The Korean Civil Society Statement in Response to
The May 4, 2004 Report of the Committee on International Relations of the U.S. House of Representatives on H.R. 4011, the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004

May 19, 2004

We are members of the Korean civil society who work to promote peace and human rights in the Korean peninsula. This statement is in response to the May 4, 2004 Report of the Committee on International Relations of the U.S. House of Representatives on H.R. 4011 (Report 108-478). We have been watching closely the development in the U.S. Congress the discussions on the North Korean Freedom Act of 2003 (NKFA S. 1903 and H.R. 3573) and the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (H.R. 4011). We understand that the proposed bills are intended to improve the human rights situation in North Korea. However, after a careful review of the bills, we have concluded that the bills will further politicize the North Korean human rights issue, and will likely to exacerbate the current situation. Hence we ask the U.S. Congress to be mindful of the delicate situation, and that their well-intended actions may jeopardize the fragile peace and reconciliation process underway in the Korean peninsula.

We recognize from the Report 108-478 where it states, “[this bill] is not a pretext for a hidden strategy to provoke regime collapse or to seek collateral advantage in ongoing strategic negotiations,” that the U.S. Congress is aware of the concerns H.R. 4011 may raise. The committee, nevertheless, recommended the H.R. 4011 to be passed. We express our utmost regret that the clauses of the concerns we expressed in April 2004 were hardly amended.

We believe that if there is a possibility of a bill interfering with or intruding on another nation, one must assess more carefully the risks rather than the benefits expected from it. With the potential risks in mind, we are concerned about the outlined purpose of the North Korean Human Rights Act being the “[promotion of progress] toward the peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula under a democratic system of government.” Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar opined in a Washington Post op-ed on July 17, 2003 that “…we should authorize the resettlement of some North Korean refugees in this country, and press our allies to do the same…[such measure] could hasten the fall of the Pyongyang regime, much as the flight of East Germans in 1989 helped undermine the Communist system there.”

Although Report 108-478 states that the North Korean Human Rights Act “avoids politicizing the refugee issue or using refugees as pawns in some larger, strategic calculus,” based on comments similar to Mr. Lugar’s, we are inclined to believe that there is definite awareness in the US Congress that helping the North Korean refugees shall indeed accelerate the disintegration of the Pyongyang regime.

Report 108-478 indicates that the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) will execute certain parts of the program. This further concerns us based on the past six years of NED’s activities in South Korea. Since 1998, the National Endowment for Democracy has been closely linked to some of the ardent political groups in South Korea whose main activities are directed toward overthrowing the Pyongyang regime. Consequently, we believe that the NED’s financial and technical support to these groups have generated unnecessary social conflict in our society. We do not believe creating social conflict in South Korea was intended by the U.S. Congress that funds NED’s work abroad.

The Iraq Liberation Act (PL 105-338) was legislated in 1998, and the stated goal of the law was to support the establishment of a democratic government in Iraq. More specifically, the law allowed the transfer of funds to Iraqi anti-government groups for broadcasting activities and provision of other forms of assistance. The Act advocating for promotion of democracy and improvement of humanitarian conditions in Iraq, however, provided a legal basis for invading Iraq in 2003. There are similarities between the stated purposes of PL 105-338 and of H.R.4011. With the Iraq War still raging a year later, we are concerned that the North Korean Human Rights Act may be used as a legal ground to justify a future military intervention in the Korean peninsula.

We agree that human rights conditions in North Korea need to be improved. Our heart aches for people in North Korea. At the same time, we cannot agree to the underlying assumption and the stated approach contained in the H.R. 4011 that claims such goals can be obtained through repression and alienation of the DPRK.

We are also concerned that the bill may impact negatively on the on-going dialogues to resolve peace and security concerns on the Korean peninsula. We think H.R. 4011 will likely to obstruct real opportunities to actually improve the humanitarian concerns in North Korea. We believe that in order to significantly improve the human rights condition in North Korea, a priority must be placed on recognizing and respecting North Korea as a nation rather than taking a unilateral approach as in the North Korean Human Rights Act.

To date, the two Koreas have mutually recognized each other’s regime, expanded inter-Korean exchange and cooperative projects, and enhanced mutual understanding. The majority of the South Korean people support the engagement policy toward North Korea, and we firmly believe that such a policy will bear the fruit of realizing peace and human rights protection on the Korean peninsula. We strongly urge the US Congress to once again heed and respect such opinion and stance of the Korean civil society.