North Korean human rights foundation to finally launch

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North Korean human rights foundation to finally launch

One of two North Korean fishermen who fled into the South via the eastern maritime boundary is forcibly repatriated back to the North at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom in November 2019. [UNIFICATION MINISTRY]

One of two North Korean fishermen who fled into the South via the eastern maritime boundary is forcibly repatriated back to the North at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom in November 2019. [UNIFICATION MINISTRY]

 
The Unification Ministry announced Monday that it will launch a committee to advise the minister on the establishment of a long-delayed foundation aimed at promoting human rights in North Korea.
 
The move comes amid controversy over past incidents where the human rights of North Korean defectors were allegedly violated by officials under the previous Moon Jae-in administration.
 
The group, called the “North Korean Human Rights Promotion Committee” in the ministry’s announcement on Monday, is intended to serve as an advisory body to the Unification Minister regarding the foundation, whose creation is mandated by the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2016.
 
According to the law, the unification minister is tasked with nominating two candidates for the foundation’s board of directors, while the ruling and opposition parties are charged with nominating five candidates each.
 
But due to disagreements between the main political parties, no one has been appointed to the foundation’s inaugural board in the past seven years.
 
In a bid to revive the foundation’s launch, the Unification Ministry has charged the North Korean Human Rights Promotion Committee with gathering public opinion and disseminating views on how to improve North Korea human rights, as well as supporting relevant civic groups.
 
According to a ministry directive also issued Monday, up to 15 individuals with knowledge and expertise on the human rights situation in North Korea will be appointed to the committee by Unification Minister Kwon Young-se
 
Committee members already named by Kwon include Lee Jung-hoon, president of Yonsei University’s Graduate School of International Studies; Kim Bum-soo, director of Save NK; Kim Seong-min, director of Free North Korea Radio; Won Jae-chun, professor of law at Handong University; and Kang Cheol-hwan, president of the North Korea Strategy Center.
 
The Unification Ministry said Kwon will preside over the committee’s first meeting on Friday, where he plans to consult with members’ opinions on how the committee should proceed ahead of the human rights’ foundation’s establishment.
 
The issue of North Korean human rights has re-emerged as a flashpoint between the People Power Party and the Democratic Party since President Yoon Suk Yeol’s administration ordered the reinvestigation of past incidents involving Seoul’s treatment of North Korean defectors.
 
Top officials who served in the Moon administration, including former National Intelligence Service chief Suh Hoon and former National Security Director Chung Eui-yong, were indicted by prosecutors last week on charges of abusing their authority in connection with the forced repatriation of two North Korean fishermen in 2019.
 
A central point of contention between the indicted Moon administration officials and the prosecution is whether the pair, who were accused of killing 16 fellow crewmembers before crossing the eastern inter-Korean maritime border, should have been tried as South Korean citizens or denied defector status altogether.
 
Article 9 of the North Korean Defectors’ Act stipulates that escapees “who commit murder and other non-political crimes may be excluded from protection.”  
 
The release of videos and photographs of their repatriation by the Unification Ministry in July last year sparked rage from defectors’ groups and North Korean human rights organizations.
 

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]
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