[imText1]“The claim that the North Korean Human Rights Law interferes in domestic affairs is to ignore the fact that human rights are a universal value transcending nationality.”
Park Sung Young, a lawmaker of the Liberty Forward Party, asserted that at the debate, “How Should We Deal with the North Korean Human Rights Law,” held by National Assembly Human Rights Forum and the Association of North Korean Human Rights Organizations. She added, “The Democratic Party shows its duplicity when it desperately opposes the law whilst claiming that they agree with goals and principles of the law.”
She continued to criticize, saying, “Compared to the U.S. and Japan, who established North Korean human rights laws several years ago and raised their voices for the furthering of North Korean human rights, South Korea is already tardy in enacting this law. In terms of content, many significant items were omitted, so the draft (which is pending in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee) is a law in name only.”
Kang Cheol Hwan, the leader of the North Korea Strategy Center and the author of the Aquariums of Pyongyang, pointed out that, “Lawmakers of the Democratic Party and other oppositions parties still cannot shake off the inertia of the juche followers. They have to know that neglecting North Korean human rights situation is an ineffaceable guilt.”
Chairman of the North Korean Human Rights Committee of the Korean Bar Association Lee Jae Won urged lawmakers to enact the law for the following reasons: the seriousness of North Korean human rights situation; moral responsibility as part of the same nation; and for the purpose and as a precondition of peaceful reunification.
