ⓒ YONHAP News

U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken says that the Biden administration was moving forward on naming a special envoy for North Korean human rights. In a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on June 7, Blinken said that he doesn’t yet have an exact timeline for the appointment and the vetting process has become more complicated, time-consuming and laborious. Here is political commentator Choi Young-il with more. 

The Biden administration is deeply interested in human rights situations in China and North Korea. Since Biden’s inauguration, it has been widely believed that he would soon name a special envoy for North Korean human rights. The U.S. is expected to adopt a two-track strategy of communicating with North Korea diplomatically through its new special representative for North Korea on the one hand, while pressuring the country with the human rights issue on the other. The appointment of a special envoy for North Korean human rights may take time, like months, as the U.S. is now working on communication with North Korea through its special designated representative.

Washington’s special envoy for North Korean human rights was created after U.S. Congress enacted the North Korean Human Rights Act in 2004. Introduced by the House of Representatives in March 2004, the bill unanimously passed the House of Representatives on July 21 and also the Senate on September 28. And on October 18, then-U.S. President George W. Bush signed the act, which calls for improving the human rights of North Korean people, providing humanitarian assistance and protecting North Korean defectors as refugees. The act also authorized 24 million dollars per year from 2005 to 2008 for funding activities related to the promotion of North Korean human rights. The act drew international attention as the U.S. Congress brought up the North Korean human rights issue for the first time. In 2005, Jay Lefkowitz was appointed as the special envoy for North Korean human rights. 

In 2008, Congress unanimously approved the North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act calling for improving the dire human rights conditions in North Korea and protecting North Korean defectors. The following year, Robert King was named the special envoy for North Korean human rights. 

Unlike his predecessor, whose position was temporary, Robert King assumed a full-time position with the rank of ambassador requiring Senate confirmation. At the time, North Korean people needed humanitarian aid badly, suffering from food shortages and inadequate healthcare systems. Discussions were underway about the World Food Program’s provision of food to starving North Korean people as well as medical assistance for children in the country. King helped resolve these issues. Around that time, the North Korean human rights issue became known to the outside world, while the North focused on its nuclear weapons development. Involved countries formed six-party nuclear talks aimed at inducing the North to give up its nuclear ambitions. King also contributed to facilitating the process of organizing the multilateral negotiations behind the scenes. 

But the post of the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights has been left empty over the last four years since January 2017, when King retired. The Joe Biden administration has repeatedly expressed concerns about the North Korean human rights violations since its inauguration, signaling its intention to name a special envoy for human rights in North Korea. 

During the South Korea-U.S. summit in May, Biden made an unexpected announcement that he would appoint Sung Kim, former U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, as a special representative for North Korea, who would be in charge with negotiations with the North. 

In a surprise development, Biden appointed a special representative for North Korea first, before a special envoy for North Korean human rights. It reflects that the U.S. respects South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s peace initiative known as the Korean Peninsula peace process and his commitment to moving North Korea-U.S. relations forward. 

The appointment of Sung Kim shows that the Biden administration has left the door open for dialogue with North Korea, raising hopes that the two countries could activate a dialogue channel before the U.S. names a special envoy for North Korean human rights. 

The North Korean Human Rights Act in the U.S. has drawn strong backlash from North Korea, which calls it “an act of creating an environment to overthrow the North Korean regime.” Pyongyang has blamed Washington for using the human rights issue as its typical hostile policy toward the North. When U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that North Korea is one of the most repressive states in the world, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesman lashed out at the U.S., saying that the U.S. insulted the dignity of its supreme leadership. 

North Korea claims that it does not violate human rights at all. It does not recognize regular or irregular reports by the U.S. or the U.N. about the North Korean human rights situation. North Korea defines the adoption of such reports itself as a hostile policy toward the North. It argues that the U.S. and the international community are intervening in its domestic affairs and disparaging it by mentioning the human rights issue. In fact, North Korea has been highly sensitive and upset about the U.S.’s special envoys for North Korean human rights, the North Korean Human Rights Act and U.N. resolutions concerning this issue.  

If the U.S. names its special envoy for North Korean human rights, it’s likely that North Korea will strongly criticize the U.S. But the North has denounced the U.S. constantly. We’ll have to wait and see whether and how Pyongyang will react to Washington’s pragmatic, two-track diplomatic channels. 

Meanwhile, the Group of Seven summit was held in Cornwall, England, from June 11 to 13. South Korea was invited to this year’s G7 summit as one of four guests along with Australia, South Africa and India. 

During the conference, participants discussed various pending issues, including ways to overcome the pandemic and climate change. Notably, North Korea-related concerns stated in the joint communiqué include the human rights issue. 

The South Korea-U.S. summit in May dealt with the North Korean human rights issue simply in principle. It also mentioned “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” and I think this expression could be accepted by North Korea. But the joint communiqué announced at the G7 summit addresses the same issues more specifically. It calls for the verifiable and irreversible abandonment of North Korea’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, and also calls on North Korea to respect human rights for all. Significantly, the summit attended by leaders of the global economy touched on the North Korean human rights issue. Of course, the message will not draw a positive response from North Korea. It remains to be seen how the North may react to it. 

The U.S. says it will name a special envoy for North Korean human rights, although it has not set an exact timeline, while the international community is constantly bringing up this issue to pressure the North. We’ll have to wait and watch how North Korea will address this problem.