SEOUL– South Korea’s unification ministry on Wednesday held an annual international forum on North Korea’s human rights situations in an effort to raise public awareness about the problem.
The 2022 International Dialogue on North Korean Human Rights opened at a hotel in Seoul, under the theme of major pending issues and future tasks in regard to the North’s human rights records. It was moderated by Lee Shin-hwa, South Korea’s envoy for the North’s human rights.
In his opening remarks, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, Seoul’s top point man on Pyongyang, stressed, “Improving the human rights (situations) in North Korea is the most urgent historical task given to us.”
He added it is a duty to be rightfully carried out by the South for being of “one blood” and a “partner in a unified future” with the North.
Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the Yoon Suk-yeol administration for placing importance on the North Korean human rights issue.
He proposed that the U.N. Security Council hold a public debate session on the matter.
The forum, which has been held every year since 2017, brought together experts from home and abroad, including Robert King, a former U.S. special envoy for North Korea’s human rights, and Victor Cha, Korea chair and senior vice president of the Center for Strategic International Studies. King and Cha joined the event via video links.
Source: Yonhap News Agency