The landmark three-day Seoul Summit concluded on Saturday with a declaration agreed by the hundreds of international participants to bring a stop to the human rights abuses in North Korea.
Christian activists, politicians and human rights groups from around the world affirmed in unanimity a common interest and concern for North Korean human rights.Heated discussions over the past few days focused on the severe human rights abuses and the passive path that the South Korean government had decided to take against their neighboring country's continual violation of its people's rights and freedoms. South Korea had abstained from a vote that passed during the United Nations General Assembly in November expressing serious concern on the human rights situation in North Korea.
"Many summit participants are saddened by the South Korean government's silence and passiveness towards the summit and the refusal to participate in the summit by some civic organisations that claim to promote democracy and human rights," said a statement in the Seoul Summit Declaration on North Korea's Human Rights.
While the South Korean government says that it is being cautious not to hinder their relations with the North in pursuit of six party talks, many prioritise human rights at the top of the agenda to improve South-North relations.
"Since the improvement of human rights is a necessary step for North Korea to gain the trust of the international society, we are certain that an active discussion on North Korea’s human rights will contribute to the real improvement of South-North relations and the establishment of lasting peace in Northeast Asia," said the statement.
Jay Lefkowitz, who was appointed U.S. envoy for North Korean Human Rights in August, stated the responsibility of the international community at large to improve the situation of the millions suffering in North Korea.
"The United States feels very strongly that it is our duty and, indeed, the international community's duty to try to improve the lives of North Koreans," he said at an earlier news conference during the summit.Japan appointed on Tuesday a special envoy on human rights, Fumiko Saiga, who intends to pursue stronger cooperation with the United States and other countries to handle the cases of Japanese abducted by North Korea.
North Korea has remained on the U.S. Department of State's list of "Countries of Particular Concern" in its annual International Religious Freedom Report for years. Reports have noted no sign of improvement in religious freedom in the North and only a growing number of accounts on its human rights abuses.
Seoul Summit's participants, numbering nearly 1,000, committed themselves to an eight-point declaration.
The following is part of the text of the declaration made on Dec. 9, 2005:
