Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
PPP slams unification minister's opposition to UN resolution on NK human rights violations
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young speaks during a conference held by the ministry and the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
By Park Ji-won
The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) criticized Unification Minister Chung Dong-young as he opposed joining a United Nations resolution denouncing human rights violations in North Korea, in order not to provoke Pyongyang.
Rep. Song Eon-seog, floor leader of the PPP, called for Chung's resignation Friday. “Should we prioritize North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s emotions over the human rights of North Koreans?” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Rep. Na Kyung-won of the PPP also said on Facebook, “Chung Dong-young is ... effectively acting as a mouthpiece for North Korea.”
She urged President Lee Jae Myung to dismiss Chung.
Rep. Park Choong-kwon of the PPP said Chung failed to uphold the Constitution and urged him to apologize to the public. “The unification minister should seek unification, and Chung’s remarks show he is not qualified for the post," he said.
The criticism came after Chung told reporters on Thursday that “South Korea sees no reason to co-sponsor this year’s resolution for the U.N. Human Rights Council,” adding that “North Korea considers it a major hostile policy.”
Stressing that the Lee government has pledged not to take any hostile actions against the North, he said, “It is to maintain the consistency in policy.”
In a separate event on Wednesday, Chung also said, “It is time to change the paradigm in response to the North’s stance of treating the two Koreas as ‘two hostile countries.’ We have tried to change the North instead of respecting it.”
South Korea has been co-sponsoring the resolution since 2008. But in consideration of inter-Korean relations, the liberal Moon Jae-in administration didn’t join the resolution, in an effort to improve ties with the North. The South Korean government rejoined the resolution initiative in 2022 under the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration.
The resolution is expected to be adopted by the council within this month. The Korean government can still join as a co-sponsor within two weeks of its adoption.
“We are reviewing whether to co-sponsor the resolution, considering the actual improvement of human rights of North Koreans as well as the government’s efforts to bring peace and coexistence to the Korean Peninsula and the details of the resolution documents," an official from the foreign ministry said.