Hwang Jun-guk, UN Ambassador: "Funding for North Korea's ICBM Launches Results from Human Rights Exploitation... Security Council Agenda"

"For us, North Korean human rights issues are simultaneously security issues." On the 14th (local time), Ambassador Hwang Jun-guk, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, announced that the international community will officially place North Korean human rights issues on the agenda at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) level so that the world can face the reality of North Korea.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the same day, Ambassador Hwang told reporters at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the UN in Manhattan, New York, in response to some claims that North Korean human rights violations are not a subject of discussion at the UNSC, "That is not true." Earlier, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the UN, held a brief press conference at the UN Headquarters on the 10th and stated that the US, along with South Korea, Japan, and others, has requested a Security Council meeting to address North Korean human rights issues. Ambassador Hwang also attended that press conference.

Ambassador Hwang said, "In the past year and a half, North Korea has conducted 12 ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) tests that no other country except the world's five major powers could even imagine," and asked rhetorically, "Where do you think the funds for this came from?" He explained that behind North Korea's ability to develop such costly weapons lies severe human rights violations, including cutting off funds from vulnerable groups and forcing them into labor. Forced labor in political prison camps and exploitation of income from tens of thousands of overseas dispatched workers are also cited as such human rights abuses.

Ambassador Hwang stated, "North Korean human rights issues and North Korea's nuclear weapons are directly connected," and argued, "China and Russia have recently been propagandizing that North Korea's weapons development is in response to South Korea-US military exercises, but the international community must face the reality and inform the Security Council about how North Korea violates human rights." He also pointed out, "While the international community has not criticized North Korean human rights, the severity has not improved at all," adding, "It is understood to have worsened significantly through the pandemic."

The proposal to address North Korean human rights issues at the Security Council became possible this month as the United States assumed the rotating presidency. However, even if the Security Council formally discusses North Korean human rights issues, it is difficult to expect tangible outcomes, especially given anticipated opposition from China and Russia. Ambassador Hwang acknowledged that producing results is practically difficult but said, "Raising awareness of the reality of North Korea and encouraging many countries to join in condemnation is almost the only way we can improve North Korean human rights under the current circumstances." For an official meeting to be held, a vote on the 17th requires at least nine out of the 15 Security Council members to vote in favor.

Previously, the Security Council held North Korean human rights meetings for four consecutive years from 2014 to 2017. However, after the meeting in December 2017, no meetings have been held since 2018.

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