북한인권법 제정 지연에 대한 사회적 반성

Social reflection over the delay in passing the North Korean Human Rights Law in Korea

The Republic of Korea National Assembly enacted the North Korean Human Rights Law on March 2, 2016. That was long after the passage of similar laws in the United States (2004) and Japan (2006). There were two reasons for the delay. First, Korea as a society was slow to understand that human rights are a universal value, even though the Constitution articulated the concept of the fundamental rights of individuals in advanced democracies. Amnesty International criticized the Republic of Korea for repeated violations of human rights before political democratization in 1987. Second, the legislation was obstructed by so-called freedom fighters who had fought authoritarian rule in the past. They tried to sabotage normal procedure since the bill was first submitted in 2005, averting their eyes from grave abuses of human rights in North Korea. Some insisted that South Korea could not intervene in the domestic affairs of North Korea, a position akin to allowing the Nazis to commit genocide against the Jews. Such endeavors prevented North Korean brothers and sisters from enjoying their dignity, fundamental freedoms and human rights, while helping the North Korean regime avoid harsh accusations from the outside world. They discouraged spontaneous efforts to improve the North Korean human rights situation or to expedite the smooth settlement of North Korean defectors in South Korea. Korean society should correct those inhumane errors and embrace North Korean defectors and North Korean brethren. That is the right approach to reach the goal of peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula.