Luncheon Remarks
by H.E. Cho Tae-yul
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Republic of Korea
at the Seoul Dialogue for Human Rights

November 11, 2015
Chosun Hotel, Seoul

H.E. Jose Ramos-Horta, former President of East Timor,
Professor Lee Jung-Hoon, Director of Yonsei Center for Human Liberty,
Honorable Michael Kirby, former Chair of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Human Rights in the DPRK and other former members of the Commission,
Ambassador Robert King, U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights issues,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is indeed my great pleasure to address the Seoul Dialogue for Human Rights and say a few words of welcome to all the distinguished participants. I would like to express my deep appreciation to the Yonsei Center for Human Liberty, National Human Rights Commission of Korea, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), and the International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK) for jointly organizing this meaningful event.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of Korea’s independence. Regrettably, however, the current reality of the Korean Peninsula is a far cry from the homeland that our parents and grandparents envisioned with tears of overwhelming joy seventy years ago. Amid the ravages of a war after the division of the country, the families that separated across the North and the South have been living a long life of agony, not even knowing whether their loved ones are alive or dead.

The story of an old lady who has been waiting sixty-five years for her husband, who went out to the battlefield only seven months after their wedding, with her son who has never seen his father; the story of a ninety-eight-year-old man who brought flower shoes to his daughters, who are now in their eighties, to keep his promise when they separated. These are not scenes from a movie or a novel. They are real stories that happened during the 20th reunion of separated families of North and South Korea that took place this past October. What is even more heartbreaking is that more than 3,000 Koreans having applied for a meeting with their separated families have been passing away every year, with no chance to confirm whether their beloved ones are dead or not.

The tragedy of the Korean Peninsula is not confined to the separated families. People living in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula are leading difficult lives, being deprived of even their most fundamental human rights such as the freedom of expression. According to the testimonies of North Korean refugees and many other sources of information including human rights watchers, countless tortures, executions and arbitrary detentions are committed, and people disappear overnight to political prison camps without due judicial process. Moreover, innocent citizens are subject to all kinds of discrimination for the mere reasons of their ‘songbun’, an inhumane social classification system.

And even as I speak, a number of North Koreans are risking their lives to cross the border in search of freedom and happiness. A girl, who escaped North Korea when she was thirteen years old, testified, “I made another dangerous escape across the Gobi Desert into Mongolia. It was a freezing cold black night, and we couldn’t use our compass. So we followed the stars north, walking and crawling to freedom.” Another woman, who defected from North Korea when she was twenty one years old to get out of famine, recounted that she fell into human trafficking twice and suffered from forced labor for nine years, and after wandering around in a frozen mountain under minus ten degrees Celsius was able to finally put her foot on the land of freedom.

It is against such heart-wrenching stories that the spirit of the Magna Carta -- the theme of today’s meeting -- holds greater meaning for us today. “No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned, or in any other way destroyed, except by the lawful judgment of his peers.” This passage from the Magna Carta refers to the importance of placing limits on the power of rulers and of the rule of law, but it is also a solemn declaration for human rights and human dignity.

At all critical times in world history, the Magna Carta has been a beacon of hope, enlightening about the rule of law, human rights and the values of democracy. The Magna Carta not only contributed to the declaration of England’s Petition of Rights of 1628 and Bill of Rights of 1689, which became the cornerstone for the development of representative and constitutional democracy, but the spirit also lives on in the U.S. Declaration of Independence of 1774, as well as Korea’s Declaration of Independence of 1919 and its constitution.

As such, over the last eight centuries, the Magna Carta has been serving as a compass for democracy in all corners of the globe. Regrettably, however, North Korea lost its way in this long march towards democracy. The North Star that lightened the way forward for the girl who escaped from North Korea I mentioned earlier is no other than the Magna Carta that is engraved in the hearts of all our North Korean compatriots -- the light of hope for freedom and human rights.

