NK human rights bill stuck in parliament for one year

While the human rights situation in North Korea has worsened amid economic turmoil and political oppression, a South Korean bill promoting human rights in the North has been stuck in the National Assembly for more than a year.

The parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, trade and reunification passed the bill on Feb. 11 last year despite a boycott by lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party. Combining four related proposals made by different lawmakers, the bill urges the setup of a North Korean human rights foundation and an archive for documents on the matter; expansion of private-sector assistance to the North; appointment of an envoy for North Korean human rights; improved transparency in humanitarian assistance to the North; and basic plans for promoting human rights there every three years.

The National Assembly’s legislation and judiciary committee, however, has deliberated on the bill just once (April 11 last year) since it handed over the proposal. It is unclear when the bill be passed on to the main session.

The ruling Grand National Party is seeking to enact the bill as quickly as possible but the Democratic Party is opposed, saying the bill is ineffective and will delay improving human rights in the North by provoking the communist regime. The bill was not even included in the agenda for this month’s extraordinary session of the National Assembly.

The delay in the bill’s passage is holding off assistance to the North from South Korean civic groups. Seoul’s assistance to those groups amounts to a few tens of thousands of U.S. dollars. The groups’ major source of income is 2.5 million to 3 million dollars’ worth of assistance from the U.S. State Department.

Such financial support, however, has been removed from the U.S. government’s budget for 2012 due to budget cuts. If the bill is passed, Seoul can allocate about 10 billion won (9 million dollars) for the proposed human rights foundation, which then can use part of the funds to support civic groups.

Going nowhere, however, is the proposed archive for records on the North’s human rights for use in civil and criminal lawsuits against Pyongyang’s human rights abuses after reunification. An official at the South Korean Unification Ministry said, “The mere existence of the archive would pressure the North Korean regime to reduce its crimes against humanity.”