For years now, South Korea has delayed or avoided talking about human rights with North Korea for fear that it would interfere with peace talks. 

But at this point in President Moon Jae-in’s outreach — which has not seen any inter-Korean diplomatic talks since at least mid-2020 — it’s clear that peace talks have failed to achieve the Panmunjom Declaration’s very goals. That’s why the Moon government now has an opportunity to tackle human rights concerns in North Korea and come up with a long-term approach that can make real change while adhering to already-existing