Ri Su Yong, North Korea’s Minister for Foreign Affairs,
denounced criticism of Pyongyang’s human rights record on Tuesday. A U.N.
report had detailed abuses including mass starvation and forced abortions. Yong
also stated that the United States is engaged in a “human rights racket.” The
panel that had stated all of these reports, interviewed hundreds of defectors
(someone who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to
another) and warned Kim Jong Un that he could be held accountable. These
reports were then referred to the International Criminal Court. Yong stated
that the defectors were “scum of mankind” and that “cooking up the report of
the commission of inquiry based on lies of a few such criminals is itself a
misdeed.” The U.N. official in charge of the investigation is standing by the
findings of widespread abuse.
On my last
blog, I talked about an article that had testimonies from former North Korean
workers who stated that they worked long hours and did not see any money for
their hard work. With how many people are coming forward to complain about the
human rights violations in North Korea, I think it would be hard to make it up.
Therefore, Ri Su Yong and Kim Jong Un can not possibly believe that they are
not violating human rights. Kim Jong Un needs to be held accountable for his
actions, as well as anyone else who has known and contributed to these
violations. Hopefully conditions will improve for the North Koreans.
Emily Burris
4:25 pm
March 5th, 2015
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