The South Korean government is struggling over how to deal with Pyongyang's
human rights issue without harming inter-Korean relations.
Public opinion has been sharply divided following the country's abstention from
last week's United Nations vote on the North's alleged human rights abuses. A
divided General Assembly committee passed a European Union-sponsored resolution
expressing "serious concern" at the North's ongoing human rights
abuses, with 84 in favor, 22 against and 62 abstentions. The resolution is
expected to go eventually to the full General Assembly for a final vote.
Meanwhile, South Korea's wishy-washy stance on human rights in North Korea is
also expected to face challenges internationally as the first-ever resolution
on the issue by a General Assembly committee provided the international
community with another crucial tool to pressure the Hermit Kingdom, whose
nuclear ambitions are deeply concerning to many countries.
The North bitterly reacted to the resolution, rejecting it as illegal and
saying it "infringes on our sovereignty". This is now fueling concern that
these developments and their ramifications will have a negative impact on the
six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons development.
Dilemma for Seoul
The North Korean human rights issue has emerged as a major source of heated
political and ideological dispute in South Korea.
Conservative forces criticized the government, saying it was an "immoral
behavior that turned a blind eye" to the sufferings of North Koreans, while
some liberal organizations contended the government was right in considering
inter-Korean relations and opting for a careful and cautious approach.
The issue has remained a Gordian knot to the South Korean government as
addressing it comes at the expense of its reconciliation projects with the
North. Seoul has kept low key over the issue in hopes of first resolving the
prolonged nuclear standoff and promoting reconciliation processes on the Korean
peninsula, which has been divided for more than 50 years.
South Korean government officials said it was in line with this policy that
Seoul abstained from the UN vote.
"The Republic of Korea shares the serious concerns of the international
community regarding the human rights situation faced by the people of the
Democratic People's of Korea [DPRK - North Korea]," South Korea's UN delegate
Shin Kak-Soo said before voting. "At the same time, my government has other
crucial objectives in our policy towards the DPRK, which are in our view vital
for peace and security in the Korean peninsula."
South Korea's abstention comes amid continuing reports of human rights
violations in North Korea, including torture, public executions and severe
restrictions on freedoms of thought and religion. Similar resolutions have been
passed at the UN Commission on Human Rights since 2003 though none have got as
far as the General Assembly.
Possible impact on nuclear talks
Currently, the most significant factor that makes South Korea cautious on the
human rights issue is its efforts to defuse tension surrounding the North's
nuclear ambition. "I think it is not that the government stands idle by the
human rights issue but that the government gives its top priority to the
resolution of the nuclear standoff," Kim Keun-sik, professor of North Korea
Studies in Seoul-based Kyungnam University, told Asia Times Online.
The UN vote came amid a break in the six-party talks aimed at dismantling
Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. Negotiators from the two Koreas, the
United States, China, Japan and Russia held their fifth round of the talks in
Beijing this month without any progress, and the next session is not expected
before early January.
Some observers expressed concern that the latest developments may negatively
affect the talks, if the North continues to take issue with the UN resolution
and accuse some participants of backing the resolution. Of the parties involved
in the nuclear talks, the US and Japan voted for the resolution while Russia,
China and North Korea voted against it.
"I don't think the resolution itself will have much or direct impact on the
nuclear negotiations because its passage was widely expected," a South Korean
diplomatic official said on condition of anonymity. "But the human rights issue
can emerge as a contentious issue as negotiations go along, and Washington and
other nations want to take follow-up steps to improve the rights condition."
North Korean deputy UN ambassador Kim Chang-guk dismissed the text of the
resolution as based on "falsehood and fabrications" and criticized the US and
the EU for attempting regime change in the North. "The EU and the US are
abusing human rights issues for their political purpose. North Korea
disapproves [of] this resolution, as it is an indication of the fact that the
EU joined forces with the US in its policy to pressure North Korea, aimed at
pursuing interference in internal affairs and regime change," Kim said shortly
before voting.
In a strong protest against the EU's submission of the UN resolution, the North
last week ordered non-government European aid groups to leave the isolationist
country. The impoverished North has depended on foreign aid to feed its people
because it has suffered for a decade from severe food shortage stemming mainly
from economic mismanagement and loss of subsidies from the former Soviet Union.
The UN resolution expressed concern particularly at "the prevalence of infant
malnutrition, which still affects the physical and mental development of a
significant proportion of children".
The human rights issue is expected to further ice relations between North Korea
and the US - the main antagonists of the nuclear standoff - at least for the
time being, as US hardliners are set to raise their voices on the issue. A US
human rights organization, Freedom House, plans to open a conference on North
Korea's rights situation in South Korea in early December, and Jay Lefkowitz,
US special envoy on human rights in North Korea, is scheduled to visit Seoul
soon.
Increased domestic pressure
The human rights issue has become a major burden for the Seoul government,
which hopes to take an active initiative in providing economic assistance to
North Korea both to resolve the nuclear issue and to improve bilateral ties.
Opponents have already used the UN resolution and South Korea's abstention as
their ammunition to attack the Seoul government's policy toward North Korea.
"It is a barbarian act that the government expands economic cooperation with
North Korea while shutting its eyes to the human rights issue," said
representative Yim Tae-hee, a vice floor leader of South Korea's
main-opposition Grand National Party.
The conservative GNP vowed to mobilize forces to actively deal with the issue
and pass five GNP-initiated bills regarding the North's human rights issue,
including one calling for Seoul to take a leading role in assisting North
Korean defectors.
"South Korea has ceased to be a country advocating human rights by abstaining
from the UN vote," the GNP said in its statement last week. "President Roh
[Moo-hyun] and his Uri Party will have to take responsibility for conniving the
dire human rights situation in the North."
Such a criticism has been offset by some liberal organizations that supported
the government's position on the UN motion, saying a careful approach is more
pertinent in dealing with the human rights issue in North Korea. "Policies
focused on criticism and pressure on North Korea's human rights situation will
not contribute to improving the situation, but it will only deteriorate efforts
for reconciliation and peace-building on the Korean peninsula," said Chung
Wook-sik, representative of the Civil Network for a Peaceful Korea.
The ruling Uri Party said the number of abstentions on the UN vote showed that
many other countries shared the same approach to the issue as South Korea. "It
doesn't mean that there are no serious problems in North Korea's human rights
situation. But it reflects the international community's stance that a more
careful approach to the issue is needed to achieve peace on the peninsula," Uri
representative Choi Sung said.
Regardless of the pros and cons on its abstention from the UN vote, the South
Korean government is under increasing pressure to come up with substantial
measures to deal with the North's human rights issue, in that such calls have
recently increased not only among conservatives but also liberals.
"Even though we should consider the unique situation on the Korean peninsula,
the Seoul government needs to reconsider its inactive and defensive stance on
the North's human rights issue," Chung of the Civil Network said.
Some experts suggested that civic organizations and the government divide their
roles to cut the Gordian knot regarding the North's human rights.
"I think it is desirable, for the time being, that civic groups actively raise
the issue with North Korea and the government focuses on inter-Korean exchange
projects," Kim of Kyungnam University said. "And once the inter-Korean
reconciliation process is on a firm track, it will be the right timing for the
government to address the issue with the North Korean government."
Seo Hyun-jin is a South Korean journalist specializing in diplomatic relations
and North-South unification issues, and she is currently conducting research on
international relations in the University of Leeds, England.
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