[Editorial] A principled step

The South Korean government has made the right decision in joining as a co-sponsor of this year’s UN resolution on human rights in North Korea.

Though mindful of a possible resumption of dialogue with North Korea, the government ultimately chose to act on universal human rights principles.

Drafted by the European Union and Australia, the resolution is set for adoption later this month at a regular session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Each year, the UN adopts North Korea human rights resolutions at the Human Rights Council in the first half and the General Assembly in the second. The resolutions condemn the North's systematic and widespread human rights abuses and call for improvements.

South Korea must now work actively with the international community to deliver tangible human rights improvements for North Koreans.

Skipping co-sponsorship this year would have suggested a government wavering without principle, overly deferential to North Korea.

South Korea co-sponsored the resolution from 2008 to 2018, but sat out from 2019 to 2021 under the Moon Jae-in administration, citing inter-Korean ties — an apparent nod to North Korea. It returned as a co-sponsor in 2022 with the launch of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. The Lee Jae Myung government joined last November’s UN General Assembly human rights resolution and has kept that line this year.

The process, however, was far from smooth. The Lee government reportedly refrained from signing on as a co-sponsor at the outset and wrestled with the decision until the final hour. The government is said to have weighed staying out, taking into account the possibility of renewed dialogue with North Korea and the need to foster inter-Korean trust. Given the North’s sensitivity to human rights, the government may have seen abstaining as helpful to restarting talks.

To be sure, the government’s efforts to restore inter-Korean communication channels are meaningful. The current breakdown in communication can be dangerous, especially when managing unexpected contingencies under the armistice regime.

What the government must not overlook is that pursuing inter-Korean relations in a manner at odds with the international community risks ineffectiveness, discord within alliances, and even diplomatic isolation.

The Unification Ministry claims that raising North Korea’s human rights issues would significantly set back inter-Korean relations. For this argument to be persuasive, there must be empirical evidence that inter-Korean relations improve when the South refrains from provoking the North.

But even under the conciliatory Moon administration, Pyongyang repeatedly directed crude and vitriolic attacks at South Korea's president. Since its inauguration, the Lee government has actively advanced appeasement policies aimed at resuming dialogue with North Korea. It removed anti-North loudspeakers, suspended broadcasts to the North and cut US-South Korea joint field exercises to less than half of last year’s level.

Yet, the response from North Korea has been nothing but insults and threats.

In a policy speech to the Supreme People’s Assembly released on March 23, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed that South Korea is “the most hostile state.” The North routinely issues threats of nuclear attacks against the South.

North Korea’s hostile policy toward the South is so entrenched that abstaining from the human rights resolution would make little difference to inter-Korean relations. It is reasonable to see the North’s stance toward the South as shaped by its circumstances and needs. Even if the North takes issue with the raising of human rights concerns, it is unlikely to be the real reason.

It is hardly unusual for South Korea’s approach to inter-Korean relations to vary with changes in government. However, there must be at least some consistency on human rights, a universal value.

If, even when doing what is right, Seoul remains overly mindful of North Korea, inter-Korean relations will never move forward properly. Even in pursuing better inter-Korean relations, the government must act fairly and squarely.