for humanitarian assistance provided inside North Korea should be conditioned upon substantial improvements in transparency, monitoring, and access to vulnerable populations throughout North Korea; and

(3)the United States should encourage other countries that provide food and other humanitarian assistance to North Korea to do so through monitored, transparent channels, rather than through direct, bilateral transfers to the Government of North Korea.

(b)United States assistance to the government of North Korea

It is the sense of Congress that—

(1)United States humanitarian assistance to any department, agency, or entity of the Government of North Korea shall—

(A)be delivered, distributed, and monitored according to internationally recognized humanitarian standards;

(B)be provided on a needs basis, and not used as a political reward or tool of coercion;

(C)reach the intended beneficiaries, who should be informed of the source of the assistance; and

(D)be made available to all vulnerable groups in North Korea, no matter where in the country they may be located; and

(2)United States nonhumanitarian assistance to North Korea shall be contingent on North Korea’s substantial progress toward—

(A)respect for the basic human rights of the people of North Korea, including freedom of religion;

(B)providing for family reunification between North Koreans and their descendants and relatives in the United States;

(C)fully disclosing all information regarding citizens of Japan and the Republic of Korea abducted by the Government of North Korea;

(D)allowing such abductees, along with their families, complete and genuine freedom to leave North Korea and return to the abductees’ original home countries;

(E)reforming the North Korean prison and labor camp system, and subjecting such reforms to independent international monitoring; and

(F)decriminalizing political expression and activity.

(c)Report

Not later than 180 days after October 18, 2004, the Administrator of the Agency for International Development shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report describing compliance with this section.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 7832

Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110