A comprehensive roadmap to help improve human rights conditions in North Korea will be published around mid-November, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said.

The mid-to long-term project, designed to establish grounds for the systematic improvement of human rights in the communist nation, will contain detailed action plans, the first of its kind initiated by a government agency.

The long-term roadmap will tackle human rights issues in the North, which will affect North Korean people, defectors and South Koreans kidnapped by the North during and after the 1950-53 Korean War.

The project will be carried out in close cooperation with international organizations such as the United Nations and the International Court of Justice.

The commission will spend about 100 million won (US$83,000) on the plan. It has signed a contract with a North Korea-specialized research lab at Kyungnam University in Masan, South Gyeongsang Province, requesting the latter to undertake the job.

"The roadmap will come forward with policies and action plans the Seoul government will pursue to improve North Korea's human rights in the long run," said Lee Yong-geun, a NHRC officer familiar with the issue.

"So far, the government's approach to the issue has remained mostly short-sighted and void of action plans. But this current roadmap will be different."

The commission said the North could face a greater challenge in human rights depending on its relations with the South, the United States and China.

"Amid growing uncertainty, we need to implement long-sighted objectives to become proactive in dealing with the issue," the official said.

Date: 31 May 2010

Source: The Korea Times