Obama to deal with N. Korean human rights in due course: State Dept.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- The Barack Obama administration will deal with the human rights situation in North Korea in due course, the State Department said Thursday.

"Obviously this administration is concerned about the human right situation in
North Korea," spokesman Robert Wood said in a daily news briefing. "And we'll be
addressing that in due course."
Wood said that "the whole question of the human rights situation in North Korea
is something of concern to, you know, the secretary."
The spokesman, however, would not elaborate, saying, "I don't have anything to
outline for you, at this point, as you can understand, since the review on North
Korea is under way."
Obama said in his election campaign that he will address alleged human rights
violations in North Korea in a more active manner, although he did not specify
how.
The Bush administration had been criticized for its failure to directly touch the
human rights issue in the reclusive communist state, apparently out of a desire
not to provoke the North during delicate nuclear dismantlement talks.
Under pressure from some hardline Republican senators, Christopher Hill, chief
U.S. nuclear envoy for the six-party talks, had to pledge in a Senate Foreign
Relations Committee hearing in July that he would invite the U.S. special envoy
for human rights in North Korea to attend "all future negotiations with North
Korea, except those specifically dealing with nuclear disarmament."
Wood did not respond to a question whether the Obama administration will nominate
a new special envoy for human rights in North Korea to replace Jay Lefkowitz, who
retired upon Obama's inauguration Jan. 20.
Lefkowitz was appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2005 under the
North Korean Human Rights Act.
U.S. Congress approved the North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act in
September to finance for the coming four years efforts to help North Korean
defectors settle in the U.S. and promote democracy in the reclusive communist
state.
The extension of the North Korean Human Rights Act, which expired late September
last year after a four-year run, calls for the special envoy on North Korean
human rights issues to be promoted to the rank of ambassador.
The act also calls for "activities to support human rights and democracy and
freedom of information in North Korea," as well as "assistance to North Koreans
who are outside North Korea" and "12-hour broadcasting to North Korea."
Under the act, the U.S. has so far accepted nearly 70 North Korean defectors.
More than 10,000 North Korean defectors have settled in South Korea since the end
of the Korean War in 1953.
Most North Korean defectors risk deportation and political persecution when
passing through China, which considers North Korean defectors to be economic
migrants rather than refugees under a bilateral agreement with its communist ally
North Korea calling for their immediate deportation.
Lefkowitz issued a policy paper last week to wrap up his three and half years of
service, urging Obama to follow the Helsinki process in dealing with the
reclusive North.
"In a manner similar to Helsinki, the U.S., South Korea, Japan, and our other
partners now have the opportunity to expand our approach to one of constructive
engagement, an effort that is intended to open up the North Korean regime,"
Lefkowitz said.
He was referring to the Helsinki Act signed in 1975 by the U.S. and 34 other
Western countries. It called for a focus on human rights in dealing with the
Soviet Union and other Eastern bloc states.
The Helsinki process led to the creation of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and resulted in the collapse of the Soviet bloc
nations in the early 1990s.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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