North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004

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Signed into U.S. law by President George W. Bush on October 18, 2004, The North Korean Human Rights Act is intended to make it easier for the United States to assist North Korean refugees by: (1) Providing humanitarian assistance to North Koreans inside North Korea; (2) Providing grants to private, nonprofit organizations to promote human rights, democracy, rule of law, and the development of a market economy in North Korea; (3) Increasing the availability of information inside North Korea; and (4) Providing humanitarian or legal assistance to North Koreans who have fled North Korea.

1 The North Korean Human Rights Act
2 History of the North Korean Human Rights Act
3 Criticism
4 Implementation
5 See also
6 External links
- 6.1 Sites
- 6.2 Articles

[edit] The North Korean Human Rights Act

H.R. 4011, the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, passed the U.S. Senate on September 28, 2004, after a lengthy amendment process. The amended version of the bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives on October 4 without further changes.

On October 18, 2004 President George W. Bush signed the North Korean Human Rights Act, which offered U.S. support for human rights groups in North Korea and for refugees leaving the secretive state.

According to a statement released by the White House on October 21, 2004, the "Act provides [the U.S.] with useful new tools to address the deplorable human rights situation in North Korea by focusing [U.S.] efforts to help both those who flee the regime and those who are trapped inside the country."

According to a March 23, 2004 House resolution, the intent of the Act is "[t]o promote human rights and freedom in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and for other purposes."

The Act earmarked $124M a year for such causes and made North Koreans eligible for political asylum in the United States.

Sec. 302(a) of the Act states that the purpose of the Act "is not intended in any way to prejudice whatever rights to citizenship North Koreans may enjoy under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea." However, interesting and potentially significant wording found in Sec. 302(b) states that "a national of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea shall not be considered a national of the Republic of Korea." Previously, North Koreans had been treated as citizens of South Korea, which still technically claims sovereignty over the whole peninsula.

[edit] History of the North Korean Human Rights Act

The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 is much improved from its predecessor, H.R. 3573/S. 1903, The North Korean Freedom Act of 2003. The Human Rights Acts deleted many provisions from the earlier Freedom Act that would have needlessly endangered North Koreans hiding in China and focuses more on human rights.

[edit] Criticism

Prior to passage of the bill, some voices in South Korea criticized the bill, at the same time that many appeared to misunderstand its contents. Some members of South Korea’s ruling Uri Party claimed that the new law would increase tensions on the Korean peninsula and damage relations between North and South Korea. They claimed that "the act may have dire consequences for peace on the Korean peninsula" and "the act is perceived as aiming to overthrow the Kim Jong-il government and will inflame the delicate political balance in the region."

Some liberal organizations in South Korea, including Min Byun (Lawyers for a Democratic Society), People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, and the National Council of Churches in Korea and others, reportedly issued a joint statement on July 22, 2004, proclaiming that "We are concerned that the bill could negatively affect peace in the Korean peninsula rather than contribute to the improvement of the human rights condition in North Korea."

[edit] Implementation

On May 5, 2006, six unnamed North Koreans were granted refugee status by the United States, the first time the U.S. accepted refugees from there since the North Korean Human Rights Act was signed in October 2004. The group, which arrived from an unnamed Southeast Asia nation, included four women who said that they had been the victim of forced marriages.