ED Concerns over rights issue

Allies should do more to avoid diplomatic row

The U.S. State Department pointed out that South Korean government's ban on flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets into North Korea is problematic as it could restrict freedom of expression. The department plans to make this claim in its annual human rights report to be released sometime later this month, according to Voice of America.

In relation to a human rights violation, the report purportedly cites diverse cases of corruption involving South Korean officials and politicians such as former Justice Minister Cho Kuk and Rep. Youn Mee-hyang of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). Yoon is suspected of embezzlement and breach of duty in the process of operating facilities for surviving South Korean victims of wartime sex slavery.

The U.S. report also raises the issue of sexual harassment allegedly committed by former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don, both from the DPK, accusing them of human rights violations. The report is different from the previous ones that had mainly mentioned rights abuses in North Korea.

Since the onset of the Joe Biden administration, the U.S. has been stepping up pressures on China and other authoritarian countries over their alleged human rights violations. Regarding the legislation of the law prohibiting the sending of anti-North Korea leaflets, the report describes it as a violation of freedom of expression, citing remarks from civic activists and opposition party leaders.

The State Department has emphasized the need to spread outside information into the reclusive North. There has been growing criticism that the legislation was the result of the Moon Jae-in administration's keeping mum on the North's poor human rights record, in a desperate bid to sustain its much-touted “peace process” on the Korean Peninsula.

The U.S. also raised the North Korea human rights issue during the so-called “two plus two” meeting of foreign and defense ministers in Seoul last week. The Moon administration has so far overlooked the North's human rights infringements. The U.N. Human Rights Commission has been adopting a human rights resolution on North Korea since 2005. Yet the South did not take part in votes for the resolution for three consecutive years from 2018.

The Moon administration has refused to bring up the North's human rights issues, apparently believing that pressuring the recalcitrant North with that matter will negatively affect its active engagement policy. The Biden administration is expected to continue to focus on the rights issue and the Kim Jong-un regime needs to pay more attention to changes in U.S. foreign policy.

Seoul, for its part, should reflect on its own possible domestic human rights violations and corruption. It also needs to closely coordinate with Washington so that human rights issues will not turn into a diplomatic dispute between the allies. It should clearly explain to the U.S. that the leaflet ban is aimed at ensuring the safety of residents near the inter-Korean border. We urge the two allies to make efforts to avoid any row over the issue.