ID :
58064
Wed, 04/29/2009 - 04:06
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/58064
The shortlink copeid
Royce urges Obama not to sacrifice human rights for six-party talks progress By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, April 28 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. congressman Tuesday cautioned against the Barack Obama administration sidestepping human rights violations in North Korea to coax the North into abandoning its nuclear ambitions.
"Unfortunately, we will continue to face opposition as we try to put North
Korea's human rights on the international agenda," Representative Ed Royce (R-CA)
said. "There are those who will ask why we should focus on human rights abuses
when the nuclear issue should be the priority. Others, including some South
Koreans, are resentful of our efforts."
Royce, a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and co-chairman of the
Korea Caucus, made the remarks in a statement issued on the occasion of the North
Korean Freedom Week Rally held here.
In its annual Human Rights Report released in February, the U.S. State Department
described North Korea as "a dictatorship under the absolute rule of Kim Jong-il"
where citizens are subjected to arbitrary detention, executions and
disappearances without due judicial process.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, stirred controversy during an
Asian tour in February by saying that human rights violations should not serve as
a hurdle to improvements in relations with China.
Human rights activists have accused Clinton of being naive, saying only continued
pressure on North Korea and China will help improve human rights there.
The previous Bush administration had also been accused of failing to raise human
rights issues in six-party nuclear disarmament talks so as not to divert
attention from the North's denuclearization.
Wrapping up his four-year tenure as U.S. special envoy for human rights in North
Korea, Jay Lefkowitz urged the Obama administration in January 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.
"While I know full-well of the dangers of a nuclear North Korea, such wanton
disregard for human rights will not get us the North Korea that North Koreans
deserve," Royce said. "And ultimately, a North Korea that respects human rights
is a far less threatening country."
He said he noticed North Korean soldiers, who are much smaller than their South
Korean counterparts due to malnutrition, in the demilitarized zone separating the
two Koreas for the past six decades, claiming more than 2 million North Koreans
were starved to death in the 1990s and nearly half of all North Korean children
are malnourished.
"As you know, we face a tremendous humanitarian challenge on the Korean
Peninsula," he said. "It is one, I am afraid, that the international community
has been far too relaxed about. Really, ignored."
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
"Unfortunately, we will continue to face opposition as we try to put North
Korea's human rights on the international agenda," Representative Ed Royce (R-CA)
said. "There are those who will ask why we should focus on human rights abuses
when the nuclear issue should be the priority. Others, including some South
Koreans, are resentful of our efforts."
Royce, a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and co-chairman of the
Korea Caucus, made the remarks in a statement issued on the occasion of the North
Korean Freedom Week Rally held here.
In its annual Human Rights Report released in February, the U.S. State Department
described North Korea as "a dictatorship under the absolute rule of Kim Jong-il"
where citizens are subjected to arbitrary detention, executions and
disappearances without due judicial process.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, however, stirred controversy during an
Asian tour in February by saying that human rights violations should not serve as
a hurdle to improvements in relations with China.
Human rights activists have accused Clinton of being naive, saying only continued
pressure on North Korea and China will help improve human rights there.
The previous Bush administration had also been accused of failing to raise human
rights issues in six-party nuclear disarmament talks so as not to divert
attention from the North's denuclearization.
Wrapping up his four-year tenure as U.S. special envoy for human rights in North
Korea, Jay Lefkowitz urged the Obama administration in January 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.
"While I know full-well of the dangers of a nuclear North Korea, such wanton
disregard for human rights will not get us the North Korea that North Koreans
deserve," Royce said. "And ultimately, a North Korea that respects human rights
is a far less threatening country."
He said he noticed North Korean soldiers, who are much smaller than their South
Korean counterparts due to malnutrition, in the demilitarized zone separating the
two Koreas for the past six decades, claiming more than 2 million North Koreans
were starved to death in the 1990s and nearly half of all North Korean children
are malnourished.
"As you know, we face a tremendous humanitarian challenge on the Korean
Peninsula," he said. "It is one, I am afraid, that the international community
has been far too relaxed about. Really, ignored."
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
