북한인권문제 국제컨퍼런스 발제문

The sources of DPRK conduct: inherent paradox in normalization Ph. D.  Kim Kwang-cheol   Prologue The Kim Jung-un regime in North Korea is being asked by the international community to improve human rights abuses on the people and to give up its nuclear weapons program. This requirement has been backed by UN resolutions. But the regime has shown an aggressive and provocative response to the international community by declaring the status of nuclear power in its constitution and denouncing in public the UN resolutions. It rejected admitting the worsening human rights situation and argues along the lines of 'We're ‘doing better than you!' It also claimed that its nuclear weapons development is ‘indispensable’ for the protection and advancement of human rights. Some people argue that Kim Jung-un regime’s collapse will result in breaking the stability and the peace in the region of north-eastern Asia and entail that NK itself will disappear automatically. But that presumes a vacuum. Because a normalized, liberal and democratic government in North Korea would contribute to the stability and the peace in the region and further world peace.   The sources of Kim Jung-un regime conduct: ‘Kim Il-sung Nationalism’ and feudal monarchism The sources of Kim Jung-un regime conduct lies in its ‘Kim Il-sung Nationalism’ and feudal monarchy system. ‘Kim Il-sung Nationalism’ is the ruling ideology of Kim Il-sung-ism which fuses with the language of nationalism. The Kim family regime says it is what ensures the sovereignty of the North Korean nation and builds a paradise of the people. But in practice, its overriding priority is to maintain the hereditary regime of the Kim Il-sung family. This view of the state is not different from that of feudal warlord. People who have never experienced liberalism and capitalism are continuously educated to believe that the fall of Kim family regime means the destruction of their own lives. The slogan of “Let’s guard the supreme leader instead of our own lives” is routinized in NK. Although in a contemporary world, it is not the end of a state when the leader changes, and it has also been shown historically that discarding the slogan of socialism doesn’t equate to the destruction of a people and nation. Marxism-Leninism has been deleted in the constitution of NK, and ‘Kim Il-sung-ism and Kim Jung-il-ism’ have instead been presented as central. NK has absolutely transformed to become a feudal monarchy state ruled via the principle of Kim Il-sung Nationalism.   Paradise of the supreme leader and Hell for the people In North Korea, the supreme leader as the master of state is to wield absolute power. The people exist to keep his system in power. About a quarter(27%) of the population categorized as hostile according to his or her birth status and family background are unable to enjoy the most basic of human rights. The Kim family regime has argued that the 'autonomy of the people' is completely guaranteed in North Korea. This concept of autonomy says that the autonomy of each individual must be sacrificed in entirety for the maintenance of a Kim Il-sung state. As is seen the slogan “Let’s become a bomb for the safety of dear leader,” NK is on principle "the Paradise of dear leader and the Hell for the people."   The implications of retrogression of NK in the terms of ‘catagenesis’ Then, what does it entail in practice that NK has regressed to become a feudal monarchy pivoted on Kim Il-sung Nationalism? One consequence is the ideological and structural exclusivity of the Kim regime. It distinguishes its identity from that of the Korean nation as a ‘Kim Il-sung Nation’. And it pegs the reunification of two Koreas on the slogan ‘Uriminzokkiri’ (just between our nations, on the premise that the Korean “nation” is the “Kim Il sung Nation”) such that Kim Il-sung Nationalism is the legitimate nation over the Korean peninsula. It must be a zero sum game, as can be seen in the slogan “without Chosun(DPRK), there is no world”, thus international relations are based on support or hostility towards the supreme leader rather than based on the normative values of co-existence. Another consequence of the feudal monarchy system is that it is a historical retrogression. While the DPRK constitution and laws enshrine a rule of law, human rights clauses are neglected in practice due to upholding the ruling system of the Kim regime on the principles as described. With the seriousness of human rights abuses in NK, the international community has reached a point where it must search for approaches beyond the provision of humanitarian assistance. Yet the basis on which the Kim Jung-un regime claims its rule inherently denies the will and capability to protect its citizens.   The dilemma of Kim Jung-un The Kim Jung-un regime is in a dilemma. If it pursued reform and opening, it would have to deal with the danger of political elements being exposed to liberal trends in the outside world. And yet if it keeps isolating its own people, there is a risk of breakdown. It is not ignorance of this that maintains the regime. Even knowledge of this leads does not resolve the dilemma. If it were true that everyone had equal rights in North Korea, it would be a simple question of giving up the power and rights of the regime instead of sacrificing 25 million people’s rights for the regime.   Suggestion on projects for the change of North Korea The pursuit ahead is not so much one of how to engage with the NK regime but of how we can see qualitative change in NK. How to encourage change in North Korea? One end of the continuum is to wait for revolution by the people, at the other is for the international community to ask of Kim Jung-un to observe his ‘Responsibility to Protect’(R2P). The UN has already begun to move in the direction of the latter with its investigation by the COI on human rights in NK. For now I’d like to make two concrete suggestions for mitigating the human rights abuses of the NK regime. One is to work to ban its slave labor exports in foreign nations, another is to push for the right to hold reunions between those refugees who have had to flee their homes and their family members who remain in NK. With regard to both the former and latter, the EU has the potential to play a leading role. Foreign states or corporations responsible for recruiting North Korean laborers could be asked to investigate and intervene with regard to the rights abuses of laborers in the field and their pay being taken to support the system of the Kim family regime. Also, opportunities can be created for separated refugees and their family to be able to freely communicate with each other in a 3rd country. The international community should be interested in the plight and safety of family members of refugees who remain in NK. We should not allow Kim Jung-un to punish them just for being related to one who has escaped via NK’s guilt-by-association system. I expect that the EU taking a leading role in such a way will garner support from the international community.     ※ 이 글은 영국의회 초당그룹(APPG: All Party Parliament Group)과 유럽북한인권협회(EAHRNK: European Alliance for Human Rights in North Korea)이 2015.3.18 Attlee Suite, Portcullis House, UK Parliament, London에서 공동 개최한 북한인권문제 국제컨퍼런스 speech note임. 주최측은 네덜란드 인권대사와 전 평양주재 영국대사 등 유럽내 전현직 대사 10여명과 런던주재 32개국 한반도담당관 및 기타 북한연구자 등 120여명이 참석한 가운데 행사를 개최했으나, 기자는 초청하지 않고 비공개로 진행하였음.