If South Korea’s National Assembly can’t pass a North Korean human rights law now, I doubt there will be another opportunity anytime soon. But not surprisingly, the Workers’ Party, south Chosun Branch Democratic Party remains opposed, leading to this wonderfully expressive quote from Nam Sung Wook of the Institute for National Security Strategy:

Therefore, he asserted, “Hoping to pass the North Korean Human Rights Law by the mutual consent of both opposition and ruling parties is the same as looking for fish in a tree. There is the need to use the authority of the Chairman of the National Assembly to enact the law.

At the same event, Hong Joon Pyo of the Grand National Party encouraged lawmakers, “I ask you to do your best to pass the North Korean Human Rights Law by the end of this year,” calling it, “The highest priority of governmental policy on North Korea is passing the human rights law. It is symbolically very significant. [Daily NK]

Not to whine about one of my all-time favorite newspapers, but this article would have been more helpful if it told us what the current draft law actually does.

Adding insult to injury: “North Korea offered on Tuesday to provide samples of its torpedoes to refute an international investigation that blamed Pyongyang for the sinking of a South Korean warship earlier this year.”

I swear there’s a word for that: North Korea links meetings between its captives and their family members to aid from South Korea. Incidentally, at the last “reunion,” four of the hostages turned out to be South Korean POW’s, held over in violation of the 1953 Armistice agreement.

Evan Ramstad, who is now blogging at the Wall Street Journal’s Korea Real Time in addition to his other reporting, informs us that in addition to “Rimjingang,” there is also “Imjingang.“