South Koreans lose faith in promise of improved human rights in the North: survey

A series of summits in 2018 raised hopes of reform but South Koreans’ expectations have been dashed due to recent tensions

North Korea in June blew up a shared liaison office after the South failed to prevent activists flying propaganda leaflets across the militarised border

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in meeting in the demilitarised zone in 2018. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:00pm, 30 Dec 2020Updated: 9:04pm, 30 Dec 2020

After a series of summits in 2018 between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, hopes soared in the South for improved human rights in the North. But that rapprochement has since stalled and, according to a survey released earlier this week, South Koreans have lost confidence in the ability of its authoritarian northern neighbour to change direction.

According to the poll released by the Database Centre for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), nearly twice as many South Koreans see “no possibility” of any improvement in human rights conditions in the North compared with 2018. The NKDB said the results were based on the responses of 1,000 participants contacted by phone.

Although 65.1 per cent of South Korean citizens in 2018 believed change was possible, that number plunged to 37 per cent this year, according to the survey by the Seoul-based non-profit group, which tracks alleged rights abuses in the North.

Of the respondents, 21 per cent said they believed conditions in the North had deteriorated. Just 16.5 per cent said they had improved, down from 21.1 per cent last year.

The 2018 summits led to pledges for increased cooperation and exchanges designed to denuclearise the Korean peninsula. Any thaw in ties has since reversed: Pyongyang in June blew up an inter-Korean liaison office after expressing fury over Seoul’s failure to stop activists flying propaganda leaflets across the militarised inter-Korean border.

North Korean defectors send balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border. Photo: EPA

Nearly 65 per cent of respondents to the NKDB survey said they supported “active intervention” to improve conditions on the basis of universal human rights, although 30 per cent regarded it as a domestic issue in the North and said external interference was not warranted.