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Title 22 — Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-73not60

§7834 Briefings on the Welfare of North Korean Children

Title 22 › Chapter 85— NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS › Subchapter II— ASSISTING NORTH KOREANS IN NEED › § 7834

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of State must name a person to give regular, unclassified briefings to the appropriate congressional committees about U.S. efforts to protect the best interests of North Korean children and children with one North Korean parent. The briefings must include work on possible adoptions for eligible children living outside North Korea who lack parental care. Each briefing must cover: the State Department’s view of the problems these children face outside North Korea and if they are fleeing persecution or are officially or effectively stateless; what the Department is doing to help with immediate care, family reunification, and individual adoptions when suitable; plans to help U.S. citizens pursue intercountry adoption, including jurisdiction issues for Hague and non‑Hague countries; diplomatic steps to urge other countries to resolve North Korean statelessness; and efforts with South Korea to run pilot programs to find, care for, and reunite these children.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §7834

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of State shall designate a representative to regularly brief the appropriate congressional committees in an unclassified setting on United States Government efforts to advocate for the best interests of North Korean children and children of one North Korean parent, including efforts to address, when appropriate, the adoption of such children living outside North Korea without parental care.
(b)The Secretary’s designee shall be prepared to address in each briefing the following topics:
(1)The analysis of the Department of State of the challenges facing North Korean children residing outside North Korea and challenges facing children of one North Korean parent in other countries who are fleeing persecution or are living as de jure or de facto stateless persons.
(2)Department of State efforts to advocate for the best interest of North Korean children residing outside North Korea or children of one North Korean parent living in other countries who are fleeing persecution or are living as de jure or de facto stateless persons, including, when possible, efforts to address the immediate care and family reunification of these children, and, in individual cases where appropriate, the adoption of eligible North Korean children living outside North Korea and children of one North Korean parent living outside North Korea.
(3)Department of State efforts to develop a comprehensive strategy to address challenges that United States citizens would encounter in attempting to adopt, via intercountry adoption, North Korean-origin children residing in other countries or children of one North Korean parent residing outside North Korea who are fleeing persecution or are living as de jure or de facto stateless persons, including efforts to overcome the complexities involved in determining jurisdiction for best interest determinations and adoption processing, if appropriate, of those who habitually reside in a Hague country or a non-Hague country.
(4)Department of State diplomatic efforts to encourage countries in which North Korean children or children of one North Korean parent are fleeing persecution or reside as de jure or de facto stateless persons to resolve issues of statelessness of North Koreans residing in that country.
(5)Department of State efforts to work with the Government of the Republic of Korea to establish pilot programs that identify, provide for the immediate care of, and assist in the family reunification of North Korean children and children of one North Korean parent living within South Korea and other countries who are fleeing persecution or are living as de jure or de facto stateless persons.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification This section was enacted as part of the North Korean Child Welfare Act of 2012, and not as part of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 which comprises this chapter.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Definitions Pub. L. 112–264, § 3, Jan. 14, 2013, 126 Stat. 2432, provided that: “In this Act [enacting this section and provisions set out as a note under section 7801 of this title]: “(1) Appropriate congressional committees.—The term ‘appropriate congressional committees’ means the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives. “(2) Hague country.—The term ‘Hague country’ means a country where the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, done at The Hague
May 29, 1993, has entered into force and is fully implemented. “(3) Non-hague country.—The term ‘non-Hague country’ means a country where the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, done at The Hague
May 29, 1993, has not entered into force.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 7834

Title 22 — Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60