Four North Koreans defect to the South by boat

Four North Koreans defected to South Korea by sea this week. Yonhap, South Korea's national news agency, reported that the defectors were a husband and wife, their son and daughter-in-law.

Yonhap, which cited no sources in its report, said the four North Koreans were in a small wooden boat when a patrol boat from the South Korean Navy picked them up Tuesday night. Escapes from North Korea through the heavily guarded land and sea borders between the two Koreas are uncommon.

More than 14,000 people from the hunger-stricken North have defected to South Korea since1953, but most of the defectors have come through China.

[International Herald Tribune]

Remembering North Koreans on the 60th Anniversary of Human Rights Day

December 10 was the 60th anniversary of the 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly.

All possible human rights efforts in the international community must be sustained through not only the UN Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly but also multilateral cooperation channels, and the roles of numerous non-government organizations working on the ground must be further recognized and supported.

In this respect, we welcome the adoption of a new (November 21) North Korea human rights resolution at the UN General Assembly. We think it particularly significant that South Korea participated as a joint sponsor alongside European countries. We should pay attention to humanitarian activities for North Koreans and the courageous acts of organizations offering assistance to North Korean defectors.

It is hoped that the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will serve to meditate on the true meaning of human rights: "Recognizing the dignity and equal and unalienable rights of all human families is the basis of world liberty, justice and peace."

[Excerpt of Chosun Ilbo column contributed by French Ambassador to Korea, Philippe Thiebaud]