By Jun Ji-hye
The ruling Saenuri Party said Friday that it will push ahead with passing the long-pending North Korean Human Rights Bill at the National Assembly this month regardless of the resumption of inter-Korean talks.
“The issue of North Korean human rights and the ongoing discussion on resumption of talks between the South and North are totally separate,” said Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, who chairs the policy committee in the ruling party. “We will keep attempting to forge ahead with the passage of the bill in the June extraordinary session of the Assembly.”
He made the remarks on a radio program after being questioned about whether the North’s offer to hold talks and the South’s acceptance, both made Thursday, can be a variable in dealing with such a bill.
Proposed in 2005, the bill is still pending at the parliament due to the negative attitude of the opposition parties which worry that it could anger the communist country and worsen inter-Korean relations.
The bill suggests establishing state-run institutes to promote human rights in the isolated state and supporting activities of private entities working for North Korean-related affairs.
Since nine young North Korean defectors in Laos were forcibly deported to their reclusive homeland via China late last month, the debate on the controversial bill has been reignited.
Members of the ruling party claimed that such a tragic incident would not have happened if the bill had been passed earlier.
“It is well known that if people who attempt to defect from the North return there, they are severely punished and possibly even executed. Parties should have approved the bill earlier, and then the young defectors would not have been deported,” said Rep. Ha Tae-keung who has worked for North Korean human rights.
Ha submitted a resolution Friday to urge the Assembly to make sure to pass the bill.
“The Democratic Party has opposed passing the bill for about 10 years by changing their logic all the time. Taking the recent incident as an opportunity, I demand their cooperation this time,” said Ha.