U.S. Senate to Deliberate on the North Korea Human Rights Act Next Month

The U.S. Senate is planning to deal with the North Korea Human Rights Act of 2004, put before the Senate after being passed unanimously by the House of Representatives in July, within this session, according to a Washington source on September 21.

The source added that it is difficult to estimate exactly when the act will be dealt with since the current session, scheduled to end on October 1, could be extended for one or two weeks, and might even meet after the presidential and senate elections on November 2.

“The Republicans and Democrats have a common goal of having Congress speak out on the North Korean human rights issue in one voice within this session,” he said.

Regarding the delay, the source explained that while the Republicans have agreed to deal directly with the act in front of the entire Senate, forgoing deliberations at the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, the Democrats have yet to reach such an agreement.

Therefore, if the Democratic senators agree to put the act directly before the entire Senate, the act is expected to be submitted and passed unanimously with no further delays.

The North Korea Human Rights Act of 2004 reaffirms that the U.S. government will allocate $24 million in budget each year to NGOs that help improve human rights in North Korea and support defectors until 2008, and that defectors will be allowed to apply for exile or refugee status in the U.S.

The act will connect U.S. support to North Korea with human rights improvements in the North, while providing the president with discretionary rights to waive some conditions depending on the situation.

Soon-Taek Kwon maypole@donga.com