[Global NK 인터뷰] ‘글로벌 중추국가’ 한국의 역할: 북한인권, 가치외교, 인도적 지원

YouTube 링크 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG3Icg9Odpk

동아시아연구원(EAI)은 이신화 북한인권국제협력대사를 초청하여 북한의 인권 실태와 한국 정부의 대응에 대한 견해를 들었습니다. 이신화 대사는 대한민국이 글로벌 중추국가로서 도약하기 위해서는 북한 정권의 인권 유린 실태에 대한 책임 규명 노력과 국제공조를 보다 강화해야 한다고 강조합니다. 아울러 북한인권 개선에 관한 여러 문제 가운데 특히 북한 주민들의 삶의 질에 직접적인 영향을 미치는 인도적 지원에 대한 노력이 시급하다고 주장합니다.

I. Call for protection of North Korean residents, defectors, and South Korean detainees

• Ambassador Lee categorizes the victims of North Korean human rights problem into three groups: North Korean residents, North Korean defectors, and South Korean POW.

• Right to food and right to information must be secured for those residing in North Korea. Defectors who face risk of forced repatriation must be protected. South Korean government should also prioritize the repatriation of ROK nationals abducted during and after the Korean War.

• Ambassador Lee highlights that compared to countries like Japan, which prioritizes repatriation of unreturned abductees as the core of its DPRK policy, “there has been a lack of government-level efforts in South Korea to address these issues.”

II. Media is uninterested and people of tired of North Korean human rights issues

• “Unless something very big happens in North Korea, the North Korean human rights issues is still sidelined,” says Ambassador Lee. The media is currently preoccupied with what is going on in Ukraine.

• “North Korean human rights issues as well as missile issues have been there for two to three decades, and yet nothing has changed.” This has brought about a “fatigue phenomenon.” Revitalizing interest and awareness toward this problem is a key task for the South Korean government and the international community.

III. South Korea’s quest to strengthen its position as a “Global Pivotal State”

• Ambassador Lee suggests the following actions that South Korean government should take in order to pursue its goal of establishing itself as a “Global Pivotal State”: (1) conduct value diplomacy, (2) cooperate with international organizations and like-minded countries, and (3) engage with neutral states or non-democratic countries.

• Addressing the DPRK human rights issues could be a “stepping stone to show the world that South Korea is committed to values, norms, freedom, and human rights.” Also, Ambassador Lee is working hard with the international community, particularly the United Nations, to galvanize international awareness and attention on North Korean human rights issues.”

IV. The role of humanitarian aid in conducting a constructive inter-Korean engagement

• “While previous progressive governments have highlighted the importance of humanitarian and economic assistance in order to improve their chance of engaging with the DPRK regime,” Ambassador Lee disagrees with this point of view.

• Ambassador Lee highlights that “humanitarian and economic assistance toward North Korea is important because those are the crucial means to improve the daily living conditions of the ordinary North Korean people.” In such context, she claims that finding ways to “improve transparency and engage directly with the ordinary North Koreans” is a key task for her and the South Korean government. ■

※ Please cite accordingly when referencing this source.

■ Lee Shin-wha_is a Professor of Department of Political Science and International Relations at Korea University; Ambassador of International Cooperation on North Korean Human Rights; and Member of Trilateral Commission. Her previous positions include Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Rwandan Independent Inquiry; Chair’s advisor of East Asian Vision Group (EAVG), Full-time visiting professor at Columbia University, Visiting scholar at MIT’s Center for International Studies, UN Secretary General’s Advisory Group Member of Peacebuilding Fund. Her numerous publications, including an edited volume UN, Indo-Pacific and Korean Peninsula (Routledge 2023), cover East Asian multilateral security and foreign policies, UN security roles, and human security.

■ 담당 및 편집: 박지수, EAI 연구원

    문의: 02 2277 1683 (ext. 208) | jspark@eai.or.kr

영상 스크립트

foreign human rights issues having worked as an ambassador for the past eight months I divided into the three big issues number one the North Korean human rights abuses I'm sorry human right abuses of North Korean people within North Korea and number two overseas North Korean defectors particularly residing in China as well as overseas laborers and then third is the South Korean victims who who has been recorded those current victims and families call the pows and also the overtime and post-war abductees and detainees North

Korean people need about a 5.8 million tons of food per year and uh annually there is a chronic deficit is about 800 000 to 850 000 tons but last year alone the North Korea fired the 71 missiles even for the conservative estimate according to the ministry of unification it requires about a 1 million ton of the rice so given those shortage was 800 000 you know if they didn't do that you know those Heritage can be easily covered and then even we have no Surplus and another thing is the pungeri nuclear site there

are concerns about radiate radio Asian contaminations near the pungeri nuclear site and it is crucial to investigate the human rights situation of the residents who have been exposed to radiations so there are some kind of the movement to investigate those issues both non-governmental and government are other level and that is the right to food and another thing is right to information the right to information in North Korea was severely restricted by the introduction of what I call three vicious laws number one is

anti-reactionary thought and cultural eradication law in December 2020 and another thing is youth education or security law that is in September 2021 and also the Pyongyang language Protection Law which just publicized in adopted in last January these laws heavily penalized the viewing and distribution of illegal uh what they call illegal content from outside particularly from South Korea so if they watch or distribute the Korean drama or movie and Etc then they are subject to severe punishment including the death

