No Abstention This Year!

Seoul, in a surprise reversal, will reluctantly support this year’s U.N. resolution on human rights in North Korea:

South Korea decided Thursday to vote in favor of a United Nations resolution condemning North Korea’s human rights abuses, citing a change in the geopolitical situation after Pyongyang’s nuclear weapon test in October.  The U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote on the nonbinding resolution drafted by the European Union, the United States, and Japan early Friday (Seoul time).

Thursday’s decision, which government officials said was difficult to make, marks an about-face from Seoul’s traditional low-key approach toward the North Korean human rights issue.  Seoul has been absent or has abstained from a series of U.N. votes on the issue since 2003, apparently to avoid antagonizing its communist neighbor, and has come under growing pressure from the international community to be more vocal on the matter.

The landmark decision was made after a heated internal debate, officials said, as the Foreign Ministry wanted to get tough on North Korea, while the Unification Ministry, which has the mission of promoting inter-Korean ties, asked for a cautious approach.  It was a difficult choice, they added, especially as the six-way talks on North Korea’s nuclear program are set to to resume in the middle of next month after a year-long break.

….
According to the resolution, the North is strongly urged to “fully respect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and expend its full cooperation to the Special Rapporteur” on the country’s human rights situation. 
It also requests the U.N. secretary-general to submit a comprehensive report on the situation in North Korea. Ban Ki-moon, South Korea’s former foreign minister, will take office as the U.N. chief in January.

“The government has decided to vote for the resolution, and expects the decision to make contributions to the improvement of the human rights as a universal value and serve as a stepping stone to facilitate concrete dialogue and cooperation between North Korea and the international community in the field of human rights, which is needed more urgently after the nuclear test,” the Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

I think we owe Ban Ki Moon some credit here.  Expect the North Koreans  to throw a royal tantrum.  As for the government and the ruling party, they’re obviously very split over this.