UN resolution on N. Korean human rights stirs up inter-Korean relations

Posted on : 2008-11-24 13:41 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
N. Korea ‘strongly disapproves’ of the resolution as a ‘political plot to forcibly change the system and ideology’ of N. Korea

Unfavorable factors continue to assail the hardened relationship between North and South Korea. After the United Nations adopted its resolution on North Korean human rights, co-sponsored by South Korea, the North Korean representative rejected and criticized this resolution, while Pyongyang’s organization for South Korea policy, the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, savagely criticized President Lee Myung-bak.

At the Third Committee of the 63rd UN General Assembly taking place in New York, UN member nations adopted a resolution on North Korean human rights November 21 (EST) through a vote, with 95 for, 24 against and 62 abstaining. This resolution was jointly proposed by 51 nations and led by the European Union and Japan; the government of South Korea also participated for the first time as a co-sponsoring nation. With the selection of the resolution as an item for the General Assembly, a formal adoption at the UN General Assembly level will take place around the middle of next month.

The UN General Assembly has adopted resolutions for North Korean human rights every year since 2005. The South Korean government voted for the resolution in 2006, when North Korea conducted its nuclear test and former Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon ran for UN Secretary-General. It abstained in 2005 and last year, when the inter-Korean summit was held, in consideration of the particularity of the North-South Korean relationship.

In a statement prior to the voting, North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Bak Seok-hun, said, “We strongly disapprove of this resolution as the product of a political plot to forcibly change the system and ideology of Chosun (North Korea).” He savagely criticized the initial participation of South Korea as a co-sponsoring nation in particular, saying, “It is a reckless act against the race and against unification, it is a provocation on the dignity and system of Chosun, and it is a complete negation of the June 15 Joint Statement and the October 4 Declaration.” He also criticized the absence of a passage in support of the inter-Korean summit declarations, which was present in last year’s resolution, in the current resolution, saying, “By leading the deletion of this passage, South Chosun has revealed underlying motives of pursuing hostility with Chosun.” The resolution adopted November 21 had no clear mention of the June 15 Joint Statement and October 4 Declaration, saying only that it noted the importance of dialogue between North and South Korea to contribute to North Korean human rights and the improvement of North Korea’s humanitarian situation. A government official said, “There was no passage about the summit declarations in the draft circulated by the European Union and other nations either.”

This resolution contains content regarding: the importance of inter-Korean dialogue, the expression of concern about systematic and serious human right violations within North Korea and the urging of an immediate cessation of such violations, cooperation with the activities of a special representative for North Korean human rights, entry permission for humanitarian organizations, and the urging of a solution to the problem of foreigner abductions.

Meanwhile, in reference to a statement made by President Lee at a talk with journalists during his recent visit to the United States in which he said “the final, ultimate goal is unification under a liberal democratic system,” North Korea’s CPRF issued a statement from a spokesperson on November 22 saying that Lee “passed the stage of denying the historic June 15 Joint Statement and October 4 Declaration and has now proclaimed on an international stage that a war through invasion of the North is his ‘final goal.’” The North Korean statement criticized this, saying, “We cannot but view this seriously.”

North Korea’s Central News Agency reported the CPRF as saying, “Now it has been proven that there is not a shred of margin to discuss North-South relations and the unification issue with the gang of Lee Myung-bak, for whom the madness of anti-republic (anti-North Korea) confrontation has seeped deep into the marrow.” They added, “In a condition where they proceed further down a road of anti-republic confrontation, we will continue responding decisively as we have already declared.” In a message delivered November 12 in the name of the delegation leader for the general-level military talks, Pyongyang announced that it was formally notifying South Korea that the serious measure of strictly limiting and blocking all passage through the Military Demarcation Line was being implemented as of December 1.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

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