U.N. should sanction N. Korea`s human rights violators

A United Nations General Assembly committee on Tuesday passed with an overwhelming vote a resolution calling for referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for human rights violations. Proposed by some 60 countries including the European Union, the resolution linked the alleged human rights abuses to the policies of North Korea`s leadership and called on the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) to consider targeted sanctions against those responsible.

Although Kim Jong Un`s name was not mentioned, the passage marked the first time that the international community clearly demanded that the North Korean leader, whom the communist country calls the "supreme dignity," be judged by an international court. Earlier Tuesday, the committee rejected a Cuban proposal to remove the call for the North`s referral to the ICC from the resolution. The passage of the resolution by a vote of 111 to 19 with 55 abstentions means that the U.N. has gone beyond expressing concerns over the North`s dire human rights situation and begun to take action.

North Korea made all-out diplomatic efforts to tone down the resolution and remove Kim`s referral to the ICC. When the resolution was passed, however, the North Korean representative to the committee angrily condemned the international community for choosing "confrontation." We cannot rule out the possibility that the North will make provocations by launching long-range missiles or conducting its fourth nuclear test. The U.N. has adopted resolutions on the human rights situation in the North every year since 2005. However, Pyongyang has never reacted so sensitively, suggesting that the human rights issue is Achilles` heel of Kim Jong Un.

Pyongyang sent Choe Ryong Hae, the No. 2 man in power, to Russia to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and convey Kim`s letter. As both countries are being ostracized in the international community, it was impossible for the meeting to make a breakthrough for the North. If the U.N. General Assembly officially adopts the resolution next month, the Security Council will discuss the ICC referral issue. It is highly likely that China and Russia with the power of veto at the UNSC will reject the resolution. The two countries, which voted against the resolution on Tuesday, should think about the universal value of human rights and the North Korean people`s pain before trying to protect the North. Human rights are not a matter of domestic affairs in which no other countries can intervene.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Byung-se has proposed inter-Korean talks to discuss ways to improve the North`s dire human rights situation. Pyongyang should take seriously the latest resolution reflecting the international community`s concerns and determination and come to the dialogue table. It is a shame that the South Korea`s National Assembly has failed to pass a North Korean human rights bill that has been pending for 10 years. Being silent on the North`s crimes against humanity is the same as becoming an accomplice.