Moon administration 'evolves' from Roh's on N. Korean human rights

The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning North Korea's dire human rights record for the 14th consecutive year on Dec. 17. / Korea Times file

By Yi Whan-woo

The Moon Jae-in administration is getting tough with North Korea over the regime's human rights abuses, although South Korea is on track for building confidence to help the stalled U.S.-North Korea nuclear disarmament talks move forward.

On Dec. 17, the South threw its support behind the U.N. General Assembly's approval of a resolution condemning the North's dire human rights record. It marks the 14th consecutive year the Assembly has passed the document.

South Korea's support came after Moon's three summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this year. According to analysts, it is believed to be based on a lesson learned from the government of President Roh Moo-hyun, for whom Moon served as chief of staff.

After Roh's 2007 summit with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, father of Kim Jong-un, Seoul abstained later the same year from the U.N. vote assailing Pyongyang's state-perpetrated human rights violations.

The U.N. approved the 2007 resolution and the two Koreas managed to maintain momentum for reconciliation efforts.

But Moon came under fire during his 2017 presidential campaign, when it was called into question whether it was morally appropriate keep quiet on human rights issues just to avoid provoking Pyongyang.

Moon especially was targeted for showing his willingness to inherit the legacy of the late Roh, including the inter-Korean trust-building process.

North Korea, one of the world's most repressive states, restricts all civil and political liberties of its citizens, including freedom of expression, association and assembly. It prohibits all organized political opposition, civil society and trade unions and the regime uses torture in custody and arbitrary arrest to maintain fear and control.

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Yang Moon-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, claimed North Korean human rights are mentioned on the U.S. sanctions on the North and therefore the government's support for the U.N. resolution was "a strategic decision."

"This means the sanctions will not be lifted unless a notable improvement is made. And if prolonged sanctions will continue to hamper inter-Korean cooperation, that will inevitably be expanded to economic aid," he said.

"I would say the Moon administration has evolved from Roh's," said Park Won-gon, an international relations professor at Handong Global University. "The current administration learned that, regardless of cross-border reconciliation, keeping pace with the U.N. over North Korean human rights-related issues is critical because it is a matter of universal value."

Park added the government's support for the U.N. resolution this year was "very realistic," considering it pushes to expand ties with Pyongyang.

In a statement issued on Dec. 18, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said South Korea supported the U.N. resolution from the basic position of making joint efforts with the international community for a "substantive improvement" in Pyongyang's human rights record.

The ministry said the resolution welcomes "the ongoing diplomatic efforts" involving North Korea and inter-Korean summit agreements as well as resuming reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.

The North reacted angrily toward the South's decision.

On Dec. 23, the North's propaganda website Uriminzokkiri criticized the South for its "two-faced attitude."

"The South Korean authorities expressed support for the U.S.' anti-Pyongyang ploy to condemn the human rights situation," it said. "In front us, the South talks of trust and harmony, while it follows the foreign forces' ploy behind our back."

Maeari, another propaganda outlet, also excoriated the countries that joined the resolution, warning that the "followers of the U.S. will pay dearly for their provocative, malign acts."

The General Assembly's resolution "condemns the long-standing and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights in and by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."

It cites abuses the U.N. Commission of Inquiry said in 2014 could amount to crimes against humanity ― and the continuing impunity for such violations ― including torture, rape, public executions and the use of the death penalty for political and religious reasons.