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At the offices of the group MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society in Seoul’s Seocho District, attorney Jun Sasamoto (second from left) announces interim findings on Aug. 29 from an international team visiting South Korea to investigate allegations regarding the orchestrated defection of employees from an overseas North Korean restaurant.
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International jurists’ group publishes interim report following S. Korea visit, investigation
Overseas jurists visiting South Korea to investigate the en masse defection of North Korean restaurant employees in a suspected “planned operation” to influence the 2016 general elections delivered a message to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) on Aug. 29 demanding the prompt release of related investigation findings. Speaking at a press conference that afternoon at the offices of the group MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society in Seoul’s Seocho District, three international investigation team members affiliated with the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) and Confederation of Lawyers of Asia and the Pacific (COLAP) voiced “concerns about the absence of any investigation despite the employees appearing to have arrived in South Korea ahead of the general election through involvement by the National Intelligence Service (NIS).” “It can be surmised that government institutions and officials are not taking any responsibility for the employees,” they said, demanding appropriate actions including allowing the employees to meet with family members in North Korea. The press conference was attended by Micol Savia, an Italian attorney and IADL representative; Jun Sasamoto, a Japanese attorney and secretary-general of COLAP; and Niloufer Bhagwat, an Indian attorney and vice president of the same group. During a visit to South Korea on Aug. 25–26, they met with officials from NHRCK and the Seoul office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for their investigation, along with reporters from the JTBC network who reported on allegations that the North Korean restaurant employees’ defection was a planned operation. IADL is a lawyers’ group formed in Paris in 1946 to protect human rights. COLAP was formed in Kathmandu in 2016 by human rights, judges, and prosecutors in the Asia-Pacific region, including India, Japan, and Nepal. The international investigation team explained that it “raised questions with NHRCK [which is responsible for investigating the defection orchestration allegations] regarding the improper delay in an announcement of findings from its investigation.” “The NHRCK secretary-general informed us that findings have emerged in the investigation into the incident, but that they have not been made public yet and will be in the near future,” the team said. At the same time, the team stressed that “the NHRCK’s delay in announcing findings itself constitutes a violation of the North Korean employees’ human rights.” The team also noted, “We asked different South Korean government institutions and officials whether the 12 restaurant employees were provided by the government or other agencies with the means and methods to meet with family members and were told they were not.” “This is a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” the team said. The team members further expressed concerns about the failure to properly investigate allegations that the Ministry of Unification’s announcement of the en masse defection of the 12 North Korean employees of the Ryugyong restaurant in Ningbo, China and their manager on Apr. 8, 2016 – five days before the general election – was part of an operation by the NIS and the previous Park Geun-hye administration. They also said that if the employees were remaining in South Korea after being misled by the manager into defecting, this could constitute a criminal act. The team members reported experiencing difficulties with their investigation of the NIS, Ministry of Unification, and National Policy as the institutions declined to meet with them, citing the ongoing NHRCK investigation. The international team plans to continue its additional investigation by visiting Pyongyang on Sept. 1–4 to meet with family members of the North Korean employees and other Ryugyong restaurant employees who returned to North Korea. A final report is to be drafted late next month and submitted to the UN Human Rights Council. “Once the report has been submitted, the UN Human Rights Council will pursue measures after making a determination on what form of human rights violation this case represents,” Savia said. By Jung Hwan-bong, staff writer Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
