The South Korean government has joined other countries in sponsoring a resolution on human rights violations in North Korea, which was led by the European Union, at the 63rd UN General Assembly. The South Korean Foreign Ministry said early this month that the decision was based on the belief that human rights should be treated separately from other issues, since human rights are a universal value of mankind. The resolution on North Korea’s human rights has been laid before the UN General Assembly since 2005, sponsored by some 50 countries, including the European Union, Japan and the United States. Here’s Dr. Kim Su-ahm from the Korea Institute for National Unification to explain in detail what the resolution contains.

The resolution expresses concern about systematic and widespread human right abuses in North Korea, calling for the nation to stop the practice immediately. The UN appointed a special rapporteur in an effort to improve the poor human rights record in the North, but Pyongyang denies access of the UN human rights monitor. The resolution also urges the nation to cooperate in the special rapporteur’s activities. It also advises North Korea to allow international aid organizations direct access to the country so they can provide support to starving people in the North.

A vote on the resolution on the North Korean human rights issue has now become an annual event of the UN General Assembly. It voted on the agenda on November 17, 2005, on the same day in 2006, and on November 20 in 2007. This year, it is expected to be put to a vote in the middle of this month. South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan hinted that Seoul would vote for the passage of the resolution this year. In fact, the Seoul government took a rather vague position on the resolution issue in the past. South Korea didn’t attend the voting session of the UN Human Rights Commission on the North Korean human rights in 2003 and abstained from the commission’s voting in 2004 and 2005. The nation also abstained from the voting on the UN General Assembly resolution in 2005. It voted in favor of the resolution in 2006, shortly after North Korea conducted a nuclear test. Last year, Seoul again abstained from voting, amid rising controversy. As a result, South Korea was criticized for lacking consistency. But the incumbent Lee Myung-bak government, which took office early this year, is firmly determined to improve the dire human rights situation in North Korea. Upon its inauguration, the Lee government set the solution of inter-Korean humanitarian issues as one of the 100 national tasks.

As I mentioned before, the resolution briefly explains North Korea’s systematic and widespread human rights violations, marked by public executions and concentration camps. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion is not guaranteed. Personal freedom is restricted, and economic, social and cultural rights are infringed. In brief, human rights abuses are very serious in the communist country. South Korea, a member of the UN and a signatory to various international human rights agreements, seeks to deal with this humanitarian issue as a universal value, not as a political strategy, and play a leading role in improving the dire human rights conditions in its northern neighbor.

It is widely known that North Korea oppresses its people in an undemocratic and inhumane way. North Korea has overtly carried out bloody political purges, strict monitoring of residents and forced labor since the foundation of its regime. Freedom House, a Washington-based international human rights organization, released the ‘Freedom of the Press 2008’ report last June. According to the report, the one-party regime of top leader Kim Jong-il places severe restrictions on media freedom and rigorously limits the ability of North Koreans to access information. Amnesty International’s Report 2008 also noted that North Korea still denies basic human rights, such as freedom of expression, association and movement, while public executions, torture and concentration camps are rampant. The UN has made steady efforts to improve the human rights situation in North Korea, and the resolution on this agenda is part of those efforts. Unfortunately, it’s still hard to find a proper solution.

The North Korean people, in their highly regimented, totalitarian regime, are exposed to brutal human rights abuses. To maintain one-man dictatorship centering on the top leader, North Korea needs to block the influx of information from outside and strictly control its people. If the nation accepts some requests of the international community and implements measures to improve its human rights conditions, a massive amount of foreign information will flow into the reclusive nation and local residents will inevitably compare their lives with those of other people in foreign countries. They will then realize how absurd and immoral their society is, which will threaten the maintenance of the communist regime—something North Korea is most worried about. Pyongyang looks at the human rights issue from the standpoint of regime security, so it’s rather hard to expect the nation to improve the situation.

Pyongyang defines the UN resolution on North Korean human rights as a political scheme aimed at regime change or collapse. Therefore, North Korea is very much displeased by South Korea, which has decided to not simply vote for the resolution but to join other countries in pushing for it. North Korea’s Central News Agency strongly denounced Seoul on November 4, calling the move an intolerable infringement upon an independent sovereign state. It criticized the South for taking advantage of Washington’s political strategy, which is part of its hostile policy toward North Korea. Some express concerns that South Korea’s recent decision may aggravate the already entangled inter-Korean relations.

