As the 9th anniversary of the adoption of the June 15 Joint Declaration passed in a spirit of ongoing confrontation and enmity, so South Korean NGOs campaigning for North Korean human rights used the occasion to urge North Korea to change its attitude, proclaiming, “The North Korean authorities are responsible for the current tension.”
12 NGOs, including Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights (NKnet) and Democracy Network against North Korean Gulag released a joint statement on Tuesday in which they asserted, “The current situation casts a shadow over the meaning of the June 15 Joint Declaration, which was signed by both leaders to enhance Korean Peninsula peace and mutual development.”
“North Korea has raised the tension on the Korean Peninsula by shooting a South Korean citizen in the Mount Geumgang resort, restraining passage to the Kaesong Industrial Complex, holding a South Korean worker in North Korea and issuing endless hard line rhetoric.”
The statement pointed out, “North Korea has threatened the peace and safety of the Korean Peninsula with its nuclear tests and missile launches. These actions are contrary to the spirit of the June 15 Joint Declaration, which North Korea claims to stick to.”
The statement stressed, “We wish to make it clear that responsibility for the shaky peace on the Korean Peninsula and tense inter-Korean relations is entirely on the North Korean regime. Bringing isolation from the international community on itself by virtue of missile launches and driving inter-Korean relations to breaking point are North Korean actions.”
Lastly, they pressed firmly for change, “North Korea should cease all military threats and nuclear development, step forward to the negotiating table, stop anti-South Korean propaganda and denouncements, and promptly release the two U.S. journalists and a Hyundai Asan employee it is holding.”
