The U.N. is accused of covering up allegations of mass rape in Darfur, reports @columlynch. http://t.co/RkgNGHiLJe pic.twitter.com/HaoR82jpBl
— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) November 22, 2014
This would be great news if it does in fact happen not because I expect anyone in the North Korean leadership to ever stand trial at the ICC, but because of the further international pressure it puts on the regime to improve its human rights situation:
A draft U.N. resolution on North Korea’s human rights problem calls for referring the totalitarian nation’s leader, Kim Jong-un, to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a diplomatic source said Wednesday.
The draft resolution, written by the European Union, was circulated behind closed doors at the U.N. on Wednesday, the source told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak about the proposed resolution until it is adopted.
“It marks the first time that a U.N. resolution on North Korea human rights includes a plan to bring the North Korean leadership to an international court over anti-human rights charges although this is a draft now,” the source said. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but this may explain why the North Koreans recently have been trying to explain away their gulags as “reform through labor camps” instead.
If this guy wants to see real racism he should travel to North Korea:
A U.N. special rapporteur on racism and discrimination on Monday recommended that South Korea ratify the international convention on protecting rights of migrant workers, saying that there are “serious problems” of racial discrimination in the country.
Mutuma Ruteere, U.N. special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, is in Seoul to do research on situations involving racial discrimination, marking his first visit to South Korea. He has met with officials from the government and civic groups during his eight-day stay.
Ruteere said that South Korea has made “important progress” in addressing the issue of racism and xenophobia, given its history of ethnic and cultural homogeneity.
The country, however, now confronts “emerging challenges” due to an influx of foreigners and migrant workers who are contributing to social change and a shift from a migrant-sending country to a migration destination. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but there is going to be incidents where migrant workers are going to exploited especially if they are illegal immigrants. Fortunately conditions are much better for immigrants in Korea compared to a decade ago. For example the conditions the juicy girls in the villes used to live in were horrible compared to today. If the UN is so concerned about racism in Korea than the best thing they could do is advocate against illegal immigration which allows unscrupulous employers to exploit workers.
British sailors who are in port at Pusan stopped by the United Nations Cemetery in Pusan to pay their respects.
If you haven’t been to the UN cemetery in Pusan you really should go. The cemetery has graves from many of the countries involved in the Korean War and the experience is quite sobering especially when you realize the few thousand graves there are just a small minute fraction of the overall war dead from the Korean War. Another interesting fact about the cemetery is that it is the only UN operated cemetery in the world. It is a quiet, pleasant place, which is actually quite amazing considering it sits in the middle of one of Korea’s busiest cities.
John Bolton continues to do great work at the UN by nearly getting the United Nations Security Council to approve sanctions against North Korea that actually has some teeth in them:
 Article 8 of the draft resolution says all UN member nations are to prevent all goods, equipment, products and technology related to North Korea’s nuclear development from going into the country, and that such materials are banned from direct or indirect transfer to the North via land and sea. It also covers luxury goods.
Member nations will be obliged to freeze financial assets owned and managed by individuals and organizations proven to have helped the North develop weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear arms and missiles. When it comes to the contentious issue of inspections of North Korean vessels, UN members are called on to take “cooperative action†as necessary under their own domestic law and in a way that does not violate international law.
Basically what I’m getting out of reading this resolution is that anything related to the NK nuclear program will be hit with sanctions including even luxury items for the regime. So Kim Jong-il may have some less cognac in stock this winter. The sanctions also hit North Korean leaders with a travel ban. It will be interesting to see how the travel ban is implemented. Does it mean Kim Jong-il can’t take train journeys to Russia and China anymore? Or Kim’s son can’t take family holidays at Tokyo Disneyland as well?
The big item in the sanctions is the cargo inspections of North Korean ships. The way I interpret the sanctions is that the US and it’s allies can conduct cargo inspections. If cargo inspections of North Korean ships is implemented expect some kind of incident to happen, because these inspections would shut down the North Koreans drug trade activities. To move their drugs the North Koreans would have to ship them over land through China which could be potentially embarrassing for the Chinese. Plus if the US does implement the sanctions they should be very careful about having the Japanese help with the inspections because a fire fight for example between the North Koreans and the Japanese may bring up old imperial Japan sentiments in South Korea and China no matter how outrageous they may seem.
The US media is playing it that the sanctions are weak because it does not hit North Korea with full sanctions on all their economic activities. My response to that is what other economic activity does North Korea have? Drug running and counterfeiting?  Now the big question for South Korea will be the Kaesong and Kumgangsan economic projects with North Korea:
The draft resolution is still ambiguous in determining the kinds of transactions UN members are prohibited from conducting with North Korea. When it is put into action, however, such inter-Korean business projects as the Kaesong Industrial Complex and package tours to Mt. Kumgang, which are cash cows for the North, will come under the scrutiny of a committee to be established in the UN to monitor whether member countries are adhering to their obligations. The UN will put more pressure on Seoul to inspect North Korean vessels in the East and West Sea.
