U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power (left) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se pose for a photo at the Government Complex-Seoul on Oct. 10. They reaffirmed the will of Seoul and Washington, D.C., to work closely together in order to improve the North Korean human rights situation.
“We are for a resolution that makes a substantive difference."
So said Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power in a meeting in Seoul on Oct. 10.
The two dignitaries had in-depth discussions about issues involving the Korean Peninsula, including North Korean nuclear weapons program and human rights violations in North Korea.
Minister Yun explained in detail to the U.S. ambassador the current situation, where North Korea conducted two nuclear weapons tests and launched 22 ballistic missiles, and noted how the Pyongyang regime continues with its reprocessing activities in repeated, flagrant violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Based on their shared sense of gravity concerning the North Korean nuclear weapons issue and their shared sense of urgency to address it, the minister said, “It is important for the Republic of Korea and the United States to work toward the adoption of a new Security Council resolution and sanctions, that we enforce unilateral sanctions, and that we induce the global community to pressure North Korea.”
Ambassador Power said that her meetings with North Korean defectors during her visit to the Hanawon and to an alternative school for North Korean defectors here “helped me see for myself the gravity of North Korea’s human rights issues, as well as the urgent need to address them,” while emphasizing the need to make more efforts in order to improve human rights conditions in the North.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se (left) and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power (speaking) hold a press conference at the Government Complex-Seoul on Oct. 10.
On Oct. 9, Ambassador Power held a news conference at the public affairs section of the U.S. Embassy in Korea, in Namyeong-dong, Seoul. She said that the U.S. is taking North Korea’s threats as seriously as South Korea does.
“We are determined to stand with you in addressing this threat. Our resolve is unwavering. Our commitment is ironclad," she said.
“While Security Council resolutions are one tool in our toolbox, and a very important instrument of pressure, we are committed to using all the tools in our tool kit to address this serious threat, including diplomatic pressure that we are mobilizing around the world to convince other nations to isolate the regime,” said the ambassador, mentioning possible means to hinder Pyongyang from gathering materials and hard currency for its weapons program.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power holds a press conference at the U.S. Embassy in Korea on Oct. 9. She talked about the U.S. stance on issues involving the Korean Peninsula.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power (fourth from left, front) visits the Panmunjeom truce village in the Demilitarized Zone near Paju, Gyeonggi-do Province, on Oct. 9.
In regard to North Korean human rights issues, Ambassador Power said that the North Korean nuclear weapons issue itself is the North Korean human rights issue.
She said that there is no difference between North Korea’s threats to the international community with weapons of mass destruction and its human rights violations committed on its people, as both are rooted from Pyongyang’s contempt for international standards.
Her itinerary included visits to the Panmunjeom truce village, the Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees, also known as the Hanawon, and a meeting with Jung Gwang-il, a North Korean defector who was a former North Korean inmate in the Yodok political prisoners’ camp and who leads the human rights group No Chain.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power (second from left) meets North Korean defectors during a visit to the Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees, the Hanawon, in Anseong, Gyeonggi-do Province, on Oct. 10. During the meeting, she said that, 'The international community is well aware of the suffering of the North Korean people and will work to shed light on such darkness.'
On Oct. 10, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power (second from left) meets Jung Gwang-il (left), a former political prisoner in the Yodok prison camp, who now leads the human rights group No Chain. She described Jung one who smuggles information about democracy into North Korea.
By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Power’s Twitter feed, Yonhap News
arete@korea.kr