NHRCK Hosts Debate on ‘How To Handle Human Rights in North Korea’
From 2 to 6 p.m., April 16, 2008, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (Chairperson Kyong-Whan Ahn) held a debate at its Learning Center on the 11th floor of its building. The theme of the debate was 'how to handle human rights in North Korea.'
The NHRCK designated 'strengthened policy efforts to improve human rights conditions in North Korea' as one of its six major tasks for 2008. As part of related efforts, the NHRCK hosted this debate with experts in a variety of fields to shed new light on the human rights situation in North Korea during the several years before and after 2000 and define the role of the South Korean government, international community, and civic groups in improving the human rights status of the North Korean populace.
Initiated with greetings from Nam-Young Yoo, a standing commissioner, the debate was mediated by Woo-Young Lee, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies. Min Hong (research professor at the North Korean Everyday Life Research Center, Dongkuk University), Su-Ahm Kim (senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification), Tae-Jin Kim (representative of the Democracy Network Against North Korean Gulags), and Bo-Hyuk Seo (research professor at Ewha Woman's University) made presentations on the daily life and human rights conditions of the North Korean people; the role of the South Korean government to improve the human rights conditions of the North Korean population; and the recent movements and cooperation tasks of the international community in connection with human rights in North Korea.
The debate panel also included Seong-Jang Chung (Director of the Inter-Korean Relations Studies Program, Sejong Institute), Yeo-Sang Yoon (head of the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights), Jae-Won Lee (chairperson of the North Korean Human Rights Subcommittee of the Korean Bar Association) and Soon-Hee Im (senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification). They discussed the basic principles regarding human rights in North Korea and the direction of practical actions; and alternative approaches to improving the human rights situation in North Korea.
After the NHRCK released its 'position on North Korean human rights' on December 11, 2006, it included 'human rights in North Korea' in its ten major tasks for 2007, carrying out research activities including a fact-finding investigation into the human rights of North Korean defectors. The NHRCK also designated 'strengthened policy efforts to improve human rights conditions in North Korea' as one of its six major tasks for 2008, under which it has been pursuing undertakings concerning North Korean human rights.
