A/HRC/16/58 7. During his mission to Japan, the Special Rapporteur met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Justice, the Minister in charge of Abduction Issues, the Senior Vice-Minister of Cabinet Office in-charge of abduction issue, Ambassador in charge of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, the Deputy Vice-Minister for Foreign Policy, the Director General of Asian and Oceanian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also interacted with national and international NGOs, diplomats, United Nations agencies and other relevant individuals working on the human rights and the humanitarian situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. 8. The Special Rapporteur’s meetings reinforced reports of the dire humanitarian situation and absence of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights for the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The question of 17 identified cases of abduction of Japanese nationals by the agents of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was the major focus of several discussions with Government officials and civil society representatives in Japan. III. Overview of the current situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 9. In August 2010, the north-western area of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was hit by the torrential rainfall and floods caused by unprecedented downpours in the north-eastern area of China. These floods and their effects have also compounded the prevailing food scarcity in the country. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has experienced severe damages and losses that have affected 6 out of 12 provinces. 10. Besides food availability, school structures were also badly affected. Some 316 school buildings were completely or partially damaged, hampering the normal continuation of the school year after the summer break.1 At the reopening of the schools in September 2010, many children found their school either completely washed away or badly damaged. It was estimated that some 28,000 children, from kindergarten to secondary school, had no classroom to which to return to and had to study in the open air or in rotation in other classrooms or schools.2 11. In recent months, one of the major developments in the political arena of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has been the preparations for the succession of Kim Jong-il by Kim Jong-un. On 25 June 2010, the official Korean Central News Agency reported that the Korean Workers’ Party would convene a meeting in early September 2010 to elect its “highest leading body”. This was widely viewed as a step toward holding a Party Congress,3 which could herald a transfer of power. After much speculation, in September 2010, Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of Kim Jong-il, was promoted to the Workers’ Party Central Committee and the Party’s Central Military Commission, and to the rank of fourstar general of the Korean People’s Army, putting him in line to succeed his father, Kim Jong-il. The selection of Kim Jong-un as one of the two Vice-Chairmen of the National Defence Commission of the State and the Party’s Central Military Commission places him in a position of heir apparent to succeed Kim Jong-il as the head of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. 1 2 3 4 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), “Back to school after the floods”. Available from www.unicef.org/dprk/reallives_7371.html. Ibid. The Party Congress had not been convened since 1980.