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North Korean Human Rights: A Long Journey with Little Progress

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"North Korean Human Rights: A Long Journey with Little Progress" examines human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea) and the approaches that the European Union has taken to address the situation. In this paper, Mike Cowin provides perspective on EU-DPRK engagement; the two sides officially established diplomatic relations in May 2001. The EU and its members have continued to raise the human rights issue during bilateral meetings. But, North Korea says it will continue to refuse dialogue if the EU continues to sponsor resolutions against North Korea at the UN Human Rights Commission/Council. The EU has rejected this as a precondition. "The EU has had no incentive or justifiable reason to take the initiative to break out of this chicken-and-egg dilemma...The DPRK has also maintained its position. The gap between the two sides has therefore widened," he writes. Cowin suggests the EU could take additional steps to restart EU-DPRK engagement.

Mike Cowin is the 2014-15 Pantech Fellow in the Korea Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center. Before coming to Stanford, he served as the deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Pyongyang, North Korea. He has also served in the British embassies in Seoul from 2003 to 2007, and in Tokyo from 1992 to 1997.

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Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
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Mike Cowin
Mike Cowin

Engaging North Korea: A British perspective

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The human rights situation in North Korea has gained considerable attention lately, due in part to an official report released by the United Nations last year. The landmark report condemned North Korea for systematic and widespread human rights violations.

Now for three weeks in March, the UN human rights council meets in Geneva for its regular session. North Korea’s human rights situation is a top agenda item, marked by a rare appearance by North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su Young. In Dec. 2014, the UN General Assembly urged the Security Council to take up the situation of North Korea, including a possible referral of those responsible for prosecution in the International Criminal Court.

Looking beyond UN – U.S. – North Korea engagement, the European Union and its members have long-raised similar concerns. In a new policy brief “North Korean Human Rights: A Long Journey with Little Progress,” Mike Cowin details the human rights situation and institutions involved from a British perspective.

“The DPRK will need to make considerable efforts if it is to undermine more than a handful of the hundreds of testimonies of abuse that have been collected and brought to the world’s attention,” writes Cowin, a former deputy chief of mission at the British Embassy in Pyongyang.

Cowin is the Pantech Fellow in the Korea Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center. Before coming to Stanford, he also served in the embassies in Seoul from 2003 to 2007, and in Tokyo from 1992 to 1997.

The EU and North Korea have held seemingly incompatible positions for the past 11 years, and the March council meetings are unlikely to change that impasse. However, Cowin suggests that the EU should seek ways to have more impact.

“Perhaps the EU, which has often led the world on human rights, could find some way to talk with the DPRK, establishing a mutually acceptable way to restart engagement,” he writes.

Cowin says restarting engagement may take the form of quiet, long-term confidence building.

The Korea Program has published additional works focused on human rights in North Korea, including a paper that looks at living with disabilities in North Korea by Katharina Zellweger and an op-ed by Gi-Wook Shin calling for international consensus on the North Korea problem. Engaging North Korea is also a research focus of the Korea Program, which last year produced a policy paper on North-South Korean relations and the prospect for unification.

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Vetting Candidates in Korean Elections: Traditional Media and the Rise of Social Media

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South Korea ranks second globally in smart phone ownership, and among larger countries its Internet penetration rate ties Germany for second place. It is thus not surprising that social networking services (SNS) have been playing an ever-increasing role in South Korean life, including electoral politics. The hope was that SNS would enable citizens to make more informed choices about the candidates and thereby strengthen democracy and governance, but the most recent presidential election campaign witnessed an unprecedented proliferation of rumors and slander against all the candidates due in significant measure to the rise SNS. Meanwhile, traditional media outlets have not done a good job of inspecting candidates on behalf of the electorate. Mr. Sungchul Hong, a visiting scholar in the Stanford Korean Studies Program and a senior journalist with Korea Broadcasting System (KBS), will examine these developments and their implications for Korean democracy, and offer recommendations for improving the media’s performance in the responsible vetting of candidates.
 

Philippines Conference Room

Sungchul Hong

Shorenstein APARC
Stanford University
Encina Hall E301
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

(650) 736-0691 (650) 723-6530
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2013-2014 Visiting Scholar
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Sungchul Hong is a visting scholar in Korean studies for the 2013-14 academic year. As vice-chief news correspondent at the Korea Broadcasting System, Mr. Hong has widely covered political and social affairs in both national and international sections.

He holds a BA in sociology from Yonsei University.

