North Korea has been raising tension on the Korean Peninsula through a series of hard-line comments. In a Foreign Ministry statement on April 29, the communist nation threatened to conduct another nuclear test and test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile unless the U.N. Security Council retreats its sanctions against the North and apologizes. Pyongyang also said it would build its own light-water nuclear reactor and start developing technology needed for producing nuclear fuel, making clear its ambition to produce highly enriched uranium. When the North launched a long-range rocket in early April, many North Korea watchers interpreted it as a simple tactic to draw the United States to the negotiation table. But according to Jang Yong-seok), the head of the Institute for Peace Affairs, the North’s subsequent moves show that the nation isn’t satisfied with bilateral dialogue with the U.S. alone, but also seeks to demonstrate its weapons capacity before engaging in any negotiations. Here’s Mr. Jang.

North Korea seems to have clarified its intention to strengthen its status of a nuclear power before starting negotiations with the international community, including the U.S. Even if future negotiations don’t proceed well, North Korea is confident it has the means to become a military power. Specifically, the regime has pledged to create a so-called “strong North Korea” by 2012. Negotiations with the U.S. will be most important when North Korea is sure of its status as a nuclear state. In this vein, the North’s recent threats are aimed at creating a new paradigm for future negotiations with the U.S.

North Korea’s unrealistic demand for an apology from the U.N. Security Council indicates its intent to move forward with its previous threats. North Korea will likely begin reprocessing spent fuel rods and take necessary measures for an additional nuclear test unless the international community offers the country a dramatic incentive. But the U.S. is refraining from responding directly to the North’s threats, and there are no signs of a breakthrough on the resumption of the nuclear negotiations. Here, again, is Mr. Jang.

In fact, North Korea launched a rocket even before the U.S. made any conciliatory move. Naturally, the rocket launch was addressed at the U.N. level, since it is closely related to ballistic missile development. North Korea now demands the U.N. apologize for imposing sanctions on the North, which is unacceptable. North Korea seems to have deliberately deteriorated the situation. With its goals already decided, Pyongyang seeks to heighten tension to some extent, rather than holding dialogue with the U.S. For now, Washington has no choice but to watch the North’s saber-rattling strategy.

Some experts predict it will be hard for North Korea to come back to the six-country nuclear talks. On a more pessimistic note, they speculate there will be a major shift in the multinational dialogue frame. During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on April 30, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Pyongyang is digging itself into a deeper hole, adding that it is implausible, if not impossible, that North Korea will return to the six-way nuclear talks. On the same day, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in a regular briefing that the U.S. would be focused on the frame of the six-party talks, but Washington was still looking at the various aspects of its policy. His remarks spark speculation that there may be a change in Washington’s North Korea policy.

North Korea has already mentioned an additional nuclear test, the ballistic missile development and even the controversial issue of highly enriched uranium. Therefore, it will be virtually impossible to persuade the North to give up its nuclear programs under the ‘action for action’ principle stated in the September 19th joint statement drafted in 2005. In this respect, the six-party talks have lost their significance, both in content and formality. Regarding the “various aspects of Washington’s policy,” many speculate the U.S. is considering Plan B, which mainly employs pressure. Many may be reminded of military restrictions, but Plan B could also include financial sanctions similar to the Banco Delta Asia case.

Meanwhile, U.S. special envoy to North Korea Stephen Bosworth will travel to the participating countries of the six-party talks next week to discuss the possibility of the resumption of the six-way talks and countermeasures against North Korea. Diplomatic experts are watching the results of his prospective meetings, but Mr. Jang says it will be challenging for the involved countries to come up with specific measures to restart the six-way talks. In a cautious projection, Jang says negotiations between North Korea and the U.S. will likely come first.

North Korea says it will push ahead with a nuclear test, a test-launch of a ballistic missile and the development of enriched uranium technology. If the North’s threats take shape, bilateral negotiations between the North and the U.S. will become more important. Therefore, it’s necessary to keep watching the movements of the two countries. Of course, there are other major factors, such as China, but North Korea-U.S. negotiations will take center stage. Their dialogue, even if it does take place, will likely start around the end of the year, at the earliest.

Experts are worried that tension will linger on the Korean Peninsula for a considerable amount of time as North Korea moves toward a nuclear test and the international community responds negatively. At this critical crossroads, diplomatic efforts to resume the six-way talks are more necessary than ever before.


[Interview]New Book Unveils N. Korean Children’s Human Rights Situation
This is the time of year when many children go on exiting excursions with their parents, their young faces beaming with smiles. In sharp contrast, some children suffer from starvation and hard labor, left unattended in the dead zone of human rights. These unfortunate children are living just across the border in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. A report on the stark reality of North Korean schools and children’s human rights situation has been released in book form. The Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights published “The Child is the King of the Country,” both in Korean and English, 17 months after it started researching relevant information in October of 2007. Here’s Lee Young-hwan, the head of the human rights group’s research team.

The North Korean authorities have spread propaganda that North Korea is a paradise for children and that no other kids in the world can receive better treatment than North Korean children do. We wanted to ask whether the North Korean children, who are called king in their nation, really live like kings. That’s why we named the book, “The Child is the King of the Country.” This book highlights the reality faced by North Korean children from various angles and reveals the truth that they need many more things, other than just food.

Previous reports on the human rights of North Korean children are mostly about malnutrition and starvation. But this book covers a wider range of children’s basic rights, such as the right to live and educational rights. It is based on in-depth, face-to-face interviews with 40 North Korean children and teenagers who escaped their home country between 2001 and 2008. At first, they were afraid to talk about their past, but with time, they became more willing to share their sad stories.

According to the North Korean children, they always had to work in school, which was too demanding for them. They went to school, not to study, but to work. They were given sickles and hoes, and they had to work at farms for ten to 15 hours a day. Even during the vacation period, they are mobilized for hard labor for 20 or 30 days. Students aged 14 or older stayed in camps during the labor period. To our shock, many North Korean children were urged to work at opium poppy fields, but they were never told what the plants were. Hungry children ate poppies, thinking that they were some kind of herb. Unfortunately, many children fell victim to opium poisoning.

The book also brings to light the tales of young North Korean soldiers who were drafted into the army when they were younger than 18 years old and endured habitual beating and severe malnutrition before breaking barracks. It also points out the structural corruption of North Korean society by describing how the country has diverted humanitarian aid for children provided by the international community. It is devastating to hear that corruption is rampant even in North Korean schools, the education venue for young students.

International society sends various aid goods to North Korean children. But many of them are stashed away in the process of delivery. Those items usually flow into the market for sale. Even if they are delivered to schools, teachers or school officials divert part of them. Worse yet, schools demand students pay for what little is left, even though the goods are meant to be given to the children for free. The students have to ask their parents to pay for the goods, so those from poor families cannot receive them.

The book contains a lot of issues that merit international attention. It was circulated during the 50th session of the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child held in Geneva, Switzerland, in January of this year. Many other groups under the U.N. and non-governmental organizations also refer to this book to figure out the internal situation of the reclusive North. Mr. Lee now talks about the potential roles of the book.

This book will be provided to not only the U.N. but also many countries having relations with North Korea through various channels. North Korea will inevitably face those countries’ concern and criticism over the miserable situation of North Korean children. The nation will then be under increasing international pressure to improve the situation. I expect this book will eventually help induce the North Korean authorities to realize the fact that their country cannot gain international trust unless it reflects on its human rights abuses and remedies the situation.

Children, no matter how young they are, are entitled to human rights that can’t be taken away by force. Here’s hoping the book will continue to call international attention to North Korea’s human rights situation so children in the North can live in the kind of positive environment every child deserves.