Han Kim and North Korean Accountability for Torture and Unlawful Killing

This note assesses the implications of the D.C. Circuit Court case of Han Kim v. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in which the court found the North Korean state responsible for the torture and unlawful killing of Kim Dong Shik, a South Korean missionary who was abducted by the North Korean government while in China. In particular, this note shows how the judgment breaks new ground by holding a state responsible for torture and unlawful killing based solely on general evidence of that country’s human rights practices, without additional information about the fate of the victim himself. This note also discusses this case’s implications for the plaintiffs themselves, and for other victims of North Korean human rights abuses.