CNA Staff, Jul 9, 2020 / 12:15 pm
A federal commission is calling on the U.S. to push for greater respect for human rights in North Korea, in exchange for a freeze on their nuclear program and not full denuclearization.
In a new report released on Wednesday, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) advocates that the U.S. take a new approach to working for the denuclearization of North Korea and a peace agreement.
While the U.S. has viewed human rights advocacy as a potential obstacle to denuclearization talks, pushing it to the side, it should instead view "security and human rights objectives as complementary rather than contradictory," USCIRF says.
A new policy based on the 1975 Helsinki Accords would link human rights to discussions on freezing North Korea's nuclear program, and not dismantling it entirely, USCIRF says.