By Seo Dong-shin
Staff Reporter


Politicians and the public in South Korea are deeply split over Seoul’s abstention from voting on the resolution on North Korea’s human rights situation at the United Nations.

The resolution passed the U.N. social and humanitarian committee Thursday with 84 in favor, 22 against and 62 abstentions. It will be sent to a plenary session of the U.N. General Assembly, which normally accepts the vote of the panel.

The resolution, presented by the European Union (EU), calls on the Stalinist North to stop alleged human rights abuses.

Explaining Seoul’s stance on the issue in New York, Shin Kak-soo, South Korean delegate to the U.N., said that South Korea shares the concerns of the international community, but it has other policy objectives toward the North that are vital for peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.

In Seoul, the largest opposition Grand National Party (GNP) Friday issued a statement strongly denouncing the government for abstaining from the vote.

The conservative GNP said it left a ``humiliating stain in the nation’s history’’ by turning back on the universal value of mankind and human rights of the Korean people in the North.

Rep. Kim Moon-soo of the GNP, who spearheads the drive to publicize the human rights situation in the North, criticized the government for pandering to the hereditary dictatorship of Kim Joing-il and lamented South Korea’s abandonment of its duty to protect human rights.

Last month, the GNP submitted a resolution to the National Assembly calling on the government to vote for the U.N. resolution. But the ruling Uri Party opposed the move, and the GNP’s resolution could not be tabled at an Assembly panel.

Ruling party lawmakers interpreted the passage of the U.N. resolution on North Korean human rights conditions differently, noting that the voting result was evenly split between those in favor and those against or abstaining, by 84 to 84.

``It has a significant meaning,’’ said Rep. Choi Sung of the ruling party. ``It doesn’t mean North Korea doesn’t have human rights problems, but it reflects the international community’s understanding that the issue must be dealt with cautiously.’’

Rep. Im Jong-seok of the ruling party said the government’s decision to abstain was appropriate as South Korea’s top priority is to peacefully resolve the North Korean nuclear issue and ensure peace on the Korean Peninsula.

``In the past, the international community started with security guarantees or massive economic cooperation when it took issue with human rights conditions in Eastern Europe,’’ Im said. ``It seems a little unfair for the international community to raise the North Korean issue without similar efforts.’’

The second largest opposition Democratic Party took the side of the ruling party, while the progressive Democratic Labor Party (DLP) went a step further to question the political intentions and effect of the U.N. resolution. ``We doubt it will do any good in terms of practical improvements in human rights conditions in the North,’’ the DLP said in a statement.

Civic groups and South Korean public also appeared split over the issue at large. Hundreds of messages filled up Internet boards on major Web portals with heated debate on the passage of the U.N. resolution.

``South Korea should have expressed opposition to the resolution,’’ wrote one with the ID ``oevent’’ on Naver. ``They are trying to interfere with a sovereign nation. It’s ridiculous to talk about North Korea’s human rights conditions when they attack and kill Iraqi people as they wish.’’

Another Internet user with ID ``nk9340,’’ however, criticized the government for abstaining. ``We have appreciated foreign countries’ assistance in the human rights situation in South Korea during previous authoritarian governments,’’ the message read. ``And now the cowardly Roh Moo-hyun administration turns its back on the human rights problems of the North.’’

North Korea, meanwhile, has been rapping the U.S. and the EU for political agendas behind the U.N. resolution, which accuses the communist country of human rights violations such as torture, public execution, and forced labor.

Kim Chang-guk, North Korea’s envoy to the U.N., said the resolution was based on ``fabrications and distortions all concocted by the U.S., Japan and certain EU countries,’’ according to AFP.

saltwall@koreatimes.co.kr