U.N. Special Rapporteur Soldiers On
He was seconded by a fallen government, gets no respect from the U.S. government, and works for the world’s most overrated entity, but Vitit Muntarbhorn, the U.N.’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea is making (in U.N. terms, at least) a creditable effort to do his job:
An independent U.N. investigator on North Korea’s human rights situation Tuesday described the food shortage and rights violations in the country as ”very grim” and called on Japan to strengthen support systems for those who have fled the country.
U.N. special rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn also urged Pyongyang to ”take action efficaciously” to address its past abductions of Japanese and other foreign nationals, stressing that the international community ”remains highly unsatisfied” with its response so far. [Kyodo News]
Muntarbhorn is visting Japan this week. The Japanese seem to have had some success at cultivating him to leverage world opinion toward the return of their abducted citizens. And while I tend to believe that “world opinion” is also overrated, I’m glad to see the Japanese continue to buck the trend of excusing North Korea from every known law, principle, or standard of civilized conduct.
From the 18 DEC Chosun ilbo:
“A South Korean activist on Tuesday claimed the iron curtain shutting North Korea off from the outside world beginning to crack due to a massive inflow of information. Ha Tae-keung, the president of Open Radio for North Korea, made the claim in an article titled, “North Korea in Media War,” on the website Redian. “The recent controversy over sending leaflets to North Korea is simply a sign of how strained Pyongyang is over the inflow of outside information,” he wrote.
“Something surprising is taking place in the North this year,” Ha said. “One of the two pillars underpinning the North Korean system — information control and iron-fisted rule — is crumbling down rapidly.
Ha claimed the leader’s position was also crumbling. “The deference toward Kim Il-sung in the past is gone almost entirely. Until a decade ago, North Korean refugees I met in China used an honorific title for Kim Jong-il without fail. But today they disparage him as ‘that guy’ without hesitation. Respect for Kim Jong-il has gone completely. Kim’s brainwashing power is coming to an end.”
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200812/200812180012.html