A year on from the United Nations’ damning report on the human rights’ situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK – North Korea’s official name), it is perhaps time to take stock of what has happened. The report itself is slowly ploughing through the UN system, and is now before the Security Council. This is frustrating to many who had hoped that it would prove a wake-up call and lead to swift action. This was always unlikely, since the UN has procedures and rules that have to be followed. Given that both Russia and China sit on the