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Sat, September 23, 2023 | 05:41
N. Korean leader blacklisted; tensions escalate
美 '인권 제재' 대상 北 권력층 15명 누구인가
Posted : 2016-07-07 17:25
Updated : 2016-07-08 11:19
Yi Whan-woo
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By Yi Whan-woo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will step up provocations in reaction to the United States' first-ever sanctions on him for human rights abuses, analysts said Thursday.

They said tensions will also rise on the Korean Peninsula, claiming the sanctions, imposed Wednesday, will infuriate the young, unpredictable North Korean leader.

"The U.S. sanctions will work as a mechanism that will hold Kim responsible for North Korea's suppression of human rights," said An Chan-il, head of the World Institute for North Korea Studies. "Pyongyang will not tolerate that and it will mobilize all possible means to show its anger for openly humiliating Kim."

Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University, said, "The dictatorial regime will ratchet up harsh rhetoric against the U.S." He cited that the dictatorial regime has been paranoid about outside criticism of its leader.

It is expected that key North Korean government organizations, including the newly-created State Affairs Commission, will mobilize an anti-U.S. rally or issue a statement denouncing Washington according to Cheong Seong-chang, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute.

North Korea is keeping mum after the U.S. Treasury Department placed Kim and 14 North Korean officials and eight entities on its blacklist, Wednesday.

This is the first time North Korea's head of state has been personally sanctioned, and also the first time that any North Korean officials have been blacklisted in connection with rights abuses.

The action was made in line with a recommendation from the U.S. State Department's report on human rights violations in North Korea.

N. Korea's nuclear test site shows 'high-level activity'
N. Korea's nuclear test site shows 'high-level activity'
2016-07-12 09:04  |  North Korea
Korea, US, Japan to hold vice-ministers' talks
2016-07-07 16:28  |  National

Mandated by Congress, the report named those it held responsible for Pyongyang's state-perpetrated crimes against humanity.

The 14 officials are Ri Yong-mu and O Kuk-ryol, former vice chairmen of the now-defunct National Defense Commission; Hwang Pyong-so, vice chairman of the State Affairs Commission; Choe Pu-il, minister of the People's Security; Pak Yong-sik, minister of the People's Armed Forces; Jo Yon-jun and Kim Kyong-ok, first vice directors of the Organization and Guidance Department; Kang Song-nam and Choe Chang-pong, bureau directors at the Ministry of State Security; Ri Song-chol, counselor at the Ministry of PeopleSecurity; Kim Ki-nam, director at the Propaganda and Agitation Department; Ri Jae-il, first vice director at the Propaganda and Agitation Department; and Cho Il-u and O Chong-kuk, officials at the Reconnaissance General Bureau.

The eight agencies are the Organization and Guidance Department, Ministry of State Security, Ministry of State Security Prisons Bureau, Ministry of People's Security, Ministry of People's Security Correctional Bureau, Propaganda and Agitation Department, Reconnaissance General Bureau and National Defense Commission, which was replaced by the State Affairs Commission during a meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang last week.

"It really for the first time puts them out in the public domain in a way that they haven't been necessarily before," U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs echoed a similar view, saying "The measures are tougher than we expected."

Diplomatic sources said the sanctions are seen as the Barack Obama administration's strategy to press North Korea harder for continuing to pursue its nuclear weapons program despite a series of punitive measures. They include the Treasury Department's designation of North Korea as a "primary money laundering concern" in June and the U.N. Security Council's Resolution 2270 imposed in March.

Some analysts, however, say the latest sanctions will not stop North Korea from carrying out military provocations.

"I think Washington only infuriated North Korea and it may conduct a fifth nuclear test and test-fire ballistic missiles in protest," An said.

Jeon Hyun-joon, director of the Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Research Institute, agreed on possible military provocations, although he remained skeptical about the nuclear test.

"Pyongyang will certainly try to heighten military tension on the peninsula but the nuclear test card seems unrealistic because it will provoke China, its largest benefactor, as well."

Kim Hyun-wook, a U.S. expert at Korea National Diplomatic Academy, speculated that Washington-Pyongyang ties will remain at their lowest level if Hilary Clinton is elected a president.

"Clinton shares the same view as Obama on North Korea policy and it is even possible that she will be harsher than he was against Pyongyang," he said.




