U.S. Budget for the North Korean Human Rights Act at “Zero”

It has been confirmed that the North Korean Human Rights Act was not reflected in the fiscal 2006 budget bill presented to Congress by the U.S. administration.

An official at the Korea Embassy in the U.S. said, “After examining the budget bill for the 2006 fiscal year, which will back up the U.S. administration’s business plans from October of this year to September of next year, there was nothing in the budget that reflected carrying out the North Korean Human Rights Act.”

This official added, “The budget, which was presented to Congress, will have to go through the budget and appropriations committees, and in this course, the possibility that the budget for the North Korean Human Rights Act will be assigned cannot be excluded, but if it is not included in the budget, it will be difficult to conduct the North Korean Human Rights Act.”

Another official at the embassy replied, “It is to my knowledge that this is due to the fact that the State Department has not yet formulated concrete business plans to carry it out.”

Accordingly, this official added that if the State Department is to carry out the North Korean Human Rights Act, it must convert some other budget to conduct this plan.

The North Korean Human Rights Act provides that during the fiscal years 2005 to 2008, a yearly budget of a maximum $24 million is to be supported: $20 million for groups supporting North Korean defectors and to individuals, $2 million for private non-profit organizations supporting the human rights of North Korea, democracy and improving the market economy, and $2 million for expanding North Korean radio broadcasting.

Soon-Taek Kwon maypole@donga.com