(2nd LD) N. Korea asserts human rights in new constitution

(ATTN: UPDATES with reference to human rights, expert's view; RESTRUCTURES
throughout; CHANGES headline)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Yonap) -- North Korea's new constitution says that its regime
"respects and protects" the human rights of its citizens, a claim experts say
reflects a change in Pyongyang's tactic in dealing with the international
community's unrelenting condemnation of its human rights abuses.

Article 8 of the constitution, revised in April and obtained by Yonhap News
Agency on Monday, says, "The State respects and protects the human rights of the
workers, peasants and working intellectuals who have been freed from exploitation
and oppression and have become masters of the State and society."
The earlier vision adopted in 1998 only stated that the North "defends and
protects" their "interests."
Pundits here said North Korea seems taking a preemptive step to counter the
world's criticism of its human rights record.
"North Korea has been largely on the defensive so far. Now, it appears to be
attempting to show to the world that it is trying to address the human rights
issue in a preemptive manner," Kim Yong-hyun, professor of North Korea studies at
Dongguk University in Seoul said.
North Korean officials are well aware that the issue will be raised formally in
the course of negotiating with the U.S. on ending its nuclear program and
normalizing bilateral relations, he added.
Last week, the Obama administration named Robert King, a former aide to the late
Rep. Tom Lantos (D-California), as its special envoy for North Korean human
rights. U.S. Democrats have traditionally demanded that Washington include
Pyongyang's human rights issue in the denuclearization negotiations.
"In a longer term, the new constitution, although it may be nominal, may signal
the possibility that North Korea will make gradual efforts to improve its human
rights situation," Kim added.
He also noted several other articles in the constitution that describe the
North's leader Kim Jong-il as the country's "supreme leader" and articulate his
role and authority.
Article 100 says, "The chairman of the National Defense Commission (NDC) is the
supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)." Kim
currently serves as the head of the commission.
Kim is arguably the most powerful figure in the reclusive communist nation, but
it is the first time the North's constitution has stipulated it.
In articles that were not included in the previous version, the revised
constitution also says the chairman of the NDC "oversees the entire national
business, appoints and dismisses major figures in the military sector, and also
ratifies or abolishes important treaties with foreign nations." It says the NDC
head, whose tenure is the same as that of the Supreme People's Assembly, the
North's parliament, "gives order" and declares the state of emergency or war.
"This part is the core of the new constitution, which is intended to stabilize
and institutionalize the power of the NDC," Kim said. "At the same time, it is
telling the U.S. and other countries that Kim Jong-il is the very person who is
authorized to be your dialogue partner."
Reports have swirled that Kim is suffering from poor health and is also preparing
to hand over the throne to his third and youngest son Jong-un.
The constitution also places more weight on Kim's "songun (military-first)"
policy and his support for socialism replacing communism advocated by his late
father Kim Il-sung, who founded North Korea.
Article 3 stipulates that North Korea "is guided in its activities by the songun
ideology and the Juche (self-reliance) idea, a world outlook centered on people
and a revolutionary ideology for achieving the independence of the masses of
people." There was no reference to songun in the previous version.
The 1998 constitution said, "Socialism and Communism are built by the creative
labor of the working masses. In the DPRK, labor is an independent and creative
work of the working masses, who have been freed from exploitation and
suppression."
The new constitution dropped the use of the term "communism" altogether.
South Korean officials said they were still analyzing the changes in the North's
constitution, while a North Korean official said that it is based on Kim
Jong-il's will to bolster socialism in his nation.
Kim said recently that he will "work on socialism in earnest," while
characterizing communism as "hard to fulfill," the unidentified official was
quoted as telling South Korean pool reporters covering reunions of separated
families at the North's Mount Kumgang resort. The pool report did not identify
the official who was described as being involved in the reunion events.
When asked to elaborate, the North Korean official explained, "Communism is meant
to have a one-class society which does not distinguish the class that exploits
from the one that is exploited. But it is hard for the system to exist as long as
American imperialism persists."
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)