U.S. depicts N. Korea as dictatorship with continued human rights abuses

By Hwang Doo-hyong

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 (Yonhap) -- The United States Wednesday described North Korea as a "dictatorship" where citizens are subjected to arbitrary detention, executions and disappearances without due judicial process.

In its 2008 Human Rights Report, the State Department also cited discrimination
in South Korea against women, minorities and people with disabilities.
The volley at North Korea came a week after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton accused the regime of "tyranny" while traveling to Seoul as part of her
four-nation Asian tour, her first overseas trip as top U.S. diplomat.
"The government's human rights record remained poor, and the regime continued to
commit numerous serious abuses," the report said. "The regime subjected citizens
to rigid controls over many aspects of their lives. Citizens did not have the
right to change their government. There continued to be reports of extrajudicial
killings, disappearances, arbitrary detention, and political prisoners."
The report described North Korea as "a dictatorship under the absolute rule of
Kim Jong-il, general secretary of the Korean Workers' Party and chairman of the
National Defense Commission."
"Prison conditions were harsh and life threatening, and torture occurred," the
report said. "Pregnant female prisoners underwent forced abortions in some cases,
and in other cases babies were killed upon birth in prisons."
The report also cited a lack of freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association,
religion, citizens' movement and worker rights.
While traveling in Asia, Clinton stirred controversy by saying that human rights
violations should not serve as a hurdle to improvements in relations with China,
and that Beijing is well aware of Washington's position on human rights issues in
the communist giant.
Human rights activists have accused Clinton of being naive, saying only continued
pressure on China and North Korea will help improve human rights there.
The previous Bush administration was accused of failing to raise human rights
issues in the six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions in order
not to divert attention from the North's denuclearization.
Wrapping up his four-year tenure as the U.S. special envoy for human rights in
North Korea, Jay Lefkowitz urged the Obama administration last month to emphasize
human rights in the multilateral nuclear talks, proposing that the U.S. and its
allies cooperate closely to link any aid with human rights improvements.
Clinton also broke a diplomatic taboo by expressing concerns that uncertainties
involving a possible power transition in North Korea adversely affect regional
security.
In an apparent response to Clinton's controversial remarks on North Korea's
transition, Won Sei-hoon, head of South Korea's top intelligence agency, said
earlier in the day that another dynastic power transition might be possible as
there appears not to be strong resistance from the North's power elite, although
any successor to Kim should have limited control due to a lack of time to
consolidate his power.
China has been under criticism for repatriating North Korean refugees under a
secret agreement with North Korea, while recognizing North Korean defectors as
economic immigrants rather than refugees.
"There continued to be reports of severe punishment of some repatriated
refugees," the report said. "There were widespread reports of trafficking in
women and girls among refugees and workers crossing the border into China."
Most North Korean defectors cross the border with China to seek shelter, mostly
in South Korea, which has received more than 15,000 North Korean defectors since
the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The U.S. has also taken about 70 North Korean
refugees since the North Korean Human Rights Act was enacted years ago to help
promote democracy in North Korea.
Turning to South Korea, the report said, "The government generally respected the
human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. Women,
persons with disabilities, and minorities continued to face societal
discrimination. Rape, domestic violence, child abuse, and trafficking in persons
remained serious problems."
The report saw no problems in South Korea's press freedom even as South Korea's
liberal media and progressive forces have accused the conservative Lee Myung-bak
government of trying to control the media.
"The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government
generally respected these rights in practice," it said. "An independent press, an
effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combined to
ensure freedom of speech and of the press."
However, the report noted that under the National Security Law the government may
limit the expression of ideas that authorities consider Communist or pro-DPRK.
The law is a Cold War legacy that bans South Koreans from traveling and
communicating freely with the communist North, with which South Korea is
technically at war.
The report also cited no "politically motivated disappearances" in South Korea,
although such cases were reported occasionally in the 1970s and '80s under
authoritarian rule.
South Korea also did not have any problem regarding political freedom and law
enforcement, according to the report.
"Both the majority and the various minority political parties operated without
restriction or outside interference," it said. "The law prohibits mistreatment of
suspects, and officials generally observed this prohibition in practice."