The international community is following the North Korean human rights issue, as the U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a final report on the human rights situation in North Korea after a grueling general debate at the European headquarters of the U.N. in Geneva, Switzerland on March 18. The adoption of the report came three months after the council members presented 169 recommendations on how to improve the North’s human rights conditions in December last year. At the time, North Korea said it would not accept 50 recommendations, including those calling for discontinuing forced labor and military exercises for children. In response to the latest U.N. report, the North maintained its previous position but added that it will review some 110 recommendations that it had not rejected. Professor Yu Ho-yeol from the North Korean Studies Department at Korea University had this to say about the significance of the U.N. report.

The latest report is the final position of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group of the U.N. Human Rights Council. The report urges Pyongyang to permit the U.N. special rapporteur’s visit to North Korea and to stop public executions. It also restricts the nation’s infringements on the basic human rights of its own people. The report is not legally binding, but it can provide a cause for the international community to recommend the North Korean government to improve its human rights record. And the North can’t simply ignore the international call. The report also highlights the importance of human rights and prompts the international community to become aware of the serious human rights abuses in North Korea.

As a matter of fact, the international community had been pointing out the dire human rights conditions in North Korea even before the U.N. adopted the report. On March 11, the U.S. State Department described North Korea’s human rights conditions as “deplorable” in its annual human rights report. According to the report, Pyongyang continues to commit serious abuses of human rights, and there are continued reports of extrajudicial killings, disappearances, arbitrary detention, arrests of political prisoners and torture. Professor Yu explains how domestic experts have assessed the situation in North Korea.

North Korea seems to have made its own efforts to improve its human rights record, like revising the criminal law and adding a new stipulation on human rights in the constitution. As the chronic food shortages continue, however, the food shortages among ordinary citizens have become even more serious. In general, human rights can be viewed in two aspects-the right to life and the right to freedom. In North Korea, these two rights are severely infringed. The right to life, or the right to live, can be ensured only after the food problem is resolved. North Korea has failed to find a fundamental solution to this problem, causing countless citizens to suffer from starvation. The right to freedom is one of the basic human rights. But personal freedom is not allowed in the collective North Korean society. The North Korean regime is urged to improve human rights in all these areas.

U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea Vitit Muntarbhorn says the human rights situation in the communist country is very poor and it has worsened further in recent years. In his report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council on March 15, he said that the undemocratic nature of the North Korean leadership has created a state of fear among the general public, calling for the international community to intervene in this issue more actively. Noting that the food situation had aggravated since North Korean authorities closed markets and banned small-scale farming, he suggested North Korea allow the practices again. Concerns are rising over North Korea’s human rights violations, which seem to be getting more serious year after year.

With the nuclear issue still up in the air, North Korea is subject to extensive international sanctions. As a result, the nation suffers severe economic difficulties. Worse yet, the efforts to revert to a controlled economy only proved a failure, and ordinary citizens became the biggest victims. To control the unstable regime, the authorities are increasingly restricting the basic rights of people. The human rights situation in North Korea is so grave that it cannot be improved without a dramatic, comprehensive policy change. It seems Vitit Muntarbhorn spoke out on the stark reality in North Korea during a recent press conference, with his term of office nearing its end.

Meanwhile, North Korea reacts strongly against reports by the U.N. and the United States, blasting them for seriously distorting its human rights situation. Some are concerned that the emergence of the human rights issue may provoke North Korean leadership, which could influence the regional diplomatic climate negatively. Professor Yu says the latest international call to recommend the North Korean government to improve its human rights conditions is based on the recognition of the communist regime’s sovereignty, so the North must understand the message correctly. Yu also stresses the South Korean government and the international community alike should approach this sensitive issue in a consistent and systematic fashion.

