North Korean Human Rights Issue: International Responses and the ROK’s Tasks

Abstract

While we are in an era of multifaceted global crises where the liberal international order is significantly threatened, the situation of North Korean Human Rights (NKHRs) still looks deeply concerning. The most rational and effective approach would be to foster solidarity and cooperation with the international community to address the human rights situation in North Korea, which is an issue of universal values as well as a key issue on the Korean Peninsula that is intricately linked to the North Korean nuclear issue. Traditionally, human rights were considered a domestic matter but became a global concern following the Holocaust during World War II. This prompted the creation of Charter-based mechanisms exemplified by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and institutions like the UN Human Rights Council, alongside treaty-based mechanisms grounded in human rights treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The international human rights norms, characterized as obligations owed towards all (obligations erga omnes), inherently enable any nation to criticize and recommend actions regarding human rights violations in other countries. Although various improvement efforts have been initiated through the UN Human Rights Council, the General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea and other mechanisms since 2003, there have been perceived limitations in achieving fundamental changes in North Korea. Consequently, the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) on North Korean Human Rights, established in 2013, conducted extensive investigations and concluded numerous systematic human rights abuses could constitute crimes against humanity. These include political prison camps, the punishment of defectors, the abduction of foreigners, and more. Therefore, the Commission adopted an aggressive stance recommending the referral of these issues to the International Criminal Court (ICC) through the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, the US, the EU and the UK have unilaterally imposed additional sanctions on North Korean human rights issues alongside nuclear sanctions. The ROK government should also establish its principled and consistent policy and practice towards North Korean human rights problem. In this respect, it should consider comprehensive and balanced approaches, including both cooperative and aggressive ones, such as adopting North Korean human rights sanctions, actively engaging in the 4th North Korean Universal Periodic Review (UPR) procedure at the UN Human Rights Council, improving overseas North Korean escapee protection system as more effective one, and consolidating NKHRs database system through normalizing its North Korean Human Rights Act properly.