The forced repatriation of nine North Korean refugees from Laos has triggered loud calls for legislation aimed at improving human rights conditions in North Korea and providing support to people fleeing the pariah state.
Many North Korea experts here assert that had there been such a law, the nine young North Koreans would not have been sent back to the North, where they are feared to face brutal punishment.
They note that one underlying cause of the debacle was poor communication between the Korean Embassy in Laos and the human rights group that guided the nine ill-fated defectors to the Southeast Asian country.
Such a problem, they say, would not have occurred in the first place had there been a state-funded agency mandated to support North Koreans who have fled their country in pursuit of freedom.
The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic Party have sought for years to enact a law on North Korean human rights, each proposing its own bill. But they have been unable to narrow their differences.
The ruling party suspects that the opposition party’s bill is intended to resume provision of support to North Korea in the fashion of the now largely discredited Sunshine Policy.
The opposition party asserts that the ruling party’s bill, if passed, would worsen inter-Korean relations as it is mainly designed to legalize government support for activist groups that float anti-Pyongyang propaganda balloons into North Korea.
Now, lawmakers of the two parties should stop quarreling and come up with a unified bill. They should grasp the teachable moment offered by the fiasco in Laos.
Korean legislators have already brought shame upon the nation by failing to do anything about the miserable situation in the North. While they have been neglecting their duty, their counterparts in the United States and Japan have enacted laws to address human rights issues in the rogue state.
The U.S. Congress, in particular, passed the North Korean Child Welfare Act in January to promote the welfare and human rights of North Korean children in third countries. According to reports, funding for the defection of the nine North Korean youths was based on the act.
Against this backdrop, Saenuri Party chairman Hwang Woo-yea said that his party would push for the passage of its bill on North Korean human rights during the ongoing parliamentary session.
He rightly stressed that South Korea should not leave the issue of North Korean defectors on the back burner any longer.
Democratic Party lawmakers need to change their stance on human rights in North Korea in line with its new party platform adopted in May, which calls for efforts to improve the livelihoods and human rights of North Korean people.
