The chairman of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea stressed on Wednesday that protecting North Korean human rights should be a “primary objective” of inter-Korean policy, regardless of Pyongyang’s rejection of ties with the South.

Ahn Chang-ho delivered the remarks at the NK Insider Forum in Seoul, a human rights conference that featured testimony from DPRK defectors about abuses stemming from cooperation with Russia and discussion about how best to hold the regime’s leadership accountable.

“Regardless of the policies on the Korean Peninsula, protecting and respecting the human rights of North Korean residents should be the primary objective and