美 '인권 제재' 대상 北 권력층 15명 누구인가

전문가 '김정은 보좌하거나 핵·미사일 관여한 인물들 다수'
김정은 여동생 김여정·김원홍 국가안전보위부장은 빠져

미국 정부가 6일(현지시간) 인권유린 혐의로 제재대상에 올린 인물은 김정은 노동당 위원장을 포함해 모두 15명이다.

미국 정부에 의해 처음 제재대상에 오른 김정은은 명실상부한 북한의 최고지도자다. 그가 가진 '감투'만 당 위원장을 포함해 국가직 최고 자리인 국무위원장과 군 최고사령부 사령관, 당 정치국 상무위원, 당 중앙군사위원회 위원장 등 모두 9개나 된다.

북한 전문가들이 미국의 이번 대북제재에 대해 북한이 크게 반발할 것으로 예상하는 이유도 '최고존엄'으로 일컬어지는 김정은이 포함됐기 때문이다.

나머지 14명 가운데 상당수는 김정은을 가까이서 보좌하는 인물들로, '북한 정권의 2인자'로 꼽히는 황병서 총정치국장이 대표적이다.

황병서가 올해 들어 김 위원장을 수행하거나 김 위원장과 함께 공개활동에 나선 것은 총 14차례나 된다. 황병서가 김정은보다 앞서 걷다가 화들짝 놀라거나 무릎을 꿇은 채 입을 손으로 가리고 김정은과 대화를 나누는 모습이 북한 TV를 통해 목격되기도 했다.

다만, 미국 정부가 황병서를 국무위 부위원장 및 조직지도부 제1부부장이라고 지칭했지만, 그가 조직지도부 제1부부장 직함을 여전히 유지하고 있는 지에 대해선 전문가들 사이에 의문이 제기된다.

박영식 국무위 위원 및 인민무력상, 최부일 국무위 위원 및 인민보안부장, 조연준 조직지도부 제1부부장의 올해 김정은 수행횟수 역시 각각 7차례, 3차례, 3차례나 될 정도로 김 위원장의 최측근으로 꼽힌다.

김기남 당 중앙위원회 부위원장은 '북한의 괴벨스'라는 별칭을 가진 북한 체제 선전의 수장이다. 그의 과거 직책인 당 비서가 최근 7차 노동당대회를 통해 중앙위 부위원장으로 바뀌었을 뿐 여전히 선전선동 분야를 맡고 있는 것으로 보인다.

인권유린과는 다소 동떨어진 듯 보이지만 핵·미사일 개발에 관여해온 인물들도 다수 포함됐다. 대표적으로 리용무 전 국방위 부위원장과 오극렬 전 국방위 부위원장을 들 수 있다.

리용무와 오극렬은 황병서 등과 함께 지난 3월 북한의 핵·미사일 개발 등에 관련된 혐의로 미국 정부의 독자적인 대북제재 명단에도 이름을 올린 바 있다.

김용현 동국대 북한학과 교수는 7일 '미국 재무부가 인권유린과 자금흐름, 무기개발 등 분야에서 이들에 대한 정보를 종합해 이번에 제재대상에 올린 것은 김정은 체제 실무그룹에 대한 경고성 메시지로 봐야 한다'며 '미국이 핵과 미사일로 도발하는 북한에 절대로 밀리지 않겠다는 결연한 의지를 보여준 것'이라고 말했다.

하지만 포함 여부가 관심이던 김정은의 여동생 김여정 당 부부장과 김원홍 국가안전보위부장은 명단에서 빠졌다. 특히 김원홍은 정치범수용소를 관리하는 총책임자라는 점에서 제외된 것 자체가 의외라는 평가다.

정부 관계자는 '기본적으로 북한이 매우 폐쇄적인 사회이기 때문에 정확한 정보를 확인하는 데 한계가 있다는 점이 영향을 미친 것 같다'고 말했다.

이들 개인과 별도로 제재대상에 오른 기관들은 국방위원회, 조직지도부, 국가보위부와 산하 교도국, 인민보안부와 산하 교정국, 선전선동부, 정찰총국 등이다.

이 가운데 국가안전보위부와 산하의 교도국, 인민보안부 산하 교정국은 북한 인권유린의 핵심기관들이다. (연합뉴스)
Emailyistory@ktimes.com Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
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