UN office to press N. Korea on human rights

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, right, shakes hands with the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein during a ceremony to mark the establishment of the U.N.'s office on North Korean human rights issues in downtown Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap

By Joint Press Corps and Yi Whan-woo

The United Nations opened an office in Seoul, Tuesday, to exclusively monitor and record North Korea's dire human rights situation.

This is the first time the U.N. has launched a field office to watch state-perpetrated human rights violations as a follow-up to the U.N. Commission of Inquiry's (COI) report released in February 2014.

"Less than 50 miles from here is another world marked by the utmost deprivation," the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a speech during a ceremony to mark the establishment of the U.N. presence in the Seoul Global Center Building in Jongno.

"We firmly believe this (office) will help lay the basis for future accountability," he added.

The OHCHR chief joined other high-profile officials and politicians, including Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo at the event.

"Let us hope that one day the people of North Korea will come to enjoy the same equality, dignity and freedom they so rightly deserve," Yun said in a speech.

The new office will be led by Signe Poulsen, an OHCHR official. He is expected to begin his new job from August.

The activities of the U.N. office will be available in Korean and English on its website (seoul.ohchr.org).

Based in Geneva, the OHCHR has sought to stop Pyongyang's crimes against humanity, including the establishment of an investigative body, in accordance with the COI report.

The report accused the dictatorial regime of running political prison camps where up to 120,000 people are thought to be detained.

North Korea has denied accusations brought by the U.N. In response to the U.N. office in Seoul, North Korea has opted to boycott the Gwangju Summer Universiade slated for July 3 to 14.

Experts speculate the U.N. office will facilitate the National Assembly in passing pending bills to improve Pyongyang's human rights record.

They said such legislative actions will effectively press the Kim Jong-un regime harder and help in the U.N.'s ongoing fight.

"The establishment of a U.N. presence in Seoul means the U.N. will put more pressure on North Korea," said Koh Yoo-hwan, a North Korean studies professor at Dongguk University.

"It also means South Korea will have a higher chance to enact a law to join the U.N.'s fight against Pyongyang."

An Chan-il, the head of the World Institute for North Korea Studies, agreed.

"The National Assembly has dragged on for years passing a bill on protecting Pyongyang's human rights," he said. "With the presence of the U.N. office, it will inevitably become more active and step up its efforts to help North Korean society."

The National Assembly has not passed a bill on Pyongyang's inhumane conditions after a related proposal was first made in August 2005. A total of 19 bills on North Korea's human rights have been proposed since then.

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