In March 2013, the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: COI) was established by the Human Rights Council resolution. The mandate of the Commission was to investigate the systematic, widespread and grave violation of human rights in the DPRK with a view to ensure the full accountability. In particular, the work of the commission focuses on violations of human rights in North Korea that may amount to “crimes against humanity.” In February 2014, the COI released its final report after a year-long investigation which concluded that a range of human rights violations perpetrated in North Korea constitutes crimes against humanity under international criminal law. According to the findings of the COI report, violations of human rights in North Korea is crimes against humanity specified in Rome Statute. Therefore, the commission urges that the international community should refer the issues of human rights violation in North Korea to the International Criminal Court (ICC) or establish a special tribunal under the doctrine of the responsibility to protect (R2P). Crimes against humanity are one of the four international crimes under the jurisdiction of the ICC and are directly linked to the principle of the responsibility to protect (R2P). R2P is a norm or a set of principles based on the idea that sovereignty is a responsibility rather than a privilege. It prescribes that individual states have primary responsibility to protect its population. If government leaders fail to fulfill the responsibility to protect local people, the international community has a secondary responsibility to protect them by force, if necessary, from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and crime against humanity.
It is meaningful to note that the creation of a UN COI was established in non-armed conflict situation for the first time and a final report of the commission is the first official report dealing with the real conditions of the human rights in North Korea.

In the context, this paper first examines the background and characteristics of the formation of the COI and reviews the COI report to understand main contents and its implications. In addition, the paper uates the process of development in the concept of R2P and the possibility of the implementation in the case of North Korea’s human rights violations.