Thanks to the bravery of the North Korean refugees such as this young girl who courageously broke the imposed silence to give testimony about their painful past, the international community took a meaningful step forward last year in resolving the North Korean human rights problems. The case in point is the report of the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Human Rights in the DPRK which was released in February 2014.

The Commission of Inquiry established by the UN Human Rights Council conducted an objective and independent study and concluded that there were “systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations” in North Korea and many of them constituted “crimes against humanity”. The Commission then sent out a strong message to the international community calling for fundamental reforms in North Korea. It was also thanks to the COI report that the international community went further to highlight the importance of accountability, going beyond simply voicing concerns and condemnations on human rights situation in North Korea.

Following the announcement of the COI report, the international community moved resolutely and swiftly. The Human Rights Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted resolutions reflecting the strong recommendations of the Commission, following which the UN Security Council took an exceptional measure to adopt the human rights situation in the DPRK as its formal agenda and decided to remain seized of the issue. And, last June, the office of the OHCHR was established in Seoul as its field-based structure tasked with following up on the work of the Commission.

North Korea, which previously had not taken heed to any of the condemnations and criticisms by the international community, vehemently reacted to the Commission’s report and the ensuing actions of the international community. North Korea took the unprecedented steps of actively participating in the Human Rights Council and other human rights mechanisms in the UN, and, for the first time in history, the Foreign Minister of the DPRK attended the Human Rights Council last March. Most recently, North Korea extended an invitation to Stavros Lambrinidis, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, and Prince Zeid, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to visit North Korea.

Although we have yet to witness substantial change in human rights situation in North Korea, it is noteworthy that North Korea has started to react to the moves by the international community. In order for these reactions by North Korea since the release of the COI report to lead to the substantial improvement of the human rights situation in the North, the international community should continuously be engaged with a united front.

It is for this reason that, taking this opportunity, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the former Chair of the Commission of Inquiry Michael Kirby, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the DPRK Marzuki Darusman and former member of the Commission Sonja Biserko, not only for their contribution to disclosing the whole truth of the human rights situation in North Korea, but also for their continued efforts to resolve this issue even after completing their mandate as members of the Commission. My special thanks also go to Ambassador King for his contribution towards the resolution of North Korean human rights issues.

Distinguished Guests,

The Government of the Republic of Korea takes the North Korean human rights issue as one of the core agenda for our North Korean policy, together with the North’s nuclear issue. We recognize it to be an issue that should be definitely addressed in the path towards reunification. And, with this perspective, we have been exerting our efforts to improve the human rights situation in North Korea by way of providing humanitarian assistance.

It is in this context that, in her speech in Dresden last year, President Park Geun-hye proposed the Agenda for Humanity as an initiative for the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula. Our humanitarian assistance will be focused on North Korean children as one in three of them is chronically malnourished. They should grow up to become healthy partners in ushering in the future of a unified Korea.

The Agenda for Integration, an agenda for integrating the peoples of the two Koreas, is no less important than the Agenda for Humanity. As national division continues for a prolonged period of time, even the language, culture and lifestyle of the two Koreas have become increasingly different from each other. Under the circumstances, for genuine communication and integration between the two Koreas, not only dialogue between the two authorities, but also people-to-people contacts as well as exchanges and cooperation in the private sector need to be further expanded.

Moreover, we must further strengthen the institutional support for and enhance the people’s interest in North Korean refugees who have risked their lives in pursuit of freedom so that they can lead a happy life as a dignified member of our society. This will provide a precious opportunity for us to experience a unified Korea in advance.

Distinguished Guests,

It is indeed quite symbolic and meaningful that this conference on the North Korean human rights issue is taking place on the 800th anniversary of the declaration of the Magna Carta.

I sincerely hope that with the wisdom, insights and the passion of the distinguished participants present here today, the day will come soon when the pains of our compatriots in the North and the sorrow of the separated families are dissolved once and for all. That day will be the very “Magna Carta Moment” of the Korean Peninsula.

Thank you. /END/