NK human rights are among key topics at Jeju Forum
The world should consider the international boycott of South Africa for its now-abolished apartheid system to speed up its campaign against North Korea’s human rights abuses, according to Lee Jung-hoon, Seoul’s ambassador-at-large on North Korean human rights.
Lee will bring up the case of the anti-apartheid movement in session Thursday at the 12th Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity, which will be held from Wednesday to Friday at the International Convention Center in Seogwipo, Jeju Island.
“I can chronicle past developments and suggest what more could be done to speed up the process,” Lee told The Korea Times in a written interview concerning the Kim Jong-un regime’s state-perpetrated violations of human rights.
He claimed that the South African precedent has not been discussed enough although “tremendous strides” such as a secondary boycott have been made internationally, especially on accountability, by various organizations.
They include the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the U.N. Human Rights Council, the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights as well as various governments, nongovernmental organizations and victims.
“We should be alerted to the fact that the end to the discrimi- na to ry apartheid system required a global campaign that included sports and cultural boycotts, not to mention the U.N. General Assembly’s refusal to accept the South African delegation’s credentials for 24 years.”
He said the Kim regime’s human rights violations are “as serious as its nuclear brinkmanship” and that he will focus on the urgency nature of the human rights record in the regime.
“The world simply cannot turn a blind eye to human rights violations that are deemed by a U.N.-mandated report as unparalleled in the contemporary world,” Lee said. “I think I can help raise the issue at the Jeju Forum by detailing the international community’s commitment to tackle the human rights crimes being committed in North Korea.”
Lee was serving as South Korea’s ambassador for human rights in 2013, covering a broad range of human rights topics, although he primarily focused on North Korean human rights and issues on “comfort women.”