"UN North Korea Human Rights Resolution Must Specify Detainees' Nationality" Letter to President Yoon

Letter to President Yoon from detainee's family member Kim Jeong-sam
Urging government efforts to 'strengthen expression' in resolution

Kim Jeong-sam, the brother of missionary Kim Jeong-uk who is detained in North Korea, along with North Korean human rights organizations, sent a letter to President Yoon Suk-yeol urging that the language regarding South Korean prisoners of war and detainees be strengthened in the upcoming adoption of the 'North Korean Human Rights Resolution' at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

According to a compilation of reports by Asia Economy on the 3rd, Kim and five North Korean human rights organizations?including the Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, the North Korean Justice Coalition, the June 25 South Korean POW Families Association, Mulmangcho, and the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG)?sent the letter to President Yoon that morning. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Foreign Minister Park Jin, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon, and Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup were also included as recipients.

UN Human Rights Council Adopts North Korea Human Rights Resolution
[Image Source=Yonhap News]

In the letter addressed to President Yoon, Kim and the organizations mentioned that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s diplomatic policy aims to be a global pivotal state and noted that the joint statement from the trilateral summit of South Korea, the United States, and Japan held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, last November included the 'North Korean detainee issue.' They emphasized that the South Korean government has a responsibility to strengthen the language concerning South Korean prisoners of war and detainees in the North Korean Human Rights Resolution.

The 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which began at the end of February and will continue until the 4th of this month, is scheduled to adopt the North Korean Human Rights Resolution. The South Korean government will participate as a co-sponsor for the first time in five years. During the Moon Jae-in administration, South Korea refrained from co-sponsoring the resolution for four consecutive years from 2019 to last year, citing the 'special nature of inter-Korean relations' as a reason.

Kim and others pointed out that the phrase 'expressing concern over ongoing human rights violations against unreturned prisoners of war and their descendants' has been repeated unchanged since the March 2021 resolution. They demanded that human rights violations by North Korean authorities be specified as 'forced labor and enslavement, torture, detention, enforced disappearance, execution, discrimination based on the songbun system, and forced separation of families.'

In particular, regarding six South Korean detainees including missionary Kim Guk-gi, they highlighted the absence of any mention of the 'nationality of detainees' and insisted that it be explicitly stated as 'Republic of Korea nationals,' and that the names of the detainees be specifically mentioned. In the past, the United Nations Human Rights Council directly mentioned Aung San Suu Kyi by name in resolutions such as the June 2020 resolution, appealing for her immediate release from detention.

An excerpt from a letter sent in February this year by Kim Jeong-sam, the elder brother of missionary Kim Jeong-uk who is detained in North Korea, to Elizabeth Salm?n, the UN Special Rapporteur on North Korean Human Rights

However, with the session ending in one day, it is realistically difficult to expect any amendments to the text. Nevertheless, Kim and the organizations hold the position that the wording should be revised at the United Nations General Assembly scheduled for the end of the year.

Additionally, the organizations that signed the letter requested that the government disclose the number of South Korean prisoners of war whose identities are being verified and the number of their family members who have defected and entered South Korea, and report this to the United Nations. According to data last released by the government in August 2007, as of that time, there were 560 surviving South Korean prisoners of war, 910 deceased, and 300 missing.

Shin Hee-seok, a legal analyst at the Transitional Justice Working Group, said, "If the language regarding South Korean prisoners of war and detainees is strengthened in the North Korean Human Rights Resolution, it will signal to the international community that the serious human rights violations by North Korea, which have been systematic and widespread over a long period, are not forgotten." He urged the government to consult with families of prisoners of war and detainees, as well as North Korean human rights NGOs, before submitting the resolution, as other countries do.

Meanwhile, Kim Jeong-sam’s younger brother, missionary Kim Jeong-uk, was arrested in North Korea in October 2013 on charges of espionage while conducting missionary activities near the North Korea-China border. In February 2014, Kim held a press conference in Pyongyang where he stated that he was detained in North Korea on charges of anti-state crimes and apologized for his actions. North Korean authorities reportedly sentenced him to life labor reform on charges of plotting to overthrow the state, but his current status remains unknown.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.