North
Korea UNSC
Meeting Set
for Dec 10,
Rights Day,
Ban Out of
Town?
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 4 --
For the past
month there
have been
rumors, stoked
in some cases
by the UN,
that Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon may
visit North
Korea.
To some
it seemed
strange, right
after the UN's
Third
Committee
enacted a
resolution
about human
rights in
North Korea.
What that
country might
gain from a
high level UN
visit might be
clear --
showing that
the resolution
didn't mean
much -- and
some surmise
that the
Korean
Peninsula is
increasingly
Ban's focus.
But what would
be in it, from
a Ban-to-DPRK
visit, for the
resolution's
proponents?
On
December 3 the
Spokesperson
for the U.S.
Mission to the
UN Hagar
Chemali issued
a statement
that “last
year in
December the
UN Security
Council
convened for
the first time
in history to
discuss the
human rights
in the
Democratic
People's
Republic of
Korea (DPRK).
Today, Chile,
France,
Jordan,
Lithuania,
Malaysia, New
Zealand,
Spain, the
United
Kingdom, and
the United
States have
requested
another
meeting of the
Security
Council to
examine
conditions in
DPRK and their
effects on
international
peace and
security. As
President of
the Security
Council for
the month of
December, the
United States
will now work
quickly to
schedule this
meeting. We
will provide
additional
details as
soon as we
have them.”
Now,
again from Ms.
Chemali, this:
"We intend to
convene the
Security
Council
meeting on the
situation in
the DPRK on
Thursday,
December 10 at
2:30 PM. We
are currently
working with
the
Secretariat to
explore the
availability
of senior
briefers from
DPA and OHCHR.
We will update
on briefers as
soon as we
have more
details."
In the
US Mission's
December 3
statement,
Ambassador
Samantha Power
said: “A year
ago, the
Security
Council met
for the first
time on the
widespread and
systematic
human rights
violations
being
committed by
the North
Korean
government.
Having placed
the issue on
the Security
Council’s
agenda last
year, we
believe it is
critical for
the Council to
continue to
shine a light
on the abuses
in North Korea
and speak
regularly
about the
DPRK’s human
rights
situation –
and what we
can do to
change it –
for as long as
the crimes
committed
there
persist.”
For now we can
say, this
would seem to
make a Ban
Ki-moon visit
to DPRK (even)
less likely,
at last in
December. And
in January,
when Uruguay
is set to be
UN Security
Council
president?
Watch this
site.
Back on
November 17
when Ri Hung
Sik,
Ambassador
at-large of
the Democratic
People's
Republic of
Korean, held a
press
conference at
the North
Korean
mission, he
said that he
had heard
nothing,
nothing at
all, about UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
visiting North
Korea, which
Yonhap
ascribed to a
senior UN
source.
Even when
asked a
leading
question about
a hypothetical
Ban trip, Ri
Hung Sik said
Ban's UN would
have to
improve its
relations with
DPRK. Inner
City Press is
putting
the audio
online here,
and embedded
below.
Inner
City Press ran
back to the UN
and asked
Ban's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, transcript here:
Inner City
Press: here
was just a
press
conference at
the Democratic
People's
Republic of
Korea (DPRK)
mission, and
there their
minister, Ri
Hung Sik,
asked about
the
Secretary-General's
possible
reported trip,
said he's
heard nothing
about it at
all and that
there are many
rumours on the
internet.
He also said
that this
South Korean
national
security law
that makes it
illegal for
South Korean
citizens to
speak
positively of
the DPRK…
that's how he
described it…
should be
looked at by
the UN.
So I wanted to
know, what is
the
Secretary-General's
view of that
law? And
if that's an
accurate
description,
is he bound by
it?
Spokesman:
I'm not aware
of the
law. As
far as Ban
Ki-moon, he is
the
Secretary-General
of the United
Nations and is
doing his duty
as such.
But why did
Team Ban play
it so coy on
Yonhap's
report? Now
late on
November 17,
the UN has
issued this
more specific
denial:
"In response
to questions
asked about a
report from
Xinhua and the
Korean Central
News Agency
stating that
the
Secretary-General
would be
travelling to
the Democratic
People’s
Republic of
Korea next
week, the
Spokesman had
the following
to say: The
Secretary-General
will not be
travelling to
the DPRK next
week. He will
be in New York
most of the
week and then
travel to
Malta for the
Commonwealth
Summit. From
there, he will
go to directly
to Paris to
attend CoP21.
The
Secretary-General
has repeatedly
said that he
is willing to
play any
constructive
role,
including
traveling to
the DPRK, in
an effort to
work for
peace,
stability and
dialogue on
the Korean
Peninsula."
Before
Inner City
Press left the
DPRK mission
on November
17, it asked
Ri Hung Sik
for his view
of UN Special
Rapporteur
Marzuki
Darusman and
when or if UN
High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights Prince
Zeid will
visit North
Korea.
Of
Darusman, Ri
Hung Sik said
he met him
only once, and
that it seems
Darusman does
not speak his
own words, or
think his own
thoughts. Of
Zeid, he said
the discussion
is of
technical
cooperation,
but no date
was given. Video here.
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