By Martin Banks - 14th July 2011
The EU should also pressure the North Korean leadership
Willy Fautre
The EU has been urged to put pressure on North Korea's rulers to bring the country back into the international fold.
Speaking in parliament, Ho-Young Ahn, the South Korean ambassador to the EU, said this was "the best thing" the EU could do to help tackle the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the north.
He said, "North Korea is the most isolated country in the world and the EU needs to be doing its best to help it join the international community as a normal state."
The diplomat, who was addressing a special hearing on the situation in North Korea, which in recent months has seen increasing poverty and hunger among its population.
He said, "If you look at a range of issues, including human rights and nuclear arms, North Korea is simply not behaving in a normal way.
"The current regime in the north has a very firm grip on things so this is not a regime change issue."
He added, "The EU has been very helpful in its efforts to make the north a normal state and this must continue."
Another speaker was Hyun Byung Chul, chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.
He said, "A food shortage in North Korea is a great cause of concern for the international community. Although groups such as the WFP have implemented humanitarian aid in order to ensure the right to life of North Korean residents, there is significant controversy over the transparency of the distribution process.
"The commission has, in 2006 and 2008, advised the government to separate humanitarian food aid to North Korea from politics, and to seek measures to dispel concerns and suspicions at home and abroad about the transparency of the distribution process.
I hope we can welcome the day when North Korean residents can escape from starvation and struggles for survival because of the deprivation of basic necessities of life, and can enjoy living in a world where they can freely see and speak and listen and think.
"For this hope to bear fruit, I appeal to the collective conscience to turn its attention to the human rights situation in North Korea."
His comments were echoed by Willy Fautre, of the Brussels-based Human Rights Without Frontiers NGO, who said, "Considering that the north has the poorest human rights record in the world, the EU should continue strictly implementing the UN sanctions and its own restrictive measures.
"The EU should also pressure the North Korean leadership through its own mechanisms to abide by international human rights standards."
MEP Anna Rosbach, who hosted the event, said China had a key role to play in bringing North Korea into the fold, saying, "China is the only country that can really bring about change."
