UN officially discusses shooting death of S. Korean civil servant

The shooting death in September of a civil servant from the South Korean Oceans and Fisheries by the North Korean military has been officially reported to the United Nations.

According to the South Korean mission to the U.N. and Voice of America on Sunday, Tomás Ojea Quintana, United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea, told a videoconference of the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday. “The shooting death and burning of the body of the South Korean civil servant by the North Korean military was arbitrarily killing of a civilian and constitutes a violation of the International Human Rights Law.” Quintana went on to say, “The North Korean authority should immediately amend its policy of using ammunition (against people approaching its national borders) as part of its COVID-19 quarantine policy.” Earlier, in a report on North Korea human rights that was submitted to the U.N. General Assembly in mid-October, Quintana said, “North Korea should disclose all information and compensate to the bereaved family.”

The South Korean mission to the UN also took part in the video meeting on the day, and stated that the North should cooperate to find the truth behind the killing. “We urge the North to respond to our demand for thorough joint investigation into the case,” Deputy head of mission Oh Hyun-joo said. “Inter-Korean communication lines should be restored to discuss related issues.”

However, the South Korean government is unlikely to participate in a group of countries that jointly seek a resolution on North Korean human rights this year again after last year. “South Korea failed to attend a meeting on resolution against North Korean human rights,” Radio Free Asia quoted a spokesperson for the European Union, which is drafting a resolution.


Jae-Dong Yu jarrett@donga.com · Ji-Sun Choi aurinko@donga.com