From Yonhap:
The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday adopted a European Union-sponsored resolution on North Korean human rights, expressing concern over the communist nation’s use of torture, prison camps and other types of inhumane treatment of its people.
Eighty-four members voted for and 22 voted against the resolution at the assembly’s Third Committee, in which all 191 U.N. member states have a seat. Sixty-two abstained, including South Korea.
This marks the first time that such a resolution has passed in the U.N. General Assembly, although similar resolutions have passed at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights every year since 2003.
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Right, and S. Korea abstains from voting because Roh thinks he’s the reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln: “A Korean reporter asked Roh at the news conference on Thursday why he had not been more outspoken about North Korean human rights abuses.
He responded by citing Abraham Lincoln, who he said was “very slow in liberating the slaves” because he put the unity of the nation ahead of all other priorities.”
Can anyone explain this guy? I guess it’s more difficult to say, “We don’t want reunification because it costs too much, besides, we have a sweet deal exploiting the N. Korean workers at Kaesong and we don’t have any moral qualms about that.”
Don’t worry, the Unification Minister thinks he’s Voltaire….
But, I guess I have to be fair to Roh.
I just watched a special on the Civil War (in the US). Lincoln did say that if he could maintain the union by freeing all slaves he would, or by freeing no slaves, he would, or by freeing some and not freeing others, he would.
I just think Roh and crew would change this around a little by saying, if he could maintain non-unification with a terminally weak North Korea by pressing hard on human rights or ignoring human rights or somewhere in between, he would.
Flying Yangban has had the right saying for a long time (where I first read it).
The strongest voices in the government in South Korea in the executive office are some of the most anti-unification people in the nation. The Unification Minister really has become the department for Anti-Unification.
The change was very noticable in the society.
When the economy collapsed in 1997-98, the general thought on unification (and when it should occur) came down to earth like a meteor…..
But that really begs the question–what union is Roh trying to preserve? I think he really means preserving the status quo that favors S. Korea, and especially its conglomerates, at the expense of the average N. Korean. This is a government (Roh’s) that doesn’t even demand its own POWs be returned, but agrees with the norks to “allow” them to visit their relatives in those pathetic inter-Korean reunions. It’s a morally bankrupt administration.
What Roh is trying to do is gain a prefered relation with Asia’s future supply of DDD workers and sweatshop employees. If anyone thinks there’s any other reason they keep pandering to the people they rather see nuked, they’re kidding themselves.
China voted against the resolution. The US, I am sure, were for it. Korea had to choose.
Korea would have voted for it with full enthusiasm under Kim YoungSam’s administration. Korea would have done the same under Kim DaeJoong’s administration.
Now, we have Rho. Rho wants to take the country away from the US influence and single-handedly bring the country under Chinese influence. Yesterday, Hu Jintao addressed Korean Assembly and you should have seen Secretary of State Lee grovel.
These student radicals want to take Korea over to China. They think this is the way for Korean unification and peace in the peninsula.
They are wrong! China will use Koreans to fight its war against Japan. Historically, Korea belonged to China before 20th century. Then it got eaten up by Japan. Now, these brilliant Lincolns and Votaires are going to sell the country back to China.
We will see how this people fare under Chinese influence. China can be a very harsh master. Just look at NK.(and Mongolia and VietNam).
I’m glad I don’t live in a country that uses torture or runs top secret prison camps. I live in the USA!
/shrinks off to hide from the secret police
Yes. BDF is so right. North Korea - US - same same.
Dongfang hong, Baduk. Fortunately for you and your people, Chinese language institutes are springing up all over Korea. Don’t worry - you won’t have to kowtow. Modern Chinese shake hands or say “hello” while doing this windshield wiper hand wave.
After letting it sink in for a day.
The fact 50% of the United Nations body could not find a way to vote for an impotent resolution to condemn human rights violations in a nation like North Korea has once and for all killed any esteem and hope I had for the United Nations as defined by what people like to say it stands for and its mission statement.
Meet some of the members of the UN Human Rights Commission:
China, Congo, Cuba, Egypt, Guatemala, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Sudan
It’s like putting gang members and drug dealers on neighborhood crime watch patrol.
And on Sonagi’s point.
Periodically, I’ll go back and kick myself in the rear, hard, for being so stupid for so long when it came to thinking about the UN.
What Sonagi should have been painfully obvious the whole time.
When the majority of the nations in a “democratic” org are anti-democratic or dehabilitatingly corrupt, who but an idiot would believe the org would be anything except like its members?
But, I was that idiot for many years….
“what Sonagi said should….”
How many scores of times has Israel been condemned in a UN resolution and this is the first one for North Korea?!? Yet another example of the uselessness of the UN.