Anchor: The UN's special rapporteur on North Korean human rights says that the human rights situation in North Korea is showing no signs of improving, and expressed concern at what he says is a total absence of human rights discussion in denuclearization talks and the inter-Korean peace process.
Celina Yoon has more.

Report: A UN envoy on human rights in North Korea expressed concern that human rights considerations have not been part of the agenda in inter-Korean peace talks to date despite the fact that there is no sign of improvement in the North's human rights situation.

Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in North Korea Tomas Ojea Quintana made the assessment in a report submitted to the United Nations ahead of its 74th Session of the General Assembly scheduled in New York on Sept. 17. The report was recently posted on the UN's website. 

Quintana stressed that peace, if achieved, will be significant for the North Korean people only if it guarantees them an improvement in the exercise of their most fundamental rights.

In the report, which incorporates information gleaned from interviews with escapees, family members of victims of human rights violations and other contacts, Quintana cited worsening rights for food, restrictions on freedom of information and communication, political prison camps and the forced return of defectors as particularly egregious violations.

As options to address the issue, he suggests a binding agreement requiring the North to cooperate with UN human rights mechanisms and granting access to independent human rights monitoring. 

The special rapporteur also said that inter-Korean economic and cultural cooperation can have a positive impact on North Koreans' right to an adequate standard of living. 

He mentioned that normalizing the Gaesong Industrial Complex and the Mt. Geumgang tourism project, as well as other joint special economic and tourism zones, can serve as entry points for wider human rights discussions.

Quintana encouraged South Korea to play a role in ensuring that the labor rights of North Korean workers are upheld in these projects, setting an important example for the rest of that country.
Celina Yoon, KBS World Radio News.

[Photo : YONHAP News]