Photo : YONHAP News
South Korea, the United States, and Japan have called on the international community to shift its approach on North Korea’s human rights issues toward action from monitoring violations and abuses to promote accountability.
In a joint statement following the first trilateral meeting on the North’s human rights in Washington on Friday, the three sides referred to the regime as “one of the worst human rights violators in the world, committing violations and abuses within its own territory and abroad.”
Regarding North Korea’s violations, they mentioned regular, credible reports of summary executions, assassinations, abductions, including those of South Korean, Japanese and other foreign nationals, as well as torture and unlawful detentions.
The three nations pledged to bolster joint efforts to increase access to independent information in the North, promote accountability for those responsible for abuses, and amplify voices of North Korean refugees.
Seoul and Washington agreed to establish a new contact group in tackling the rights issues, with Tokyo expressing its support.
Friday’s meeting was attended by South Korea’s Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, and Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Shigeo Yamada.