Ambassador Lee Sinhwa, Will the UN Pressure North Korea on Human Rights Issues?

Korean Representative Likely to Attend 'Mutual Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on North Korean Human Rights'

Lee Sinhwa, Ambassador for International Cooperation on North Korean Human Rights.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hee-jun] Shin-hwa Lee, North Korean Human Rights International Cooperation Ambassador, is likely to attend the 'Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea' at the United Nations as a representative of the South Korean government. Attention is focused on whether Ambassador Lee, who has raised his voice on North Korean human rights issues, will initiate international public discourse.

According to diplomatic sources on the 24th, it is known that Ambassador Lee is likely to attend the interactive dialogue with Elizabeth Salm?n, the Special Rapporteur on North Korean human rights, at the 77th UN General Assembly Third Committee meeting held at the UN Headquarters on the 26th (local time).

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said, "(The ambassador's) specific remarks are undecided."

The interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on North Korean human rights is held annually in March at the UN Human Rights Council and in October at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly. It is a forum to discuss the situation of human rights in North Korea and improvement measures based on the report submitted by the Special Rapporteur.

This is the first time Ambassador Lee, who began full-scale activities at the end of July, has participated in a UN human rights-related meeting in his capacity as North Korean Human Rights International Cooperation Ambassador. He recently appeared as a speaker at the Anmin Policy Forum seminar, emphasizing that "we must draw solidarity with the international community based on human rights issues that the Kim Jong-un regime is sensitive about."

Ambassador Lee, who is a professor in the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Korea University, was appointed this July as the North Korean Human Rights International Cooperation Ambassador, an external ambassador position that works to promote North Korean human rights and international cooperation. The external ambassador system grants ambassadorial titles to private individuals with expertise and recognition in various fields to enable diplomatic activities.

Former Ambassador Lee Jung-hoon attended the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on North Korean human rights at the UN General Assembly in 2016 as a government representative.

Meanwhile, this is also the first time that Special Rapporteur Salm?n, who began her activities in August this year, is participating in the UN interactive dialogue. In her first report submitted recently to the UN General Assembly, Special Rapporteur Salm?n expressed concerns such as "North Korean children are suffering more from malnutrition and hunger compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic."

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