The Trump administration has brought significant focus to the North Korean human rights issue.
During his State of the Union Address delivered to the US Congress, President Trump referred to the story of Ji Seong Ho, a North Korean defector who was once a kkotjebi (homeless child). A few days later, Trump invited eight defectors to the White House, bringing attention to human rights abuses and the importance of information distribution in North Korea.
Following this, US Vice President Mike Pence invited Fred Warmbier to the Opening Ceremony of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. Fred is the father of Otto Warmbier, the US college student who was detained by North Korean authorities and died shortly after being released from custody. Pence also toured the Cheonan Memorial, which honors the 46 South Korean sailors killed by a North Korean torpedo attack in 2010, and met with a number of defectors.
These efforts elicit questions about the nature of Moon Jae-in’s approach to North Korea. Why is the South Korean government reluctant to discuss the moral urgency of North Korea’s human rights abuses?
Lee Young Hwan (right) serves as the president of a non-profit group called Transitional Justice Working Group (TWJG). On February 7, he sat down with Unification Media Group studio for an in-person interview to talk about the Trump administration’s approach to North Korea’s human rights abuses. “The fact that President Trump told Ji Seong Ho’s story in his State of the Union address and personally met with defectors not only places pressure on the North Korean government, it also sends a message to the South Korean government,” Lee said.
“The political leadership in our country [South Korea] needs to continue to raise awareness about the North Korean human rights problem, regardless of the political ideology of the current administration. South Korea’s younger generation, people in their 20s and 30s, views this sort of silence as a form of abetting North Korea’s human rights violations.” President Lee believes that a static approach to defectors and human rights issues might influence the press to evaluate the administration’s North Korea policy more negatively.
“Reports and presentations about North Korean human rights issues made by the UN and other elements of the international community have politically significant outcomes. Such political resoluteness is held in high esteem,” he explained.
When asked why this sort of attention is important, President Lee noted that even in the United Nations “there aren’t many speeches that inspire everyone to listen up,” and “it’s very meaningful that the President of the United States shared the story of Ji Seong Ho.”
Some have insisted that President Trump had political reasons for making the defector reference during the speech. To this, Lee noted, “I think we should focus on the fact that this reference reflected increasing domestic and international attention on North Korea’s human rights issues. That’s more important than whether it was used for political purposes.”
Referring to the fact that Vice President Pence followed up Trump’s White House meeting with defectors by doing the same in South Korea, Lee explained, “Because this wasn’t a temporary or momentary reference and it has become something that has continued, the pressure on the North Korean government will be that much stronger.”
Asked about the factors that influence the South Korean government’s thinking on the topic, Lee said that when considering North-South relations, security, and the domestic press, he thinks it will be difficult for the South Korean leadership to pursue as resolute a policy as the US.
However, Lee added that even if the ROK government cannot directly address the policy issue of improving North Korea’s human rights, there is a need to look for other ways to make meaningful progress, such as through diplomatic means.
“Our government has a tendency to put an emphasis on the separated families issue. But we need to talk about more than defectors and separated families. We need to talk about repatriating kidnapped South Koreans and POWs. We need a strategic and continuous approach to these matters,” Lee pointed out.
“There is no need to choose between improving inter-Korean relations or addressing human rights when formulating a diplomatic strategy. Determining this policy has nothing to do with political affiliation, whether conservative or liberal. It’s essential to create and maintain a consistent North Korea and unification policy.”
