Ex-U.N. chief Ban lauds S. Korea’s co-sponsorship of N. Korea human rights resolution
Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks during an international conference on North Korean Human Rights and Responsibility to Protect, held in central Seoul on Friday. Photo by Yonhap
Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday lauded South Korea’s co-sponsorship of this year’s U.N. resolution condemning human rights violations in North Korea.
Ban made the remarks in his keynote speech to an international conference on North Korean human rights held in Seoul, after the U.N. General Assembly’s Third Committee adopted a resolution against North Korea’s human rights abuses last week in New York.
A total of 61 countries co-sponsored the annually adopted resolution, including South Korea under the liberal Lee government, which has been making overtures to resume dialogue with North Korea.
The move marks a departure from the former liberal Moon Jae-in administration, which withheld its support for the resolution from 2019 to 2021.
The resolution will be reviewed at the upcoming General Assembly plenary session next month for final adoption.
“It is noteworthy,” Ban said of the action. “(It) would be viewed as the new Korean government’s recognition that North Korean human rights issues constitute one of the universal values.”
Ban pointed to “a lack of coherence” in South Korea’s approach to North Korean human rights issues, depending on changes of government between the conservative and progressive blocs, as he delved into obstacles to addressing the issue.
Political deadlock between the two major parties has also left the North Korean Human Rights Foundation, an organization intended to promote research and activities on North Korean human rights and envisioned under the 2016 North Korea human rights law, still unlaunched, he said.
“North Korea’s human rights situation remains grim for long-suffering North Koreans, while Pyongyang’s spending continues to expand,” he noted, urging the international community not to overlook the issue.
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