According to a statement released by the White House on October 21, 2004, the "Act provides [the U.S.] with useful new tools to address the deplorable human rights situation in North Korea by focusing [U.S.] efforts to help both those who flee the regime and those who are trapped inside the country."

According to a March 23, 2004, House resolution, the intent of the Act is "[t]o promote human rights and freedom in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and for other purposes."

According to the Department of United States, the Government of North Korea is "a dictatorship under the absolute rule of Kim Jong Il" that continues to commit numerous, serious human rights abuses.

A large diaspora of refugees began fleeing North Korea in the mid-1990s due to ongoing privation, intermittent starvation, and political repression.

Some have been resettled to South Korea, the United States, and other countries, but a large, unknown number remain in China and other East Asian nations.

North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 called on the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to facilitate the unhindered dissemination of information in North Korea by increasing the amount of Korean-language broadcasts by Radio Free Asia RFA and Voice of America VOA.

5834 The North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act was presented to the President on September 26, 2008[12] and was signed into effect on October 7, 2008.

The bill mentions several observations specifically regarding the minimal amount of progress that has taken place since the passage of the North Korean Human Rights Act 2004.

The NKHRA was extended in 2008 highlighting the full-time position of the U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues.