Don't politicize DPRK human rights issue

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has denounced a UN resolution, drafted by the European Union and Japan, as a "US-led farce", and organized a demonstration of about 100,000 people in Pyongyang in protest against it. The resolution is expected to be submitted to the UN Security Council in December.

The Third (human rights) Committee of the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on Nov 18 recommending that the Security Council refer the DPRK to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

A DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman has described the US as a human rights "tundra". Citing the protests that erupted after a policeman was not indicted in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, he said: "This is clear proof of the real picture of the US as a tundra of human rights, where extreme racial discrimination acts are openly practiced."

Although non-binding, the resolution is far from being just a simple "proposal" to put political pressure on Pyongyang, because it will also lead to certain geopolitical changes on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.

The West is expected to impose another round of sanctions on Pyongyang after the resolution, the first of its kind passed by the UN. On one hand, the human rights campaign is aimed at consolidating Western values such as liberty, democracy and human rights within the international community. On the other, the plan to put DPRK leader Kim Jong-un on trial at the ICC will further stereotype Pyongyang as an "autocratic state" which is against the "democratization" process.

If the resolution takes effect, it will not only create more problems for the DPRK, but also heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Although the Republic of Korea is not one of the initiators of the referral to human rights, its participation in the process is still noteworthy.