Seoul plans to host UN office on NK human rights

By Yi Whan-woo

South Korea plans to host a United Nations field office on North Korean human rights, according to the government Tuesday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country expects to set up such an office, to be run by the U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in Seoul by March at the latest.

This is the first time that that the U.N. will have launched an office to exclusively monitor Pyongyang’s alleged human rights abuses, it added.

“We plan to open the U.N.’s field-based structure on North Korea’s human rights situations by the first quarter in 2015,” a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity. “However, the time can possibly be delayed depending on how the government and the U.N. settle related issues before launching the office.”

The official said those issues include details on agreement terms between the two sides and procedures for hiring employees.

He added that the field office is likely to open at the Seoul Global Center Building in Jongno-gu.

According to the government, the U.N. in May proposed opening the field office in South Korea amid growing international concerns over the reclusive state’s dire human rights record.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministry said it welcomes the U.N. Security Council (UNSC)’s decision, Monday, to adopt North Korea’s human rights situations as one of its official agenda items.

The decision came after the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday voted for the resolution against Pyongyang’s state-perpetrated violations of human rights. The resolution requests the UNSC to refer North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands. The resolution will be legally binding under endorsement by the UNSC.

Citing the U.N. Commission of Inquiry’s (COI) report on North Korea released in February, the resolution accused the repressive regime of running political prison camps where up to 120,000 people are thought to be detained.

“The UNSC’s decision on Monday does not mean the UNSC agreed to endorse the resolution yet,” the foreign ministry official said.

“However, such a move is significant in a way that the international community has laid the groundwork for a systematic and institutional approach in improving Pyongyang’s human rights situation.

“North Korea said it will reject recent international criticism against its regime’s treatment of its people. But it will inevitably pay attention to the international community’s voice.”

Headquartered in Geneva, the OHCHR is aimed at strengthening international human rights mechanisms, enhancing equality and countering discrimination, and protecting human rights in circumstances where there is conflict, violence and insecurity.