Human Rights DISASTER: China s Human Rights Policy toward North Korean Refugees

Purpose: The Purpose of this article is to review China’s abuse of human rights and the use of cultural relativ-ism in dealing with North Korean refugees in China. It also examines China s human rights policy toward North Korean refugees. China treats the North Korean escapees as illegal economic migrants even though there are many reasons to define them as political refugees. Method: To better appreciate the context of Universalism innate in United Nations and U.S. human rights policies for North Korea, this article analyzes the characteristics of the U.S. North Korean Human Rights Act 2012(NKHRA) and China s agreement with the UN human rights covenant. China s repatriation of the North Korean refugees was an unprecedented incident compared with previous cases. China’s human rights policy towards North Korean refugees is unlikely to change in the Xi Jinping regime. Result: This article draws three findings in connection with the universalism of human rights as follows. First, China thinks that human rights universalism is detrimental to their socialism and government attempts to maintain stability. Second, China puts its political priority on keeping good relations with the North Korean lea-dership and cooperating with the regime. Third, China wants to control the North Korean refugees who may bring disorder to the border region by de-porting them to the DPRK. Conclusion: This article emphasizes China’s negligence concerning its human rights agreement with the UN and concludes that the enhancement of human rights for North Korean refugees in China can be realized by empowering the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’(UNHCR) activity in China and convincing Chi-na to behave as a responsible stakeholder through pressure from the international community.