Diplomats Will Attend Rights Forum

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed on May 1 that Human Rights ambassador Park Kyung-seo and diplomat of the Korean embassy in Norway Kim Young-seok will participate in the Seventh International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees that will be held from May 9 to 11 in Norway

It is the first time that a government official will join in on an international conference dealing with North Korean human rights issues.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the two Korean delegates will explain the position of the government on the North Korean human rights and refugees issues through official statements during the conference.

Park has taken a negative stance on the North Korean system in the past, saying, “Human rights cannot be used as a political means to attack certain individuals, organizations, or nations.”

The conference will be sponsored by the Korean organization “Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights,” and the Norwegian human rights organization Rafto Human House.

Foreign Ministry officials explain that the government’s dispatch of officials to this conference was because “in the past, this conference had a tendency to expose and denounce North Korean human rights problems, but this time we will discuss approaches to actually improve the situation over there.”

Jong-Koo Yoon jkmas@donga.com