A group of opinion-leaders – including three United Nations commissioners – this week outlined a wide-ranging list of 15 "action priorities" to improve human rights in North Korea, focusing on policies that both isolate and engage the leadership and country.

The list – the result of a five day conversation in Salzburg, Austria, between 43 North Korea and human rights specialists – on the one hand includes calls for the UN Security Council to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court (ICC), and for further awareness to be raised about Pyongyang's human rights abuses in regional and international fora.