Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-06-15-Speech-4-226"
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"en.20060615.31.4-226"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, North Korea is one of the most problematic countries that the European Union has passed an opinion on in connection with respect for human rights.
This applies for two fundamental reasons: first, there is a regime of rigid control in place in North Korea, and therefore the public receive only scraps of information on human rights abuses in the country. Secondly, North Korea views international intervention on human rights as a covert attempt to destabilise their society or even to overthrow their government. As an example of this attitude we might recall their recent reaction to the motion for a resolution on North Korea submitted by the European Union to the UN General Assembly last year. Korea afterwards demanded that the European Union and other donors terminate their humanitarian aid programmes. We might also recall the explosive reaction to the letter sent by the UN special rapporteurs in April warning about the situation of Mr Son Jong Nam.
North Korea has one of the worst human rights records in the world. For this reason the Commission and the Member States of the EU have been raising the question of human rights in talks with North Korean officials, and they will continue to do so. They hold fast to that position despite the fact that a recent meeting of three political leaders was postponed in retaliation for the UN General Assembly resolution.
The impending execution of Mr Son Jong Nam and the unusually large volume of information that has come out about this and about his imprisonment is extremely significant. Representatives of the Commission and of several Member States met with top North Korean officials on 2, 3, 11 and 24 May in order to express their serious concerns over this case and to emphasise their increasing alarm over the state of human rights in North Korea generally. In this context they referred particularly to the death penalty.
I would like to assure you once again that the Commission will continue to cooperate closely over all of these issues with the country holding the presidency and will maintain contact with the European Parliament.
In view of the fact that the Chinese authorities are sending refugees back to North Korea, the EU has repeatedly expressed serious concerns over the situation within the framework of the human rights dialogue with China. The lack of will on the part of the Chinese authorities to pursue this problem does not in any way weaken the EU’s determination to find a proper solution to this problem. The issue is still under discussion.
Ladies and gentlemen, the human rights situation in North Korea is a theme that we must pursue and we will pursue. Of this I am in no doubt."@en1
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