North Korea publishes report on South Korean human rights

(THE KOREA TIMES)NorthKoreahaspublishedareportonSouthKorea'shumanrightssituationinanapparentbidtocountermountinginternationalpressureonPyongyangoveritshumanrightsviolations.

Thereport,publishedbytheNorth'sassociationforSouthKoreanhumanrightsstudies,saidtherehavebeen"aseriesofbrutalhumanrightsabusesintheSouththathavecausedconcernsamongitspeopleaswellastheinternationalcommunity."

Itcontainedcasesofhumanrightsviolationsandbanningofpro-NorthKoreaactivitiesinSouthKorea―includingtheU.S.accidentalliveanthraxdeliverylastMay,andthedeportationofKorean-AmericanShinEun-miearlythisyear.ShinwasaccusedofpraisingtheNorth.

Thereportalsopointedout10otherissuesintheSouthincludingsuppressionoffreedomofspeech,theMERSoutbreak,large-scaleunemploymentandchildabuse.

TheassociationsaidtheSouthshoulddeeplythinkabout"catastrophicconsequencesforNorth-SouthrelationssincesuchhumanrightsabusecasesarechallengingtheNorth'ssystemanddignity."

AseniorNorthKoreandiplomatmadeavisittoLondonearlierthismonthtolobbyagainstmountingpressureonthenationoveritsdirehumanrightsconditions,whichincludepublicexecutionsaswellasbeatings,tortureandstarvationatitssecretgulags.

TheU.N.GeneralAssembly'shumanrightscommitteeadoptedaresolutioncondemningNorthKorea'sdirehumanrightsrecordlastmonth.Atotalof112countries,includingSouthKorea,theUnitedStates,EuropeanUnionmemberstatesandJapanvotedfortheresolution.

TheU.N.haspassedaresolutionagainstNorthKorea'scrimesagainsthumanityeveryyearsince2005.Theresolution,however,isnotlegallybinding.