VOA慢速英语--活动人士称朝鲜会谈需要包括人权

Activists¹ Say North Korea Talks Need to Include Human Rights

South Korean President Moon Jae-in was able to reach several agreements with North Korea’s leader during a three-day meeting last week.

Moon’s trip also added energy to slowing talks on efforts to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump² said he could hold a second meeting with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, in his words, “quite soon.”

But some observers worry that North Korea’s human rights record has not been a part of the discussions.

In 2014, the United Nations Office of Human Rights' Commission of Inquiry³ released a report. It accused North Korea of “gross human rights violations⁴.” It said many of the violations may be crimes against humanity.

The report went on to say that the human rights violations in North Korea were unequaled in the world. It said North Korea seeks to control its citizens’ lives and “terrorizes them from within.”

In a statement, South Korea's presidential office said Moon plans to work with the international community to develop a plan for peace between the two Koreas.

The office added that South Korea is ready to work with the international community on issues like peace, development and humanitarian⁵ aid. It also said it would discuss human rights and climate change. The office added that South Korea would like to increase its cooperation with the UN.

Human rights not part of current discussions

But human rights supporters told VOA they are concerned. Steps toward peace, reconciliation⁶ and even reunification, they say, are good signs. But, human rights has not been part of the talks.

Greg Scarlatoiu is Executive Director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. He said agreements have been reached between South and North Korea in declarations from meetings in Panmunjom in April and in September. But, he said, human rights policies have not been involved in the South’s discussions with the North.

None of the discussions dealt with North Korea’s human rights violations, said Scarlatoiu.

Phil Robertson is Deputy Asia director for the group Human Rights Watch. He did point to one point of progress: "the important humanitarian reunification between the separated families." In August, North Korea permitted some families from the South to visit with their relatives who were separated by the Korean War..

South Korea's Ministry⁷ of Unification administers the Council on North Korean Human Rights and "works closely together with other agencies."

The ministry said it will put forth⁸ a plan for human rights in North Korea and carry out policies that support it.

In an email to VOA, the unification ministry wrote, "The government places emphasis on human rights.” The ministry also said it works to “continuously improve the quality of life for North Koreans."

The message said that the easing of military tensions and additional agreements will lead to the improvement of human rights in North Korea.

Pressure needed

Rights supporters, however, say more needs to be done.

They suggest increased international pressure is needed to ensure that North Korea discusses human rights issues.

Robertson said “human rights can’t be left off” the discussion, although he agreed that peace talks and unification issues are the most important.

Scarlatoiu added that avoiding the issue of human rights during the early talks will make it more difficult to raise them later.

After praising the leader of North Korea, "I don't know how president Moon is going to move to a position where he raises human rights concerns,” he said.

The unification ministry said the government will find “measures to enhance human rights of North Koreans." But the ministry has given no details on how it plans to do that

Robertson says there has been a lack of progress on North Korean human rights issues by the South Korean government.

"The North Korean human rights act was passed by the South Korean Parliament two years ago," Robertson said, "and still two years later, we have no real progress on implementing…that law.”

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

gross – adj. very obvious or noticeable act

reconciliation – n. the act of causing two people or groups to become friendly again after an argument or disagreement

emphasis - n. the act of causing two people or groups to become friendly again after an argument or disagreement

enhance – v. to increase or improve

implement⁹ – v. to begin to do or use something, such as a plan

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

4 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

9 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。