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| American NGO Meeting on N. Korean Human Rights Annoys Seoul | |
| 2005-03-03 | |
| South Korea expressed its displeasure on Wednesday at Washington's decision to organize an international conference on North Korea's human rights situation, saying that it will only aggravate inter-Korean relations. The U.S. State Department reportedly decided to provide $1.7 million to Freedom House, a pro-democracy NGO in the U.S., this year to help it organize the conference at a yet-to-be-determined place. ``As Freedom House is not a governmental body, they will not ask for our help in organizing the conference,'' a Seoul government official told The Korea Times. ``But I think they may choose Seoul as the venue. The implication of it will not be good.'' Friction between the South Korean government and civic groups is expected to come to the fore as human rights activists in South Korea want to host it in Seoul for maximum effectiveness. ``The government will strongly oppose hosting it in Seoul but they have no plausible reason to prevent it from being held here,'' Kim Bum-soo, director of Save North Korea, said in a telephone interview. Kim, who recently discussed with a Freedom House official in Seoul on ways to organize the conference, said South Korea should play an active role in tackling the North's human rights record. ``Human rights has been of secondary concern for South Koreans,'' he said.
Rep. Kim Moon-soo of the main opposition Grand National Party echoed the civic group leader's argument. ``It ought to be held in Seoul because South Korea is the very country that should pay attention to the agony of North Koreans,'' the GNP lawmaker said in a telephone interview. ``The message to Pyongyang will be stronger if the event is held in Seoul.'' The lawmaker proposed the conference address not only the human rights of North Koreans in the Stalinist country or in China, but also of South Koreans and the Japanese abducted by North Korea. ``I will find some ways to render my services to the conference,'' he said. ``My colleagues in the National Assembly will also continue questioning Pyongyang's treatment of its people.'' The money approved by the U.S. Congress is separate from the $24 million Washington has authorized with the passage of the North Korean Human Rights Act last year to be spent annually over the 2005-2008 period. The Congress also assigned an additional $1 million for the State Department, requesting it to appoint an independent envoy with the mission of monitoring human rights in North Korea. Washington has not yet announced its choice for the envoy, who will ensure that the U.S. always includes human rights issues in negotiations with North Korea. Pyongyang has denounced the human rights act as an attempt to overthrow its regime. | |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #5 Not necessarily, B-a-R. First, the Hamiltonian perspective: we do a lot of trade with SK. Having them jucheized would hurt our economy, though not as badly as theirs. Second, the Wilsonian: they are a more-or-less democratic state. We generally prefer to support those. Third, the Jacksonian: the Nork's mistreated our POWs and never surrendered. We owe them. And, we may need those bases in a couple of decades... As long as we are out of range of a surprise artillery barage, I don't object to a brigade or so there. |
| Posted by: jackal 2005-03-03 10:14:09 PM |
| #4 ..justification for severe counter-attack. Let the NorkS have South Korea to do with as they wish. We're wasting our time and money there. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-03-03 12:27:02 PM |
| #3 Bases, training, perspective, justification for severe counter-attack. |
| Posted by: Tom 2005-03-03 11:34:00 AM |
| #2 Why do we still have troops in South Korea? |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-03-03 11:28:31 AM |
| #1 Freedom House appears to have credibility in some of its work that Amnesty International wishes for from people who understand what the word freedom means. |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-03-03 11:24:20 AM |