(LEAD) U.S. urges N. Korea to improve human rights record

(ATTN: COMBINES story slugged Congressman-NK rights; ADDS U.N. special rapporteur's
remarks, other deatils throughout)
By Hwang Doo-hyong

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Yonhap) -- The United States Tuesday expressed concerns
about human rights conditions inside North Korea, urging the reclusive communist
state to improve its record.
"We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in North Korea,"
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said. "We will continue to press North
Korea to improve its human rights record."
Wood's remarks coincide with the observance of North Korea Freedom Week.
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.
In a show of the U.S. government's resolve to address North Korea's human rights
situation, Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea, met
with a delegation of North Korean defectors and advocacy organizations on April
27 at the State Department, Wood said.
Bosworth also met with Japanese abductee advocacy organizations and family
members, he added.
The spokesman said that the U.S. "wholeheartedly supports Japan's position on the
abductee issue," adding, "We have not forgotten and will never forget the
suffering of the abductees and their families. We strongly urge the DPRK to
address Japan's concerns without further delay."
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official
name.
Japan has refused to provide its portion of heavy fuel oil, amounting to 200,000
tons, promised to the North in an aid for denuclearization deal signed in 2007,
citing what it called an insufficient explanation from North Korea about Japanese
citizens kidnapped decades ago for the training of North Korean spies.
North Korea returned five of 13 abductees, and claims the rest are dead, while
Japan insists several more are still alive in the North.
Representative Ed Royce (R-CA), meanwhile, 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," said Royce, a senior member of
the Foreign Affairs Committee, in a statement. "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."
"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."
In a related move, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, Vitit
Muntabhorn, told a forum here that Pyongyang should allow him entry into North
Korea so he can "take stock of the situation and recommend needed actions."
Muntabhorn has never been to North Korea, although he has worked for years to
address North Korea's human rights situation under the U.N. mandate.
The rapporteur suggested that the international community make efforts to "ensure
effective provision of and access to food and other basic necessities" and that
North Korea "seek to modernize its national system by instituting reforms to
ensure greater participation of the people in the process and compliance with
international human rights standards."
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)