President Park Geun-hye called on officials Tuesday to make aggressive efforts to help improve the lives of North Koreans as she made clear that North Korea’s human rights issue is a top priority in dealing with the communist country.

The issue of the North’s human rights had long been placed on the back burner in South Korea where many people, mostly liberals, have shied away from the issue out of fear that it could strain inter-Korean relations.

The issue was also pushed back on the priority list as South Korea mainly focused on diplomatic solutions with the United States and other regional powers to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs.

On Tuesday, Park made it clear that the North’s nuclear and human rights issues are “our core agenda in our policy toward North Korea.”

“We should not be passive in these issues out of fear of North Korea’s backlash,” Park said in a Cabinet meeting, a comment that marked a clear departure from her liberal predecessors who rarely spoke about the human rights issue as they sought reconciliation with North Korea.

Park said North Korea’s slander against her underscored that the human rights issue is a diplomatic sore point for North Korea.

Trucks carrying agricultural aid head toward Sariwon, in North Korea’s North Hwanghae Province, through the Unification Gate in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Ace Gyeongam, an aid agency under the local bed manufacturer Ace Bed, provided the items on a humanitarian basis. Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald
Trucks carrying agricultural aid head toward Sariwon, in North Korea’s North Hwanghae Province, through the Unification Gate in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Ace Gyeongam, an aid agency under the local bed manufacturer Ace Bed, provided the items on a humanitarian basis. Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald

North Korea has long been accused of grave human rights abuses, ranging from holding hundreds of thousands of political prisoners in concentration camps to committing torture and carrying out public executions.

The North has flatly denied accusations of its alleged rights abuses, describing them as a U.S.-led attempt to topple its regime.

It has claimed it has the world’s most advantageous human rights conditions and policies.

Park also called for efforts to ensure a bill meant to improve North Korea’s dismal human rights record wins parliamentary endorsement.

Park’s comments came days after she used her high-profile address to the U.N. General Assembly to try to galvanize international efforts to improve North Korea’s human rights record.

North Korea’s human rights record has drawn greater international attention since the U.N. Commission of Inquiry issued a report in February after a year-long probe, saying that North Korean leaders are responsible for “widespread, systematic and gross” violations of human rights.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pressed North Korea to shut down its political prison camps, which he described as an “evil system.”

Also Tuesday, Park called for the swift parliamentary endorsement of two separate free trade deals with Australia and Canada.

Last week, South Korea and Canada signed a free trade deal during Park’s visit to Ottawa. The two sides described the deal as “an historic initiative that will strengthen our trade and investment ties across the Pacific.”

Still, it is unclear if the deal will pass through the National Assembly any time soon as the parliament has been deadlocked for months due to a dispute over a bill aimed at uncovering the truth about April’s ferry sinking that killed more than 300 people.

The political row has disrupted parliamentary proceedings, leaving scores of bills meant to revitalize the economy and lift regulations in limbo in the parliament.

“Politics and the National Assembly exist for the people,” Park said, accusing lawmakers of approaching every issue in a partisan manner. (Yonhap)


koreaherald@heraldcorp.com