Don't politicize DPRK human rights issue

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has denounced a UN resolution, drafted by the European Union and Japan, as a "US-led farce", and organized a demonstration of about 100,000 people in Pyongyang in protest against it. The resolution is expected to be submitted to the UN Security Council in December.

The Third (human rights) Committee of the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on Nov 18 recommending that the Security Council refer the DPRK to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

A DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman has described the US as a human rights "tundra". Citing the protests that erupted after a policeman was not indicted in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, he said: "This is clear proof of the real picture of the US as a tundra of human rights, where extreme racial discrimination acts are openly practiced."

Although non-binding, the resolution is far from being just a simple "proposal" to put political pressure on Pyongyang, because it will also lead to certain geopolitical changes on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

The West is expected to impose another round of sanctions on Pyongyang after the resolution, the first of its kind passed by the UN. On one hand, the human rights campaign is aimed at consolidating Western values such as liberty, democracy and human rights within the international community. On the other, the plan to put DPRK leader Kim Jong-un on trial at the ICC will further stereotype Pyongyang as an "autocratic state" which is against the "democratization" process.

If the resolution takes effect, it will not only create more problems for the DPRK, but also heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Although the Republic of Korea is not one of the initiators of the referral to human rights, its participation in the process is still noteworthy.

Since assuming office last year, ROK President Park Geun-hye has emphasized the importance of the two Koreas' reunification and improvement of the DPRK's human rights record. On Nov 24, the ROK National Assembly committee on foreign and unification affairs started deliberating the DPRK "Human Rights Bill". The committee will discuss, among other things, the violation of human rights in the DPRK and protection of DPRK residents' right to live, and is expected to complete the overall review by year's end. Pyongyang sees the move as a "declaration of war" and has warned Seoul not to make any rash decisions.

The UN resolution now threatens to heighten the already high tensions on the Peninsula. Worse, the rising tensions could destabilize Northeast Asia, because the DPRK has vowed to respond to the US-Japan-ROK human rights plot, saying the "toughest" response could be another nuclear test. This, in turn, could put East Asia on the brink of a regional war.

For Pyongyang, the Washington-promoted resolution is hypocritical, because the US is the root of the Peninsula's problems. By initiating the 1950-53 Korean War, the US caused the division of the Korean Peninsula, dealing a deadly blow to human rights. The "temporary" truce, instead of permanent peace, on the Peninsula compelled both sides into a military-building race, which has been a drain both on Pyongyang and Seoul for the past six decades.

Many believe Pyongyang's pursuit of "military-first" policy is to blame for the "violation of human rights" in the DPRK. Even the DPRK government has admitted that much of its resources, including manpower, have been used to strengthen the military rather than developing the economy and improving people's well-being. Yet the government firmly believes that only DPRK officials have the authority to deal with human rights issues within the country.

Different as they seem, human rights and wars are actually inseparable in evaluation. The US-led sanctions on Pyongyang have neither served their political purpose nor benefited the DPRK people. Therefore, to resolve the DPRK's human rights issue for good and avoid conflicts in the Asia-Pacific region, all sides have to abandon the Cold War mentality.

And Washington, a major player in the division of Korea, has to push for a peace agreement on the Peninsula instead of using the ICC to politicize Pyongyang's human rights record.

The author is a professor of Northeast Asian Studies at Jilin University, Jilin province.