Abstracts

HumanRightsinNorthKoreaandInternational

Community:ImprovingStrategyandComparativeAnalysis

KangMyoung-Ok,

ADissertationsubmitted

forthedegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy

totheFacultyofPoliticalScience

YonseiUniversity,summer2006

NorthKorea’snaturaldisasterinthemiddleofthe1990’scausedNorthKoreanpeople’smassiveevacuationfromNorthKorea.SincethenNorthKorea’shumanrightssituationhasbeencontinuouslyquestionedintheinternationalcommunity.NowadaysalotofhumanrightsactivistgroupsandgovernmentsintheworldareactingforthepromotionofNorthKoreanhumanrightssituation.Itissaid,however,thattheiractivitiesarenotconductedinaconcertedmannerbecauseofremarkabledifferencesintheirbehavioralpatterns.Reflectingsuchphenomenon,thisthesiswillinthemainconcentrateitseffortsontwoquestions;firstlywhytheactingpatternsoftheactorsaresodifferentfromeachother,andsecondlywhichpatternismostefficientforthepromotionofNorthKoreanhumanrightssituation.

ThisthesisfirstlypaiditsattentiontothebriefevaluationofNorthKoreanhumanrightssituation.Let’shavealookatNorthKorea’sconceptonthehumanright.WecaneasilyfindthatNorthKorea’sconceptonhumanrightisdifferentfromthatofoutsidesocietyespeciallyfromthatofcountriesoftheliberaldemocracy.InnorthKorea,humanrightsareconsideredascollectiverights,thebasicconceptofwhichthoroughlycomplywithChuchePrinciple.Statepoweralwayssupercedesindividualhumanrights.InNorthKorea,economicandsocialrightsaremoreemphasizedthancivicandpoliticalrights.Theycalltheirownhumanrightssituation"humanrightsofourownway".

Thenthisdissertationclassifiestheactingpatternsoftheactorsoftheconcernedgovernmentsandotherinternationalactivistgroupsintofourtypes.

Thefirsttypeis"rapid-overturning".ThistypeofactorsarguedthatNorthKoreanhumanrightssituationshouldbeimprovedrapidly.Andforthistarget,NorthKoreanregimeshouldbeoverturnedassoonaspossible.TheGovernmentoftheUnitedStates,USCongress,USNGOsandJapaneseGovernment,andSouthKoreanactorsincludingoppositionpartyHannaradangandconservativenewspaperChosunilbofallintothistype.Theyareconservativesorneo-conservatives.Theytendtoutilizehumanrightsissuesasmeansofpoliticalpressure,orasmeansfortherealizationoftheirownpoliticalpurposesratherthanthepromotionofhumanrightsinNorthKorea.

Thesecondtypeis"rapid-progressive".ThistypeofactorsseethatameliorationofNorthKoreanhumanrightssituationisimminent.They,however,donotconsiderthehumanrightsissueasamatterofpoliticalsystemchange.MainactorsareincludingUNagenciesofhumanrightsactivities,EuropeanUnionandalotofNGOsinsideandoutsideofKorea.TheytendnottocarrypoliticalorientationbecausemostoftheactorsofthistypeconcentratetheireffortsonthepromotionofhumanrightsinNorthKoreaitself.

Thethirdtypeis"gradual-progressive".Thistypeofactorsdonotconnecthumanrightsissueswithpoliticalsystemchange.TheytolerategradualimprovementofhumanrightssituationinNorthKoreawithinthepresentregimeofNorthKorea.KoreanGovernment,KoreanNationalHumanRightsCommissionandalotofhumanitarianaidgroupsinsideandoutsideofKoreabelongtothistype.TheytendtoputstrengthonthepeaceontheKoreanpeninsulaorbasichumanneeds.Politicalideologyofmanyofthemareliberal.

Thefourthtypeis"gradual-overturning".Actorsofthistypeshouldarguethatgradualimprovementofhumanrightssituationandimmediatepoliticalsystemchangesimultaneously.Butthistypeactorsarenon-existent.

Thisdissertationalsopaiditsanalyticalattentiontothecausalfactorsoftheabovementionedfourtypes.Theseareinthemainfollowingthreefactors.

Thefirstmajorfactortodecideactor’sactingpatternisactor’spoliticalposition.Politicalpositionoftheactorsisthemostinfluentialfactordecidingthebehavioralpattern.USGovernment,JapaneseGovernment,KoreanconservativeoppositionpartyHannaradangcategorizedas"rapid-overturning"typeareallpoliticallyconservative.InternationalhumanrightsorganizationsandotherhumanrightsNGOsclassifiedas"rapid-progressive"typemainlydonotcarrypoliticalorientation.KoreanGovernmentof"gradual-progressive"typeispoliticallyliberal.

Thesecondmajorfactortodecideactor’sactingpatternisactor’sfocusingareaofassistance.Ifanactorpreferstoprovideaidinthefieldofcivicandpoliticalrights,ittendstobe"rapid-overturning"typewhileanactorwhichpreferstogiveassistanceinthefieldofeconomicandsocialrightstendstobe"gradual-progressive"type.

Thethirdmajorfactortodecideactor’sactingpatterniswhetheranactorisKoreanactorornot.KoreanactorstendtobeweakinattackingNorthKoreanregimecomparedwithnon-Koreanactorsregardlessoftheirpoliticalposition.

Thenlet’sturnourattentiontoefficiencyoftheactivities.ThetwomajorfactorstodecideefficiencyarereceptivityofassistancebyNorthKoreanauthorityandascopeofsupportbythedomesticandinternationalcommunity.Ifthereceptivityishigher,concerninghumanrightsactivitiestendtobemoresuccessful.Andifthesupportisbigger,concerningactivitiestendtobemoresuccessful.FurtheritshouldbekeptinmindthatinthecaseoftheKoreanactorsthestrengthofsupportalsodependsontheexistenceofpoliticaltensionbetweentheSouthandtheNorthofKorea.

Inadditiontotheabovefindings,wecouldfindthattheactors’actingpatternscouldcharacterizetheformationofpartnershipamongactors.Especiallythepartnershipbetween"rapid"typeand"gradual"typeisrarelywitnessedwhilethecasesofpartnershipwithin"rapid"typeactorsareincreasing.

Keywords:humanrights,NorthKorea,humanrightsinNorthKorea,humanrightsngo,humanrightsregime,refugeesfromNorthKorea,U.S.policytowardNorthKorea,SouthKorea’spolicytowardNorthKorea,EUpolicytowardNorthKorea,humanrightsmovement,humanrightsactors,civicandpoliticalrights,economicandsocialrights,humanitarianaid