ed N. Korean rights issues

Caution, skill needed while moving in step with UN

The international community is stepping up pressure on North Korea to improve its dismal human rights record. According to media reports Thursday, a draft U.N. resolution calls for the North’s leadership, including Kim Jong-un, to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

We can’t help but pay attention to this move, led by the EU and Japan, because, if realized, it will be the first case of taking the leaders of the reclusive regime to task for abusing the human rights of their own people.

But chances are slim that such a move will become a reality. The resolution itself could be watered down in the course of being finalized, and if the paper maintains its current toughness, China and Russia will probably veto it at the Security Council. Most of all, Pyongyang can ignore the unbinding resolution, not least because the reclusive country is outside the ICC regime.

This notwithstanding, the U.N.’s attempt itself will probably impose a heavy psychological burden ― and considerable economic damage ― on the reclusive regime as the international community will alienate it even more than now. And this may explain why Pyongyang has actively denied its Western counterparts’ allegations in and outside of the global organization this year. The North’s recent appeasement gestures toward the South may also be part of efforts to improve its image.

It would be hard for South Korea not to join the international crusade for bettering the lives and well-being of North Koreans. Actually, Seoul helped draft the latest resolution, reflecting the Park Geun-hye administration’s possible shift toward the policy its EU partners call ``critical engagement.” Calls have also been mounting for the South to legislate its own North Korean human rights act.

This demand is hard to ignore because of the universal and humanitarian nature of the issue. Yet Seoul, because of its peculiar situation of confronting and conversing with one of the world’s most reclusive regimes, should be doubly cautious and skillful in dealing with the North’s rights issues.

South Korean policymakers will need to bear at least two things in mind in this regard. First, the increasing pressure on the North and the tighter economic sanctions could aggravate the already dire economic situation of North Koreans, who struggle to eke out a living. Second, driving North Korea into a corner with its human rights problems is highly likely to threaten the ongoing inter-Korean thaw. In a worst-case scenario, Pyongyang could threaten to conduct a fourth nuclear test or resume launching its long-range missiles.

Seoul will never find it easy to pursue a "two-track” policy of pressuring Pyongyang on rights issues on the one hand, and seeking reconciliation in overall inter-Korean relationship on the other. But there are few, if any, other options but to walk this tight diplomatic rope.

All this shows the need for the Park administration to speed up dialogue with the isolated regime, resuming economic aid according to its progress. Seoul must also persuade Washington to reopen talks on three major issues ― nuclear weapons, missiles and human rights ― instead of resorting to simply applying pressure. At stake is whether it has the intention and ability to do so.