A UN expert on Wednesday called on the next South Korean president to take a “consistent approach” to North Korean human rights issues, pointing to the Moon Jae-in government’s decision to stop co-sponsoring a UN resolution as a bad precedent.

Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, underscored that the next South Korean government should maintain consistency in dealing with North Korean human rights issues.

“Now what we would like to see from the international community, especially from the United Nations Human Rights Framework, is a consistent approach from the Republic of Korea movement toward North Korea,” Ojea Quintana said at a press briefing held in Seoul.

“When I say consistent, it will be important not to see dramatic changes in the approach to the North Korean situation and in particular the human rights agenda,” he told reporters on the last day of his last official visit to South Korea that began Feb. 15.

Ojea Quintana said the Moon Jae-in government’s pullback from co-sponsoring a UN resolution on North Korea’s human rights situation lacks consistency.

The Moon Jae-in government took a step back in 2019, and only participated in the consensus of the UN resolution from then, as part of its efforts to promote reconciliation with North Korea.

“That was an unexpected change in the stance of the ROK government, which was not consistent with the United Nations consensus about how to approach human rights in North Korea,” the UN expert told reporters, clarifying his opposition to Seoul’s decision.

“On the issue of the ROK’s role on UN human rights resolutions, I once again expressed my concern that withdrawing from co-sponsoring these resolutions is a step backwards and could send the wrong message to the DPRK government.” 

N.Korea's draconian lockdown restrictions
Speaking at the press conference, the UN special rapporteur also urged the North Korean regime, with the international community’s help, to take action to start administering COVID-19 vaccines.

Ojea Quintana expressed concerns about the Kim Jong-un regime’s COVID-19 lockdown measures that have continued for more than two years since January 2020.

The UN expert said Pyongyang has the “responsibility” to maintain the balance between curbing the COVID-19 pandemic and protecting human rights including access to adequate food, basic necessities and freedom of movement.

“The draconian measures taken by the government with regards to the restrictions in the country due to the pandemic do not comply with international human rights law,” Ojea Quintana said.

“I am mindful that all countries have to take necessary measures to prevent COVID-19, but governments also have a duty to comply with their human rights obligations.”

At the same time, Ojea Quintana called on the international community to “agree on a strategy to provide the DPRK with 60 million doses of vaccinations to cover at least two shots of the entire population.”

The UN expert underscored that the action would be the “key to opening the DPRK’s borders and resuming its interactions with the international community and bringing it out of isolation.”

North Korea has not yet responded to the international community’s proposal to provide vaccines through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access facility. North Korea and Eritrea are the sole countries that have not rolled out and administered COVID-19 vaccines.

In respect to North Korea’s unresponsiveness, Ojea Quintana elucidated Pyongyang has concerns about “receiving just a partial number of vaccines and then being subjected to some kind of pressure to receive the rest of the shots.”

But the UN expert added that the UN has not yet proposed the vaccine donation plan to North Korea. 

Prisoners of war, abducted victims
During his last trip to South Korea, Ojea Quintana also had his first in-person meeting with three former South Korean prisoners of war who escaped North Korea. He also last week met families of South Koreans who were abducted by North Korea during and after the Korean War.

The UN special rapporteur emphasized that the issues “are ongoing and should never be neglected by (UN) member states from the DPRK human rights agenda and during any negotiations.”

Ojea Quintana explained that 516 Korean victims who were abducted after the Korean War still remain in North Korea. He went on to say that tens of thousands of abductees and prisoners of war from the Korean War are staying in North Korea.

Last week, Ojea Quintana also met Lee Rae-jin, the elder brother of a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korean soldiers after drifting across the inter-Korean maritime border in the western sea in September 2020.

The UN special rapporteur raised questions about the decision of the South Korean presidential office and the Coast Guard to appeal the court ruling on providing undisclosed information of the official’s death to his family.

Ojea Quintana encouraged the government to “comply with his right to know exactly what happened to his brother, which was upheld by the court.”

The UN special rapporteur on North Korea’s human rights plans to submit his last report on findings and recommendations to the Human Rights Council in March 2022.

Ojea Quintana’s term ends in August, but North Korea has not granted his visit to the country despite repeated requests.

By Ji Da-gyum (dagyumji@heraldcorp.com)