Now that international concerns about human rights violations in North Korea have been expressed in the U.N. report overtly, this issue should be approached systematically. Apart from the human rights issue, international society needs to find ways to support the impoverished nation more effectively. For example, it’s necessary to secure transparency in providing food aid so ordinary citizens will benefit from the aid. South Korea, for its part, feels responsible for the human rights violations on the other half of the Korean Peninsula. The government seeks to enact the North Korean Human Rights Act. Such a move is also based on the acknowledgement of the North Korean regime, just as the international recommendations about the North’s human rights are. So North Korea should not necessarily interpret the move as a ploy to topple its regime but should show a more cooperative attitude toward the outside world.

When we say human rights we refer to the universal right or basic entitlement that enables people to live life as a decent human being. Beyond political logic, North Korea should improve human rights voluntarily so its people will live in a more developed society where the right to live and civil liberty can be guaranteed.


[Interview]N. Korean Defector Serves as Public Servant
This is the office of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government in Uijeongbu, north of Seoul. Here, former North Korean defector Kim Gyeong-san starts his day by answering phone calls from North Korean defectors seeking employment counseling. Kim is familiar with defector-related work. He started working as a public official on a contract basis at the Second Gyeonggi Provincial Government last year. But even before that, he engaged in administrative services, including secretarial work, at the Committee for Five North Korean Provinces, a unit under the Ministry of Public Administration and Security. Let’s meet with Kim.

It’s only been six months since I began to work here at the South-North Cooperation Bureau of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government. My job is to manage vocational training for North Korean newcomers living in the province and large-scale projects that the local government usually can’t handle.

After graduating college in North Korea, Kim used to manage imported raw materials at a trading agency. Engaging in trade work, he was relatively well-informed with news from the outside world. He became increasingly frustrated with the bleak outlook for the North Korean economy, and he made up his mind to escape the hopeless country. He crossed the border in 1998, and the first destination was the Korean consulate in Shenyang, China. But his asylum request was not accepted. He couldn’t just give up. He finally made it to South Korea in 1999 by way of a third world country. So, why did he choose to become a public official after he resettled in South Korea?

My first job in South Korea was a public servant at the Committee for Five North Korean Provinces under the Ministry of Public Administration and Security. While searching for jobs, I realized my background—a former North Korean defector—proved unhelpful in most cases. I applied for many posts, but few would accept me. I was upset about the reality, and I decided to start my own business. So I set up a cleaning service company. Before long, I discovered it was far from easy to work with North Korean defectors in this area. I had to pay my employees for six months with no profit. I thought it was not going to work, and I quit my business.

But it was not easy for the North Korean defector to become a public official in South Korea, either. The government says it has been assisting North Korean newcomers to get jobs, but in reality, only ten defectors work as regular employees at central and local governments. Kim says it’s frustrating to see some South Korean people who still don’t trust him to do certain jobs. But Kim is very proud of his job, since he became a public official after many difficulties.

People around me are so envious of me, saying I must have struggled so hard to land this job. I feel stable because job security is guaranteed. Former South Korean President Park Chung-hee led the national development project in the 1960s and the 70s. But no matter how excellent the policies the government might suggest, they would have proved unsuccessful unless public officials had implemented them properly. I believe South Korea today owes much to its 1.2 million government employees. Without their efforts and hard work, the nation wouldn’t be what it is today.

In the hope of helping younger North Korean defectors who will arrive in South Korea later, he applied for the post of a contract public official to work at Hanawon, a rehabilitation center for North Korean newcomers under the Unification Ministry. He is now waiting for the result of the last round of screening. His life seems to be busier than any other person, as he is also enrolled in a doctoral program at Yonsei University

I’m pursuing a doctorate in unification affairs. Compared to South Korean people, I’m more informed with North Korea-related issues. Imagine the Gaeseong Industrial Park is open to foreign investors, just like economic zones in North Korea in Rajin, Seonbong and Shinuiju. I lived in North Korea and I received retraining here in South Korea. So I can play a part in brokering joint projects in Gaeseong. This is my dream. But before realizing the dream, I have to advance to the third or second-grade public posts. For now, I want to focus on my current job and carry out my tasks well. I hope to study more and build my character as well.