penalty and I think the reason or the the North Kim Jong-un regime was very harsh on those issues is a kind of the testimony for how nursing regime is concerned about those information inflow from outside can challenge their regime security and another thing is the uh The Defector issues in August 2020 there is current human rights organization appeared to then U.S House speaker Nancy piracy through open letter asking her help in preventing the first preventing the forest repatriation of North Korean defectors in China

due to the covid-19 Border lockdown the first repatriation from China was temporarily ceased but as you know those covid-19 is getting released now they have another risk for them to firstly Petri to North Korea where they are subjects to those the punishment but the concerned remained for those safety and human rights of at least 1170 North Korean refugees in China according to that led open letter but the U.N special laboratory claimed that there could be the the as as at least two thousand the North Korean defectors

or maybe at risk of the first situations so I think those things we have tapping or pay attention is both internationally and from the Korean government side another thing is as I said the North Korean regime has committed the various human rights vibration act against the South Korean citizens you know speaking of that Japan has been prioritizing the repatriation of the 12 20 out of the 17 on returned Japanese abducted by North Korea in contrast South Korean estimated over 80 000 individuals were abducted

during the Korean War and with hundreds more imposed to war and uh at the latest information is the year 2016 to 5 under 16 people were still in North Korea at the time so there has been a lack of government labor efforts unfortunately to address these issues and as a matter of fact last January I met with with family of those abductees and pow and all others of course I met them unofficially before but officially I met with them with the U.N I'm sorry the U.S the special Deputy special representatives from the state

department so I hope the our meeting is not the one-time event but there will be the beginning of the the process to come to raise International awareness about these issues and explore the impossible Solutions so having said all those things um why does the those human rights issues very hard to approach as the parliament man keong has mentioned the politicization within us the South Korea is a I believe is the priority problems Global media is more interested in what is going on Ukraine and all others so

unless something very big thing happened in North Korea I think of North Koreans human rights issue is still inside the line in in sidelined so the how we can internationalize or globalize North Korean issue is the very big task so that just including myself the Korean government as well as the International Community should work together another thing is the fatigue phenomena there is currently human rights issue as well as North Korean nuclear and missile issue has been there for what two to three

decades and nothing has been changed so it's kind of the fatigue or like inertia or the phenomena is out there so how to revitalizing the seriousness of this issue is a key issue as the Parliamentary has mentioned uh you know the compared to the his father or grandfather's period the Kim Jong-un has been even further having a ferocious and also hostile policy is against their own citizens so I think that's that's why we have to do some things as for the union governments as you may heard the present

Union government is highlighting for so-called Global pivot status a state that is a GPS that those GPS initiatives championed by the union government aims to mainstreaming the U.S at the South Korea's capability in both heart and soft Powers so as a country situated between the the great powers like the US and China the whistles career faces so-called strategic dilemma or challenges that necessity or focus on economic security and serious diplomacy thank you and in the meantime we have to highlighting for the value diplomacy as

well so that in that sense I think of those human rights issue can be the very beginning or stepping stone for us to highlighting why we thought Korean government is committed to the values and norms and then the freedoms and the human rights I think to those tackling with the human rights issue will be the very beginning for our Initiative for the GPS and having said that um I think International cooperation is very very important so I had an opportunity to meet with several um like International governmental official

officers as well as International NGO peoples and here in Korea and outside the outside and I just came back from Geneva the U.N Human Rights Council talking about the North Korean human rights issue should be in front and also I'm just working hard with the International Community to putting the North Korean human rights issue to a public discussion at the U.N security Council and also as we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the U.N Declaration on human rights that I try to make this opportunity both in Korea

and outside to making how to record galvanizing those International awareness and attention on North Korean human rights issues the release of the final report of the cois so that I would like to take this great opportunity uh two Miss issues the last but not least um while we consolidating like-minded countries uh the cooperation on this kind of issue not only Human Rights issue of North Korea but also any other topics in this very complex and uncertain uh international relations but I think how to persuade and how to

engage with unlike-minded countries or neutral State countries are very very important to take credit on this kind of tricky and complex issues so having said that I'm so glad to have opportunity to speak in front of those people from asean because asean is a diverse views although you also have unity and consensus at the name of the asean so I look forward to learning the lessons and experience and wisdom from you at the same time I really hope that you are genuine and active support to address

the problem of nursing human rights because after all those Korean people has every single light to enjoy their own freedom and their own life to write to food and right to health and right to information foreign engagement including humanitarian economic assistance to North Korea is very important not because the the over the past previous progress of government highlighting for the importance of humanitarian economic assistance in order to improve their possibility to engage with the North Korean regime I'm

not talking about that the reason I do believe humanitarian or economy assistant toward the North Korea's important is because that was there are those are the crucial means to improve the human right and the daily life of the North Korean Ordinary People for that I think we have to very closely working with the international relief Community relief organization and development organizations to provide those the the much needed the the economic or Humanity assistance to the North Korea but I think how to improve

the transparency and how how to engage with directly engage with the nursing Ordinary People is the key task for us to do