Washington D.C. — “There is not a whole lot of dialogue on human rights in North Korea, but we should continue to try.”
Marcus Noland, eminent North Korea scholar and currently a researcher at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, gave his views at a seminar on Thursday entitled “North Korean Human Rights and the Obama Administration: New Evidence from Refugees” held by the KORUS House in Washington D.C.
After revealing the results of a long-term survey of North Korean refugees in both China and South Korea that he conducted along with Stephan Haggard in 2004, 2005 and in November of last year, Noland gave five recommendations for solving human rights issues relating to North Korea.
As Noland rightly points out, first of all, “If North Korea wants to integrate into the international community, this discussion is inevitable. There has to be engagement and demonstrable progress.”
He continued, “The simplest policy is to get people out of North Korea. That involves not only the things that the U.S. can do, but what the U.S. can do with other countries.” So, secondly, “The U.S., along with other countries, should approach the Chinese via the UN or via some other formal coalition, and agree to fund temporary resettlement camps in China.”
He further emphasized the need to ensure that aid reaches the intended recipients. Although North Korea is the largest recipient of U.S. humanitarian aid in Asia, there is considerable evidence to suggest that the aid is not getting through. He explained that international aid was feeding more than one third of the population, but that 43 percent of interviewees in China and around half in the South were unaware of any international aid programs and two third of the interviewees had never been recipients of aid, suggesting that aid delivery systems are failing.
Fourth, he believes there is a need to break down informational barriers. Noland: “Survey results reveal that North Korea is losing control over its information.” He requested that the Obama administration need to urge the Japanese government to set up transmission facilities on Japanese territory because South Korea does not allow foreign broadcasting companies to establish themselves in the country.
Finally, Noland stated that the Obama administration needs to develop principles similar to the Sullivan Principles used to pressurize Apartheid South Africa, meaning it needs to advance human rights and social justice by means of international cooperation. If the principles are stuck to, the U.S., other countries and corporate interests alike can make efforts to minimize the possibility of slave labor practices in North Korea.
