South Korean authorities are expected to review dozens of North Korea-related non-profits registered with the Ministry of Unification starting in mid-August, despite criticism from some human rights advocates.

The Ministry of Unification (MOU) announced its tentative timeline on Friday, pledging to review whether North Korean human rights groups and defector-resettlement groups meet requirements to retain their status as a registered non-profit. It’s unclear what will happen to groups that are removed from the list, but two defector-led organizations — Kuensaem and Fighters for a Free North Korea (FFNK) — lost their corporate permits after being investigated.

“We have been adjusting the schedule with the corporations and setting the dates [for inspections],” ministry deputy spokesperson Cho Hye-sil told reporters on Friday. “For the groups that have confirmed part of the schedule, we are sending notices to conduct office inspections. Office inspections are scheduled to be conducted starting mid-August.”

Last week, the ministry stated that 25 non-profit groups on its list failed to fully “report the operational performance they are required to submit every year” or “require additional fact-checking.” But this week, the MOU has apparently expanded the scope of its review, sending notices to 64 additional registered groups in the same two sectors (human rights and defector resettlement), asking them to submit documents proving that they meet the legal requirements to be registered as “non-profit private organizations.”

REJECTION BY HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS

Protesting the MOU crackdown’s “discriminatory repression,” two dozens organizations — both registered and unregistered — co-signed a joint letter on Wednesday vowing to “reject [the] unilateral ‘office inspections'” by the ministry.

The cosignatories of that letter stated that the MOU’s “selection standards and principles” ultimately “lack transparency,” calling the government body’s move to inspect organizations as “unprecedented.”

They urged the ministry to “immediately cease unfairly targeted office inspections” and to “transparently and publicly reveal” the purpose and process of their inspections.

Deputy spokesperson Cho acknowledged the objections on Friday, stating, “We, too, are well aware of the concerns those organizations have. We plan to proceed [with our plan by] closely communicating with them. We hope the organizations will cooperate.”

Cho did not divulge any details on what the MOU will do if the targeted groups refuse to submit the requested documents.

MOU RESPONSE TO JOINT REJECTION LETTER

Formally responding to the objecting groups’ letter, an MOU official told NK News on Friday that “the government plans to proceed with the planned office inspection as scheduled” despite the rejection. The official also reiterated that Article 8 of the Regulation on the Establishment and Supervision of Non-profit Corporations Under the Jurisdiction of the Ministry of Unification spells out grounds for inspection.

The official reiterated to NK News “that all corporations under MOU jurisdiction” are subject to inspections — not just groups related to defector resettlement and human rights. The official added that the 25 human rights and resettlement non-profit groups are to be inspected first because “it is not easy to inspect all [organizations] simultaneously, considering administrative capacity.”

“We intended to conduct [the inspection] with the resettlement support and North Korea human rights sector first, judging that [they] require additional on-site visits,” the MOU official stated, claiming that the ministry will be expanding the target to other sectors.

ONGOING CONCERNS

Some North Korean human rights advocates, however, are particularly concerned about the ministry’s request for their documents — especially since those documents would divulge the identity of people who receive help from the non-profits. Beneficiaries are “very sensitive” data, one human rights worker told NK News.

The human rights worker also said that document submission guidelines have been problematic. The ministry set a deadline of July 30 for implicated non-profits to submit their papers, but the requirements do not specify the timespan of documents required.

“Some organizations have been working for 20 years,” the worker told NK News, meaning, a July 30 due date is too tight for longstanding organizations.

Meanwhile, the notice sent to the non-profit private organizations also stipulated that the groups must submit data proving “that the scope of its business extends to more than two cities or provinces” and that “it has set up and operates offices in more than two cities or provinces.”

The notice referenced Article 2 of the Assistance for Non-Profit, Non-Governmental Organizations Act as well as Article 3 of the enforcement decree for the act.

However, there appears to be a slight discrepancy between Article 3 of the enforcement decree and the MOU notice: Article 3 stipulates who non-profit groups should register with if they extend to more than two cities or provinces. In other words, Article 3 does not appear to require all groups to have offices in multiple cities or provinces.

Edited by Kelly Kasulis