Seoul Summit: ‘We are not a bunch of pacifists and appeasers.’

(by guest blogger Andy Jackson)

This a part of a series of posts on the Seoul Summit: Promoting Human Rights in North Korea and related events.

The portions in the blockquote were taken from my notes. I apologize for any inaccuracies.

Chung Eui-young is the Chairman of the Our Open (Uri) party’s Foreign Relations committee. He is serving his first term as a proportional representative member of the National Assembly (which means that he doesn’t have any constituents). He is also a relative dinosaur in that he doesn’t have a homepage listed on his Assembly profile.

Chung gave his remarks in English during the first session of the Seoul Summit on December 9, 2005.

I am not only here to defend the OOP and the government. I am also here to listen to views on how we can improve human rights in North Korea.

I think that the issue of human rights should be seen in a wider view. We believe that there are five principles that we should remember in our dealings with the North

1. The ideological struggle between North Korea and South Korea is over. We know which system is better. [NOTE: Has anyone told Kim Jong-il or Bruce Cumings?]

2. A unified Korea should be based on human rights, democracy and free markets.

3. Another military conflict cannot be allowed for any reason. We thank our allies, especially the United States, for keeping (enforcing?) the peace in Korea. Preventing war requires massive efforts, as North Korea still does not know how to deal with its neighbors.

4. We should not coerce any system on North Korea but help find their own way. We should not force Chinese-style reforms. North Korea can develop. The Gaeseong Industrial Complex is an example of that. We expect that eventually up to 2,000 Korean companies will provide hundreds of thousands of jobs in North Korea. “We are not a bunch of pacifists and appeasers. But we need to look at broader issues.

5. Korea and North Korea should be the leaders on inter-Korean issues. Other parties should reconfigure their (interests, views?) to aid inter-Korean relations.

Human rights are universal values that apply to all countries, including North Korea, South Korea, the United States and Japan. We believe that the issue of human rights in North Korea is important. Using only rhetoric can be a problem. “We can speak up (on human rights) but we should not provoke too much.

We have several priorities. First, we want to help the North Korean people improve their conditions. The right to food is the most important right. We must relieve their hardships. Second, we must help North Korean refugees. Chinese government policy is a problem. Adjusting North Koreans to life in South Korea is another problem. Third is family reunions. Fourth, we must try to raise human rights in North Korea to global standards.

QUESTIONS
Q: Why do you think addressing North Korean human rights would be counterproductive?

A: Our approach would be more effective. We think that we can achieve our goals in a more peaceful and orderly manner by engaging North Korea in dialog. It has been successful. Changes in North Korea are enormous. We are making progress.

Q: You say the Sunshine policy has made changes in North Korea and I have seen some. But South Korean government instillations have built barriers to keep North Korea people out. Why?

A; I understand your disappointment but the foreign missions’ barbed wire was set up by the Chinese. We cannot control the situation. We have to persuade the Chinese government on the issue. We have been trying out best to bring North Korean defectors to Korea. There are 100 defectors waiting in one consulate in difficult conditions to get to Korea.

I find several problems with the government’s views as expressed by Jung, but the most glaring are a couple of internal contradictions. Unless you believe that the Kim Jong-il regime will voluntarily give up power, they will not voluntarily agree to unification under a system of democracy and free markets. As I have said before, states do not give up power voluntarily. Also, if human rights are universal values as Chung claims, then their denial by the Kim Jong-il regime is not an “˜internal’ matter for the two Koreas but one of concern for all of North Korea’s neighbors as well as the rest of the human community.

I am not yet sure that the Seoul Summit was a tipping point in the struggle for human rights in North Korea, but it has certainly helped move the debate in the right direction. The government and its allies, once confident that they represented a more enlightened policy towards the Kim Jong-il regime, are sounding increasingly defensive (to the point of being shrill). Until the 2007 elections, increased pressure on the South Korean government (from both the Korean public and the international community) is the only hope of putting human rights on the front burner its dealings with Kim Jong-il.