|
Six North Korean refugees arrived in the United States via a Southeast Asian country Friday night, according to U.S. Senator Sam Brownback. The group is the first from North Korea to be given official refugee status since the 2004 passage of the U.S.¡¯ North Korea Human Rights Act, which calls for more refugees from the communist country to be admitted; Friday¡¯s arrival shows that "the act is working" by making refugees' rights part of U.S. policy toward North Korea, Brownback says.
Their rights, and the North¡¯s human rights record in general, are becoming the core of U.S. policy toward the North. To bring that point home, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul distributed to the local media a photograph of President George W. Bush meeting with his special envoy for North Korean human rights, Jay Lefkowitz, at what it says were White House orders.
When Lefkowitz recently denounced Seoul's aid to Pyongyang and quibbled with the wages North Korean workers in the joint-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex are paid, the unification minister and other government officials criticized him for "distorting the issue¡± without checking with the State Department. The White House sent a message that Lefkowitz enjoys the confidence of President Bush and his views are to be taken as the official U.S. government line.
We saw similar scenes a few months ago over North Korea's counterfeiting of U.S. dollars. President Roh Moo-hyun warned of ¡°conflict between the two allies if the U.S. government attempts to resolve the issue by pressuring the North Korean regime or wishing for its collapse.¡± Bush replied there could be no compromise on the issue. Even North Korea¡¯s ally China joined U.S. pressure on the North over the counterfeiting, and Pyongyang officials in the end had to go to the U.S. and listen to the charges. A dejected South Korea belatedly jumped on the bandwagon saying North Korea's illicit activities ¡°cannot be condoned."
In today¡¯s reality, the U.S. determines the order of priority among North Korea issues -- nuclear arms, human rights, counterfeiting -- and the focus of debate in the international community follows suit. However reluctantly, Pyongyang eventually falls in line. As a matter of fact, our government is starting to realize that North Korea feels it has nothing to gain from a South Korea that goes down a completely separate road from the U.S. Seoul should therefore carefully read the signs to learn where this new emphasis on the rights of refugees is headed.
|
