A coalition of non-governmental organizations based in South Korea and overseas published an open letter addressed South Korean president Moon Jae-in on Monday, urging him to stop ignoring North Korea’s human rights violations.
Unification Media Group (UMG; leads a consortium of NGOs that includes Daily NK), Open North Korea, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International were among the 67 NGOs from 22 different nations who signed the letter. “Dialogue and public human rights criticism are not mutually exclusive,” said the letter, which accused South Korea of remaining publicly silent about North Korea’s human rights abuses. The letter continued, “In our view, silence and inaction on human rights only encourage abuses.”
The letter also stated that the South Korean government’s strategy “risks sending a message to North Korea’s government that their crimes will go unsanctioned, as Pyongyang might get the mistaken impression that the South Korean government is willing to overlook their illicit behavior in exchange for increased willingness to engage in the inter-Korean dialogue.”
The letter sent by the coalition claimed that “the only way to ensure long term improvements is if the North Korean government continuously hears the same message about the need for change—the message that the international community will never fully welcome North Korea unless it commits to and implements human rights reforms.” The letter also urged the South Korean government to “Re-join the list of co-sponsoring member states on the Third Committee resolution on the situation of human rights in North Korea ahead of its expected passage later this month in a plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly.”
On a related note, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs opted not to co-sponsor the resolution adopted by the Third Committee of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly on the human rights situation in North Korea. On Nov. 15, the Ministry explained that the decision was made “in comprehensive consideration of the overall circumstances, such as the current situation on the Korean Peninsula.”
The letter sent by the coalition also raised issue with the South Korean government’s deportation of two North Koreans on Nov. 7.
Specifically, the letter expressed concern about the deportation in relation “the obligation of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to provide due process and to protect anyone who would be at substantial risk of torture or other serious human rights violations after repatriation.” The letter urged the South Korean government to investigate the deportation, and to make the findings of the investigation public.
The letter argued that “the officials who violated the basic human rights of the two fishermen” should be held accountable.
Along with the 67 organizations, 10 individuals also signed the letter, including Tomás Ojea-Quintana, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, and Yanghee Lee, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.
*Translated by Violet Kim
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