Friday, September 6, 2013

North Korean government exploits a foreigner’s human right

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/world/asia/us-sends-envoy-to-north-korea-to-seek-americans-release.html?_r=0


The North Korean government arrested Mr. Bae for releasing illegal religious ideas. They have already put him in the North Korean Camp since last November. This is a place where the government puts all the political prisoners, so it is not hard to imagine how Mr. Bae’s life is in those camps in North Korea. His health is reportedly deteriorating, so the American envoy wanted to rescue him.

 It is long known that North Korean dictators blocked the news from outside-world in order to isolate their citizens. For this news, I do not want to focus on how the North Korean government exploits its citizen’s human rights, but I would love to talk about the government’s action to restrict other citizens’ rights, like Mr. Bae.

 As an American citizen, Mr. Bae’s human right is protected by US Constitution. His action is totally legal from the American government’s perspective. In this kind of political issue, the North Korean government is not supposed to arrest him and send to the Camp. However, it should negotiate with the American government, and send him out of the country. What is more, Mr. Bae received unbelievable torture in that place, which is also against the human right. If the North Korean government thinks that talking about its human right issue interferes its sovereignty, then exploiting other citizen’s human right is totally disrespectful to the country.

Thinking one step further about the issue, I wonder why North Korea government would do that. I think the main reason is that the government has nuclear power and do not actually afraid America. Sixty years ago, China also experienced similar kind of situation like North Korea, but its government did not control such a huge amount of military power. With the efforts home and abroad, China got rid of the dictatorship within 10 years and changed the whole policy. Even though human right is still a critical topic in China, citizens’ basic rights are mostly guaranteed. On the other hand, considering North Korea’s current issue, the weapons and military powers may guard their dictatorship for a long time. However, I strongly believe that its citizens’ real human rights will eventually be guaranteed.


1 comment:

  1. I hope you are right. As we have read in Johnson's book, it seems that the North Koreans take prisoners under any pretense as to have leverage with world powers. Once again, they use humans as weapons.

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