By Park Si-soo
The nation’s human rights commission Friday called for the introduction of legislation on North Korean human rights and an independent archive to investigate, collect and record human rights violations in the reclusive North.
Hyun Byung-chul, president of the National Human Rights Commission, expressed regret for the commission’s minimal attention to the issue in the past.
“Nothing has been done by the commission to actually improve North Korean human rights, which is very shameful,” Hyun said in a conference held to unveil the commission’s roadmap to help improve North Korean rights. “We will take the first step this year to gradually change human rights conditions in the North.”
The move came at a time when political parties sharply differ over the introduction of legal measures, with the chasm showing few signs of narrowing.
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) supports the enactment of the law in line with President Lee Myung-bak’s hardline stance on Pyongyang following the North’s two deadly attacks last year that killed 50 South Koreans.
Opposition parties, on the other hand, claim the measure will provoke the North, resulting in worsening the inter-Korean relations.
Hyun said, “Even the U.S. enacted the North Korean Human Rights Act back in 2004. It’s our ‘duty’ to devise the law to uncover what the human rights conditions of the North actually looks like and find ways to improve it.”
In fact, a bill providing a legal ground of such works is pending at the National Assembly. But the bill is seen as too moderate to spur actual change in North Korea, human rights activists claim.
Rep. Hwang Woo-yeo of the GNP said party lawmakers will make an orchestrated effort to endorse the bill during parliamentary sessions this year.
Rep. Park Sun-young of the minor opposition Liberty Forward Party echoed Hwang’s view and said, “Once the bill is passed, we will seek to amend the law to strengthen its footing to the level that can bring actual change to the North.”
No lawmakers from liberal parties attended the conference.