History shows that inter-Korean relations experienced serious setbacks even though the human rights issue wasn’t on the table. South-North relations are more vulnerable to political and military matters, such as Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests. The human rights issue may be used as an excuse to escalate tension when those problems arise. But in essence, it is political, military and economic concerns that affect inter-Korean ties. For example, South Korea for the first time voted for the passage of the North Korean human rights resolution at the UN General Assembly in 2006, but it didn’t influence bilateral ties very much afterward. Contrary to expectations, the second inter-Korean summit was held the next year. Given this, the human rights issue may be exploited to justify something, and inter-Korean ties are more subject to political, military and economic interests.

South Korea and the United States promised to cooperate in improving the human rights conditions in North Korea during their bilateral summit last August. The Democratic Party in the U.S. has reclaimed power in eight years, and Obama’s policy of North Korean human rights is expected to influence controversy over this issue inside South Korean society and policy cooperation between Seoul and Washington. How will the Obama administration deal with the North Korean human rights issue?

Both Obama and Bush have the same goal when it comes to their North Korea policies. They hope to dispel security concerns in Northeast Asia by improving North Korea’s human rights situation, spreading democracy in the communist nation and preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the region. To this end, the Bush government tended to resort to force. Under the Obama presidency, on the other hand, moral standards and soft power will likely be employed to handle the North Korean human rights issue. President Bush directly aimed at North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-il, calling the regime a member of the “axis of evil” and one of the “outposts of tyranny.” In contrast, President-elect Obama will likely seek a solution of the human rights issue through dialogue and a policy of engagement. Democrats are more committed to the human rights issue than the Bush government, so it is highly possible that this issue will comprise an important part of the nuclear negotiation process under the Obama leadership.

The North Korean human rights issue is as important and urgent as the North Korea nuclear crisis. It is hoped, once again, that North Korea will perceive human rights as a universal value and improve the lives of its own people quickly. 　 [Interview] NK Defectors Launch ‘Intellectuals’ Association’
North Korean defectors in South Korea launched an organization, ‘NK Intellectual Solidarity’ on October 24. It consists of those who earned a master’s or doctor’s degree or worked as professionals in North Korea. As the name of the group indicates, intellectuals from the North gather to propose North Korea-related policies and let the South Korean public know the reality of the communist nation correctly. About 100 people joined the group at first, but in only 20 days, the number has nearly doubled, reflecting the defectors’ growing interest in this organization. The group members worked as medical doctors, writers, teachers or professors in North Korea. But it was far from easy for these intellectuals to start new lives here in South Korea. They often felt embarrassed about the antithetically different South Korean society, and they couldn’t find their vested rights that they had enjoyed in their home country. And they had to find new jobs, which was a challenging task. Here’s Hyun In-ae, the representative of the organization.

The newcomers have the language barrier. Parents find it hard to educate their children. But the most difficult part is to land a job. And many defectors suffer from psychological problems. They lived hard lives in North Korea and experienced enormous psychological pain in China. But they’re still tormented by similar problems in South Korea. The defectors couldn’t eat well in North Korea and went through hardships in the course of escaping the North and coming to South Korea. Little wonder many of them have poor health.

Ms. Hyun served as a professor of the Cheongjin Medical School in North Korea before defecting to the South via China in 2004. Since it was hard to use her medical career, the former professor of medicine began to work as a writer of North-Korea related broadcasting programs in South Korea. Still, her South Korean life has been happy and pleasant, because she can express her thoughts and feelings freely. Now she talks about the group’s future plans.

The group’s main goal is to study North Korea. We’re discussing in what direction North Korea should be heading for and how it should change. Regarding the reunification of Korea, I think social unity is more important than institutional integration. We’re going to study ways to unify the two Koreas at minimum costs. Many North Korean defectors are coming to the South, which I think is part of the unification process. I hope they will be able to find ways to smooth the transition, and this will be a great help to social unity in the future. I believe we, defectors, know more about North Korea than South Korean people do. It’s necessary for the newcomers to unite and voice the same opinions. Sometimes I feel disappointed, since South Koreans are rather indifferent to the defectors from the North. I also hope they will show more interest in us.

As a North Korean defector, Hyun hopes to play a bridging role between the North and the South. She plans to launch a quarterly magazine containing information acquired from defectors and North Korean residents, and to support broadcasting programs targeting intellectuals and those engaged in the Workers’ Party in North Korea as well. Hopefully, her experience in North Korea and learning in South Korea will be combined well to contribute to the future unification of Korea.