'Koreas should not politicize issue of NK restaurant workers'

Tomas Ojea Quintana, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea, speaks during a press conference at the Seoul Global Center, Friday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Kim Bo-eun

A United Nations human rights envoy called for the two Koreas to focus on the needs of 12 North Korean restaurant workers who defected to the South from China last year, instead of politicizing the human rights issue.

North Korea, which accused the South of abducting the workers, has demanded their return as a condition for the resumption of separated family reunions.

"I urge the two Koreas to avoid politicizing the situation of these women, and strictly focus on their interests, protection needs and the needs of their families," Tomas Ojea Quintana, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea said at the Seoul Global Center, Friday.

He made the remarks at a press conference held on the final day of a five-day visit to Seoul, marking the launch of the Moon Jae-in administration in May.

Quintana welcomed Seoul's decision to seek dialogue with Pyongyang. The government proposed Monday holding talks for Friday; but the North remained silent.

"This is a reassuring step forward to lower tensions that have built up between the two Koreas over the past months, which echoes the appeal I made to both countries in April to halt conflict rhetoric," he said. "I very much hope that the DPRK will respond positively to the Moon initiative in the interest of long-term peace, security and humanitarian cooperation between the two countries."

The envoy added: "The protection of human rights should be central to this policy of rapprochement."

Last month, a group supporting a North Korean defector wishing to return to his home country, Kwon Cheol-nam, submitted a statement to the U.N. Human Rights Office in Seoul.

Quintana, who met the defector during his visit, said "We need to remember that many who come from the North to the South are leaving behind relatives and families, so I believe there are human rights implications with regards to this situation that I as a human rights envoy need to look into."

Quintana also touched upon the death of Otto Warmbier, a U.S. tourist who died last month after being released in coma from a jail in Pyongyang, where he was detained for taking down a propaganda poster.

"The tragic death of Warmbier shortly after his release in a comatose state from a Pyongyang prison was also a reminder to all of us of the dire consequences of the lack of access to consular and legal counsel for those in detention in North Korea," he said.

"It is the basic responsibility of any state in the world to respect the conditions of detention, to protect the right to health. Pyeongyang needs offer an explanation to Warmbier's parents and to the international community."

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