South Korea’s point man on North Korea called Monday for concerted international efforts to address the North’s dire human rights situation, saying such violations are the “status quo” in the reclusive country.
North Korea has been under pressure from the international community to improve its human rights situation, though no meaningful progress has been reported.
“Despite the long-standing international endeavors, including the North Korean human rights resolutions, human rights violations are still the status quo in North Korea,” Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said in an international forum that brought together security and human rights officials and experts.
High-profile participants included Lee Shin-wha, the ambassador-at-large for international cooperation on North Korean human rights, and Ambassador Julie Turner, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights.
Lee, the human rights envoy, stressed the importance of tackling the “global fatigue phenomenon” associated with long-standing issues surrounding the North and noted efforts are being undertaken to “ensure that such issues are not overshadowed or forgotten by other global crises.”
While acknowledging realistic difficulties in holding North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his regime accountable for human rights violations, participants still underscored the importance of documenting the North’s rights abuses through all possible means.
“I think it will be very hard to achieve as long as Kim Jong-un is in power, but I think it is extremely important for the future of North Korea and for the well-being of the people in North Korea that we do everything possible to document in great detail the ongoing violation of human rights,” said Larry Diamond, a political science professor at Stanford University.
Turner, the U.S. special envoy, said the voices of the North Korean people should be factored into the process.
“I want to encourage everyone to think about victim-centered accountability, survivor-centered accountability and how we are undertaking these efforts to make sure that the voices of refugees and escapees are factored into what they want to say on the other end of these accountability efforts,” Turner said.
In 2014, the U.N. Commission of Inquiry issued a landmark report after a yearlong probe, saying North Korean leaders are responsible for “widespread, systematic and gross” violations of human rights.
North Korea has long been accused of grave human rights abuses, ranging from holding political prisoners in concentration camps to committing torture and carrying out public executions.
Still, North Korea claimed its people are freely enjoying genuine human rights in a white paper issued earlier this month on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations.
Source: Yonhap News Agency