North Korea’s isolated and impoverished regime has sought to secure its survival by building a nuclear arsenal and placing its people under harsh control.
Its adherence to nuclear and ballistic missile programs has led to international economic sanctions, deepening the predicament of the rogue state’s 24 million people. Its oppressive rule has also caused international criticism of dire human rights conditions in the North.
The rights issue is proving to be the regime’s weakest and most sensitive point.
The North reacted vehemently to Tuesday’s adoption of a U.N. resolution on its dismal human rights situation. The resolution calls for referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court for human rights violations and considering “the scope for effective targeted sanctions against those who appear to be most responsible.” The move came after the U.N. Commission of Inquiry published a report in February that accused Pyongyang of “systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights.”
The resolution, which was passed by a U.N. General Assembly committee in a 111-19 vote with 55 countries abstaining, is set to be formally adopted at a plenary session of the UNGA early next month.
A North Korean diplomat said after the vote that his country rejected the resolution and that its passage showed that the North no longer needs dialogue with the global community. He earlier threatened that the move would prompt Pyongyang to conduct additional nuclear tests.
His remarks struck the wrong chord. Nuclear blackmail will do nothing to ease international pressure on the regime to improve its people’s human rights conditions.
The U.N. has annually adopted a resolution on North Korea’s human rights violations since 2005. But the latest resolution ― hailed by some advocates as a historical milestone ― goes beyond just expressing concerns to propose for the first time referring the issue to the ICC and punishing those responsible for crimes against humanity, which have been the result of policies formed at “the highest level.”
Despite the resolution’s passage through the General Assembly, the chances of implementing its recommendations are slim, as the Security Council is unlikely to approve them, with China and Russia expected to exercise their veto power.
But the North’s unsuccessful attempt to tone down the resolution by inviting U.N. investigators to visit the country in return for dropping any mention of referring its rights record to the ICC showed that its young dictator Kim Jong-un and his lieutenants are feeling the pressure.
The international community is now witnessing a nuclear-armed recalcitrant regime at a loss over a humanitarian matter that it cannot deal with using its habitual blackmail and intimidation. At the moment, we cannot expect China and Moscow to support the resolution, but the two powers should use their increased leverage to help lead the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions and improve its human rights situation.
South Korea’s parliament should also move quickly to pass a bill aimed at enhancing North Korea’s rights conditions. Liberal opposition lawmakers, who have blocked its passage out of concern that the measure may worsen inter-Korean ties, need to recognize that the resolute approach by the international community is increasing the possibility that the intransigent regime will change its attitude.