The US would have to prove that these projects provide money for the North Korean weapons programs. Though it is obvious that they are, it would be difficult to prove. Expect these programs to continue under the Roh Administration but once a new South Korean president is elected next year expect them to end.
The final vote and approval of these sanction should happen in the next 24 hours.
More sanctions coverage at One Free Korea (particularly good) and the Marmot.
This resolution is actually quite impressive that US Ambassador John Bolton was able to get both the Russians and the Chinese to back this resolution against North Korea:
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Saturday to impose weapons-related sanctions on North Korea in response to its flurry of missile tests earlier this month.
The resolution demands that North Korea suspend “all activities” on its ballistic missile programs.
It requires all U.N. members to prevent imports from or exports to North Korea of missiles and missile-related items as well as materials that could be used in weapons of mass destruction.
To avert a veto from China, the resolution does not mention Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which is used on a legally binding document. But Security Council members say the resolution is mandatory because of the way it is worded.
China and Russia had originally proposed weaker language, but agreed to a tough resolution. They expressed fears that Chapter 7 would lead to military action as in Iraq.
The real judge of this resolution is going to be how well it is enforced. Remember Saddam Hussein had sanctions leveled against him by the UN and from first hand experience I can tell you that the sanctions did not stop him from buying lots of weapons for his war machine from the usual sources such as the Russians and even so called US allies like France. So quite possibly the Chinese and Russians signed on to this resolution knowing full well it will only be enforced by the US and the Japanese only.
Here is what the North Koreans think of the sanctions:
North Korea’s envoy to the United Nations warned Saturday his country would be forced to take “strong physical action” should it be pressured on its “self-defensive” missile launches, protesting a resolution passed unanimously by the U.N. Security Council condemning his government.
Amb. Pak Gil-yon, addressing the council, said North Korea “totally rejects” the resolution and vowed Pyongyang will “go on with missile launch exercises as part of its efforts to bolster deterrent for self-defense in the future.”
He said the United States has “totally hamstrung efforts” for sincere dialogue on North Korean issues by applying financial sanctions. He also accused the U.S. of threatening the North with military exercises targeting it.
At least these sanctions are something against North Korea, but don’t expect this resolution to solve the North Korea problem. This resolution just makes it a little bit more difficult for North Korea to import parts for their missiles and in turning selling them internationally. This just tightens the noose a little bit more on North Korea’s sources of hard currency and hopefully will ultimately make them more likely to return to six party talks seeking to make a deal over their nuclear program. At least that is the hope, but I remain skeptical.
This story is truly despicable. A group of people has vandalized the UN Cemetery in Busan:
A giant anti-U.S. President George W. Bush message apparently written in herbicide has appeared on the lawn of the UN Memorial Cemetery in Daeyeon-dong, Busan. The site is reportedly on the itinerary of visiting national leaders attending the APEC summit in November.
The office of the UN Memorial Cemetery said Thursday it notified Nambu Police Station on the morning of June 14 that someone had written “NO BUSH” in 10 m high letters on the lawn between the flags of nations participating in the Korean War and the graves.
The cemetery’s office said it appeared the perpetrators used liquid herbicide to write the message, which was 50 m wide, with each line some 30 cm thick. Given the scale, it must have taken several people with spraying tools to write it, the office said. The grass is being restored.
This reminds me of when the grave stones of GIs killed during the invasion of Normandy in France were spray painted by anti-American vandals with the words, “Remove this rubbage from French lands”.
If someone has got a problem with Bush that is fine. Go stand on the street corner and protest. You have every right to do so but you don’t have the right to harm others or vandalize property. Especially the hollowed ground of UN soldiers buried at the UN Cemetery. That is right it isn’t just the remains of US soldiers buried in Pusan. The cemetery in Pusan is the only cemetery administered by the UN in the whole world and includes remains of soldiers from all the countries that took casualties during the war. I have traveled to the cemetery before and it is really a beautiful and solemn place for being situated in the middle of Korea’s 2nd largest city of Busan.
I would hope that people no matter what their political persuasions may be would agree that such a place should be considered sacred. It is unfortunate that such an act of vandalism is kept in the back pages of the papers and is not causing an outcry here in Korea. The memories of these dead soldiers are cheapened by such an act of vandalism by a country these international soldiers gave their lives to save. The way the youth is today, I doubt these same protesters would be willing to die for Korea like these soldiers did during the Korean War.
Could you imagine the outcry if somebody put anti-Bush graffiti somewhere at Arlington National Cemetery? I think even the kookiest Democrats like Howard Dean would even condemn such an act. Why shouldn’t Korea do the same for this cemetery?
Big shout out to Katolic Shinja for pointing this story out.
