I’m Glad Orwell Didn’t Live to See This

I’ve finally brought myself to say something about the South Korean left’s A.N.S.W.E.R. to human rights activism for North Korea. The central plank of the platform is opposing human rights:

Speaking at the National Human Rights Commission-sponsored “North Korean Human Rights Symposium,” held on Dec. 1 at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Food First Economic and Social Human Rights Program Coordinator Christine Ahn said, “The current discussion on North Korean human rights is completely focused on the narrow scope of political repression . . . We must focus on North Koreans’ right to food, health and dignity. . . . In order to debate about North Korean human rights, I want to first stress three points . . . . We must go beyond political freedom to include economic and social rights; we must discuss human rights based on history and facts; and we must prepare not war or sanctions, but a peaceful and inclusive base to improve human rights.”

So there you have it. The agenda of South Korea’s National Human Rights Commission is to tamp down those pesky aspirations for human rights, as well as to persuade us that war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is bliss, isolation is the road to unification, repression is the road to reform, and all 535 (elected) members of the U.S. Congress are hawks and dues-paying members of the Christian coalition.

Ted Kennedy, Joe Lieberman, Jim McDermott, Bernie Sanders, and Nancy Pelosi were not available for comment.

Meanwhile, as the Sunshine Policy entered its eighth year, North Koreans very discreetly inquired about the status of the “food, health, and dignity” reportedly promised them by a visiting South Korean peace activist.

You need to believe in an afterlife to have that kind of patience.