Korea’s Moon accused of putting ties with Pyongyang ahead of rights | Financial Times

Korea’s Moon accused of putting ties with Pyongyang ahead of rights | Financial Times

https://www.ft.com/content/bd7306a2-dd8b-11e8-9f04-38d397e6661c

Financial Times
Bryan Harris in Seoul Nov 1, 2018

Korea’s Moon accused of putting ties with Pyongyang ahead of rights NGO blames ‘political cowardice’ after detailing rampant violence against women in North South Korean President Moon Jae-in, centre, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, in Pyongyang. 

Mr Moon’s pursuit of peace has exposed him to criticism that he ignores rights abuses in the North 


 South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been accused of betraying his political convictions in his bid to make peace with Pyongyang, after a new report revealed the rampant use of sexual violence against women by officials in the authoritarian country. The comments about Mr Moon — a former human rights lawyer — add to a growing chorus of complaints about Seoul’s eagerness to engage Pyongyang, even as the immediate threat of war subsides from the peninsula. 

On Thursday, North and South Korea officially ceased all “hostile acts” in their border region, fulfilling an agreement signed in September by military chiefs to permanently reduce tension. The deal forms part of Mr Moon’s effort to spur the denuclearisation of North Korea by normalising relations with Pyongyang and using economic integration to open up the totalitarian regime. 

However, the focus on maintaining cheery ties with Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s leader, has increasingly left Mr Moon open to criticism he is ignoring the severe deprivation and abuse suffered by millions of North Korean citizens. That criticism increased on Thursday when Human Rights Watch released a report detailing the rampant use of sexual violence against women by officials in North Korea. 

Based on interviews with scores of female defectors who escaped North Korea, the report noted that sexual violence was “so common . . . it has come to be accepted as part of everyday life”. “They consider us sex toys,” said Oh Jung Hee, a former trader who worked in one of North Korea’s ubiquitous but technically illegal markets known as jangmadang. A complex path to peace on the Korean peninsula “On the days they felt like it, market guards or police officials could ask me to follow them to an empty room outside the market, or some other place they’d pick,” she said, outlining how North Korea’s grassroots economic liberalisation was tied to sexual bribery.  

Kenneth Roth, director of Human Rights Watch, accused Mr Moon of “political cowardice” in not raising the issue with Pyongyang. “Why can’t President Moon say ‘Yes, we’re going to discuss denuclearisation but I also want you to stop the sexual violence and rape against North Korean women’?” said Mr Roth, adding that he was refused a meeting with the South Korean leader in Seoul this week. “It is an utterly do-able approach. Governments can walk and chew gum at the same times. They can do two things,” he said. South Korea’s presidential Blue House did not respond immediately to the criticism. 

This is not the first time Mr Moon has faced questions about his commitment to human rights in his dealings with Pyongyang. Activists and North Korean defectors have in recent months expressed dismay that neither Seoul nor Washington appears willing to address the issue, despite their numerous high-profile summits with Pyongyang.  Lee So Hyun — another defector who suffered violence — called on Mr Moon to increase pressure on Mr Kim, even with basic requests such as pushing North Korea to improve sex education.  Mr Roth said: “This isn’t seeking revolutionary change. The North Korean government could fix the issue tomorrow if it wanted. With President Moon’s help, we can stop the rape of women in North Korea.” 

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