Seouls NK Rights Bill Likely to Be Obstacle for Summit
By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
Despite talks of an inter-Korean summit in Seoul, the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) last week did what critics believe will dash any hope of a meaningful dialogue with North Korea. Of course, its proponents argue that a bill on North Korea was long overdue and will improve the life of ordinary North Koreans.
The North Korean Human Rights bill was passed by GNP members of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee last Thursday.
Some opposition members boycotted the vote, and more partisan fighting is expected during a parliamentary review.
The bill would call for more transparency in the delivery, distribution and monitoring of aid to North Korea, and the creation of an ambassadorial post for North Korean Human Rights in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The bill would also establish the North Korean Human Rights Foundation and its mandate for keeping track of North Korean human rights violations and calls for funding for relevant non-governmental organizations.
The bill is the third of its type following the United States and Japan but is more stringent than the two others.
Minister of Unification Hyun In-taek, called the passage "very meaningful" because it provides a legal and institutional basis for establishing North Korean human rights policies and enables their systematic and effective implementation."
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) vowed to veto the bill, with its members refusing to participate in the standing committee vote.
The DP and other critics of the bill criticize the bill because they believe it is a politically-motivated legislation that does nothing to promote the exchange and cooperation needed to actually improve the lives of ordinary North Korean citizens.
"Subjecting the provision of aid to increased transparency will result in the suffering of ordinary citizens because the North Korean regime would rather let their people starve than open itself up to the level of transparency the bill calls for," Rep. Song-min soon of the DP said in a recent online essay.
Alternatively, Song urged the government to increase inter-Korean contact and cooperation, establish a fund for supporting the settlement of North Korean defectors and opt for the forming of a resolution rather than a bill in criticizing North Korean human rights practices.
The former foreign minister, who is known to have played a large part in drafting the foreign and inter-Korean policy sections of the "New Democratic Party Plan," underlined that the bill runs counter to its original purpose. The DP party platform was announced earlier this month.
He also said, "It has historically been very difficult to change the human rights conditions of societies insulated from outside pressure, such as Iran, Myanmar, or the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War era."
"By causing North Korea to be further isolated, the bill will reduce the likelihood that its government will respond to the international call for improving human rights," he wrote.
Song also emphasized that the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, widely cited as an important milestone agreement for improving human rights in the Eastern Bloc, placed priorities on exchange and cooperation.
The divisive response from the nation's major political parties attested to the controversial nature of this bill.
Rep. Kim Sung-jo, head of the conservative Grand National Party's Policy Committee, accused the DP of being a party of "No Action Talking Only."
One former DP presidential candidate and unification minister, Rep. Chung Dong-young, however, described this bill as a "piece of legislation that supports organizations sending leaflets to North Korea" and charged that the bill was politically-motivated to facilitate the government's domestic propaganda.
These divisions are also echoed in the statements issued by major non-governmental organizations and media outlets, fueling the ongoing debate on how to improve North Korean human rights.
If the bill is approved in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and then the plenary session for final parliamentary endorsement, Korea will become the third country in the world to legislate a North Korean human rights bill, following the U.S. North Korean Human Rights Act in 2004, and similar Japanese legislation in 2006.
However in practice, the U.S. has only selectively implemented the North Korean Human Rights Act, as shown by the fact that only about 100 North Korean defectors have been allowed to enter the U.S. The Japanese law emphasizes the issue of Japanese abductees to North Korea rather than North Korean human rights.