ID :
105697
Wed, 02/10/2010 - 09:21
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/105697
The shortlink copeid
Parliament to review long-stalled N.K. human rights bill
By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean parliamentary committee is scheduled to review a long-stalled bill aimed at improving human rights conditions in North Korea, officials said Wednesday.
The bill calls for setting up a government body dedicated to the issue of North
Korean human rights and providing support for nongovernmental organizations
working to improve the situation.
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) plans to present the bill before
parliament's foreign affairs committee on Thursday, officials at the committee's
secretariat said.
North Korea has long been labeled as one of the worst human rights violators in
the world. The totalitarian regime does not tolerate dissent and holds hundreds
of thousands of people in political prison camps across the nation.
Pyongyang has bristled at any talk of its human rights conditions, calling it an
attempt to overthrow the regime.
A similar bill was raised in the previous 17th National Assembly, but failed to
win approval as the then-ruling Uri Party opposed the bill over concerns that it
could anger the communist neighbor.
The GNP plans to push the motion during Thursday's meeting to move it forward for
a plenary vote.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP), which has opposed similar bills, is
not expected to use force to block this one during Thursday's meeting, as the
party has pointed out problems with the North's human rights conditions in its
latest policy roadmap released Sunday.
"I don't oppose improving North Korea's human rights conditions, but I oppose the
bill as it is political propaganda rather than practically improving the
situation," Rep. Song Min-soon of the Democratic Party, also a former foreign
minister, told Yonhap News.
Kim Choong-whan, the senior GNP member of the foreign affairs committee, said
that the "bill is one of the priorities that should be dealt with swiftly during
parliament's February extra session." But he noted that it should undergo
sufficient deliberation between parties.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean parliamentary committee is scheduled to review a long-stalled bill aimed at improving human rights conditions in North Korea, officials said Wednesday.
The bill calls for setting up a government body dedicated to the issue of North
Korean human rights and providing support for nongovernmental organizations
working to improve the situation.
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) plans to present the bill before
parliament's foreign affairs committee on Thursday, officials at the committee's
secretariat said.
North Korea has long been labeled as one of the worst human rights violators in
the world. The totalitarian regime does not tolerate dissent and holds hundreds
of thousands of people in political prison camps across the nation.
Pyongyang has bristled at any talk of its human rights conditions, calling it an
attempt to overthrow the regime.
A similar bill was raised in the previous 17th National Assembly, but failed to
win approval as the then-ruling Uri Party opposed the bill over concerns that it
could anger the communist neighbor.
The GNP plans to push the motion during Thursday's meeting to move it forward for
a plenary vote.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP), which has opposed similar bills, is
not expected to use force to block this one during Thursday's meeting, as the
party has pointed out problems with the North's human rights conditions in its
latest policy roadmap released Sunday.
"I don't oppose improving North Korea's human rights conditions, but I oppose the
bill as it is political propaganda rather than practically improving the
situation," Rep. Song Min-soon of the Democratic Party, also a former foreign
minister, told Yonhap News.
Kim Choong-whan, the senior GNP member of the foreign affairs committee, said
that the "bill is one of the priorities that should be dealt with swiftly during
parliament's February extra session." But he noted that it should undergo
sufficient deliberation between parties.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)