Sungchul Hong Visiting Scholar in Korean Studies, APARC Speaker
Seminars

The ABCD Framework of K-Strategy: The Secret to Korea's Success

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Economists and business scholars have long tried to construct theoretical models that can explain economic growth and development in emerging economies, but Western models have not always been fully applicable to developing economies, particularly in Asia, due to differences in political, economic and social systems. Created to address this gap, the ABCD framework of K-Strategy is a more nearly universal approach showing how inherent disadvantages can be overcome and competitive advantages achieved. Using the ABCD framework, the lecturer will analyze Korea’s success at both national and corporate levels since the 1960s and discuss the framework’s implications for Korea’s future government policies and corporate strategies. He will also demonstrate the ABCD framework’s applicability to other countries. Hwy-Chang Moon, dean of Seoul National University’s graduate school of international studies, has done extensive research and theoretical work on the ABCD framework.

Hwy-Chang Moon received his PhD from the University of Washington and is currently a professor of international business and strategy in the graduate school of international studies at Seoul National University. Professor Moon has taught at the University of Washington, University of the Pacific, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Helsinki School of Economics, Kyushu University, Keio University, Hitotsubashi University, and other executive and special programs in various organizations. On topics such as international business strategy, foreign direct investment, corporate social responsibility, and cross-cultural management, Professor Moon has published numerous journal articles and books. He is currently the editor-in-chief of the Journal of International Business and Economy, an international academic journal. Professor Moon has conducted consulting and research projects for several multinational companies, international organizations (APEC, World Bank, and UNCTAD), and governments (Malaysia, Dubai, Azerbaijan, and Guangdong Province of China). For interviews and debates on international economy and business, he has been invited by international newspapers and media, including New York Times and NHK World TV.

This event is made possible through the generous support of the Koret Foundation.

Philippines Conference Room

Hwy-Chang Moon Dean, Graduate School of International Studies; Professor of International Business and Strategy Speaker Seoul National University
Seminars

Journalism and Democracy in Korea: The First Year Presidential Jinx

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South Korean voters have chosen six presidents since the country’s democratization in 1987. Unlike the United States, where newly elected presidents pass signature legislation thanks to a "honeymoon" with Congress, new South Korean presidents immediately face parliamentary obstructionism. Korea’s current president, Park Geun-hye, who recently completed her first year in office, has not been an exception. During the past year, the ruling and opposition parties did not even engage in genuine dialogue, much less reach substantial compromises in the National Assembly. The damage to national governance is all the more serious as Korean presidents may serve only a single, five-year term. 
 
What explains this first year "jinx" for Korean presidents? While the causes include deficiencies in governmental and political institutions, 2013-2014 APARC Fellow Guem-nak Choe argues that a primary factor is the role played by Korean journalism. Himself a former senior journalist and the top public relations aide to the previous Korean president, Mr. Choe will compare Korean and American journalism and offer recommendations for Korean media reform.

Philippines Conference Room

Guem-Nak Choe

Shorenstein APARC
Stanford University
Encina Hall C332
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

(650) 725-0938 (650) 723-6530
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2013-2014 APARC Fellow
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Gordon Guem-nak Choe joins the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center as an APARC Fellow for the 2013-14 academic year. He will be involved with our Korean Studies Program. 

His research encompasses the relationship between media and politics. During his time at Shorenstein APARC, Gordon will work on a comparative study on communication skills between presidents of Korea and the United States.

Choe has over 25 years of experience as a journalist, reporting with Korea’s major broadcasting stations including MBC (Munhwa Broadcasting Company) and SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System). He was SBS's chief correspondent to Washington, DC during the Clinton admistration. He also worked as editor-in-chief and vice president for news and sports at SBS. Later he joined the public sector as Senior Secretary for Public Relations to then-South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. Choe holds a BA in economics from the Seoul National University.

Guem-Nak Choe 2013-2014 APARC Fellow Speaker the Shorentein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University
Seminars

Dealing with North Korea's Nuclear Ambitions – A New Approach Needed?

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This is a keynote speech open to the public during the Sixth Annual Koret Conference on "Engaging North Korea: Projects, Challenges, and Prospects."

The North Korean nuclear threat has now been with us for more than a quarter century.  Our policy of "strategic patience" seems more patient than strategic as the US waits for Pyongyang to meet certain preconditions before we return to the bargaining table.  But North Korea continues to develop both its nuclear weapons and missile systems, and there are no negotiations in sight.  What alternatives are there to our current approach?  If so, what might those look like?

Ambassador Bosworth is a former career diplomat, he served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Tunisia. Most recently, he served as U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy for the Obama administration. 

 

Oksenberg Conference Room

Stephen W. Bosworth former U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Speaker
Lectures
Koret Workshop
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