Seoul (AsiaNews) - The new law on human rights in North Korea continues to polarize the political debate in the southern part of the Korean peninsula. The text, prepared and approved by the governing Grand National Party, is considered "unfit" by the democratic opposition, which accuses: "It will not help the rights situation in the regime of Kim Jong-il in any way."
The text, approved on 11 February, includes the establishment of new bodies of control over the communist country, the law stipulates that there should be a new Commission, within the Ministry for Unification, to prepare and approve new development plans Human Rights in North Korea. The point at issue concerns the new limits imposed on the sending of humanitarian aid.
According to the Government, more stringent limits must be imposed to prevent the military, and not the people of the North, from benefiting from the aid. Democrats attack the law, which they claim “puts at risk thousands of innocent lives. " In protest, the Democratic members of the National Institute for the Unification - which approved the law - left the hall during the vote.
An analyst at Seoul University, explains: "The law is like this government; sensible but impractical. If we apply it by the letter, in fact, we will certainly deal a blow to the regime that seizes and uses the goods that we deliver for the people for other purposes. But it is also true that in doing so we close the doors to our brothers who are in serious difficulty”.
The solution comes from the Catholic Church. A missionary working among the two Koreas, explains to AsiaNews: "The risk is always there. That's why the important thing is to get government permission to distribute aid that is brought into the country directly to North Koreans. Sure, there's always the possibility that it will be taken away later on, but this cannot be used as a reason to kill people by doing nothing".