(Seoul) - South Korea is taking a step in the right direction by deciding for the first time to vote in favor of an upcoming United Nations General Assembly resolution on North Korea’s human rights situation, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch urged Seoul to press Pyongyang to start meaningful dialogues with UN human rights experts.
The UN General Assembly is expected to vote soon on a resolution calling on North Korea to fully respect human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade announced on November 16 that South Korea will vote in favor of the resolution. To date, South Korea has either been absent or has abstained from voting on similar resolutions, citing its priority for peace on the Korean Peninsula and its preference for quiet diplomacy.
“This is precisely the position that human rights organizations have been urging Seoul to take so that it can move beyond inter-Korean politics and consider human rights in North Korea in the way it would consider human rights in any country,” said Sophie Richardson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “We welcome South Korea’s decision as a step in the right direction.”
Many human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have been calling on Seoul to change its policy of silence on North Korea’s human rights record. On November 14, Ban Ki-moon, the outgoing South Korean foreign minister who will become the new UN secretary-general in January, publicly asked Seoul to deal more proactively with the issue.
North Korea is among the world’s most repressive states, yet South Korea has mostly refrained from commenting on the North’s human rights abuses in the past decade. South Korea has been silent on North Korea’s denial of the freedoms of information, association, movement and religion, and the lack of organized political opposition, labor activism, or independent civil society. Nor has Seoul spoken about arbitrary arrests, torture, lack of due process and fair trials, executions and other issues of grave concern.
“South Korea is in a position to try to influence Pyongyang. It’s heartening to see Seoul finally publicly commit itself to using that influence to protect the human rights of North Koreans,” said Richardson. “But South Korea should not stop there. It should also urge Pyongyang at least to start meaningful dialogues with UN human rights experts to improve conditions in the country.”
