North Korea’s appalling human rights situation has come under global scrutiny again, this time at the U.N. General Assembly and at a ministerial meeting on North Korean human rights in New York City.
Addressing the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, President Park Geun-hye urged North Korea to improve its human rights record, bringing attention to the human rights abuses by the regime.
While the ministerial meeting on Sept. 23 in New York presided over by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and attended by foreign ministers of Korea, Japan and Australia did not yield concrete results, it was significant in that it was the first ministerial-level meeting on North Korean human rights. It put North Korea ― whose request to participate in the meeting was declined ― on notice that the international community has not forgotten about its evil human rights abuses.
In a landmark report on the conditions of human rights in North Korea released earlier this year, the U.N. Commission of Inquiry condemned the North Korean regime’s systematic, widespread abuse of human rights, giving accounts of gross violations. In March, the commission reporting to the Human Rights Council in Geneva recommended referring the North Korean human rights situation to the International Criminal Court.
In April, the U.S. Security Council convened a closed meeting on the North Korean human rights situation with China and Russia not attending. The U.N. has so far failed to take any further action on the North Korean human rights issue and there have been growing concerns that the momentum for taking action may eventually fade away with no tangible results
Since 2005, the U.N. General Assembly each year has adopted resolutions on North Korean human rights. This year, a U.N. General Assembly resolution is expected to be adopted in November. While the Foreign Ministry believes that the resolution this year will reflect the COI recommendations, it will largely be a symbolic statement. For U.N.-level action to be realized, the U.N. Security Council must be involved and given China’s veto power ― it is most likely that China will exercise that power on matters concerning North Korean human rights ― it is highly unlikely that the North Korean human rights issue will be referred to the ICC.
Yet, Pyongyang is feeling the heat. Sensing the urgency of the need to address its human rights record ahead of the U.N. General Assembly, North Korea earlier this month issued its own, lengthy human rights report claiming that the country has the world’s “most advantageous” human rights system and policies.
Immediate actions against the North Korea regime may not happen soon, but the South Korean government and the international community should keep up the pressure for change.
