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Minor party split over NK rights bills
By Jun Ji-hye
Sim Sang-jeung
By Jun Ji-hye
Members of the minor opposition Justice Party have been split over whether to draw up North Korean human rights-related bills.
The progressive party has been conducting in-house discussions over possible preparations for its own bill aimed at improving the living conditions of people in the repressive state. Floor leader Rep. Sim Sang-jeung was among those who were proactive in the move.
During his New Year press conference Thursday, Chairman Chun Ho-sun confirmed the discussions, saying, “Party members exchanged various opinions about measures to improve Pyongyang’s human rights conditions, including tabling a relevant bill.”
Sim reportedly called on members of the minor party to submit the bill together to generate results by the April by-elections. The move was seen as an apparent effort to draw a clear line between her party and the Unified Progressive Party that was dissolved last month for being overtly pro-North Korea.
Vernacular media reported that Sim has already prepared a draft of the bill.
However, officials from her office denied this, saying she is considering various options including designing a bill or resolution, but it was not true that she had already wrote the draft.
Other members including the chairman, however, are expressing their opposition to the submission of such a bill, apparently wary that it could be seen as interfering in the domestic affairs of the North.
Chun said, “The Justice Party hopes that the North Korean people can live an affluent and free life. But I don’t think a North Korean human rights bill can actually help improve their living conditions.”
The chairman noted that the two Koreas need to acknowledge their different systems.
Rep. Park Won-suk agreed with Chun. “Whether to enact a law should be considered carefully,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Human rights issues in the reclusive state have been a subject of political debate between conservative and liberal parties for almost 10 years. Liberal lawmakers are mainly concerned that enacting the law could upset the reclusive state, thus deteriorating already strained inter-Korean relations.
Currently, seven bills related to North Korean human rights are pending in the Assembly _ six submitted by conservative Saenuri Party members and one from members of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD).
Meanwhile, Chun said, “The Justice Party will achieve bigger progressive politics.”
His remarks were construed as a sign of a willingness to combine forces with those set to create a new party, dubbed the “Union of the People.” NPAD heavyweight Chung Dong-young left the largest opposition party Sunday to help in its creation.
“The latest moves of the main opposition party are just disappointing. They don’t seem to be willing to give up various privileges granted to lawmakers,” Chun said. “The Justice Party will stand by ordinary people who have been ignored by the two major parties.”
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