BY: MOHIT MANN South Korea/North Korea Border. Source. Governments and international bodies from all corners of the world have pursued economic and financial sanctions against North Korea in efforts to punish the totalitarian regime for its many draconian policies, including grave human rights violations. While these measures present obstacles to the North Korean economy, their fundamental objectives remain largely unfulfilled. The effectuality of such measures is a matter that deserves the undivided attention of proponents of human rights since the North Korean government continues to severely restrict the scope of human rights within its jurisdiction, despite the heavy toll that has been exacted on its economy.
Experts argue that the success of international sanctions against North Korea has been largely undermined by “the failure of some countries to enforce them and the willingness of some companies to flout them”. Thus, the primary question for human rights advocates with respect to the effectuality of these measures is whether they would achieve the desired outcome of shifting North Korea’s stance on human rights if they were to be intensified. International sanctions seem to largely target North Korea’s nuclear pursuits, whereby attention to human rights violations is subordinated. For example, the United States has partially lifted its sanctions on the North Korean government on various occasions in exchange for a promise to halt its nuclear program and dismantle parts of its facilities. Yet, North Korea has reneged on its promises time and again. In addition to the subordination of human rights issues to concerns over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, North Korea continues to receive support from states that have a similar human rights record to its own. The predominant supporters of North Korea in this matter are Russia and China, both of which lack a substantial human rights regime to say the least. For example, U.N. diplomats believe Russia and China falsely promote the idea that sanctions are in fact the cause for North Korea’s humanitarian problems in order to argue that North Korea should be provided sanctions relief. Moreover, North Korea recently expressed its desire to cut international aid staff that the United Nations deploys in the country due to the belief that the United Nations’ programs have failed “due to the politicization of U.N. assistance by hostile forces”. The aforementioned efforts of sanctions evasion thus present the biggest challenge associated with sanctions: enforcement. Enforcement is the responsibility of individual states, yet national authorities often have inefficient resources to inspect shipments and some individuals and entities continue to do business with North Korea outside the purview of the law. To make the problem worse, United Nations sanctions are especially prone to being ‘watered down’ in order to secure the backing of Russia and China due to their veto power in the U.N. Security Council. Both Russia and China are committed to precluding any type of regime change in Pyongyang. Nevertheless, many experts argue that before any new sanctions are considered, existing sanctions need to be better enforced. The North Korean government is responsible for committing some of the worst atrocities against its own people. Sanctions have not proven to be particularly useful tools for dispelling human rights violations in North Korea. However, they can have an altogether different effect if they are better enforced. States that impose sanctions against North Korea must look beyond the veil of its nuclear program and into its domestic realm in order to ensure that human rights violations are genuinely accounted for, in addition to their other major concerns. North Korea’s supporters also represent a significant obstacle to the effective implementation of sanctions; therefore, stronger international efforts are required to refute their positions. It is unequivocal that stronger enforcement mechanisms and measures are indeed required for this pursuit. Source 1, Source 2, Source 3.
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