Sept. 4 (UPI) -- South Korea could be turning a new leaf on North Korea human rights after weeks of criticizing defector groups engaging in anti-Pyongyang activism.
An official from Seoul's unification ministry told reporters on Friday the government is trying to "faithfully implement" the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2016 and is working with NGOs on advancing rights protection, News 1 and Yonhap reported.
The South Korean ministry official also said Seoul continues to take part in resolutions on North Korea at the United Nations General Assembly and at the intergovernmental Human Rights Council. Last year, however, South Korea opted out of co-sponsoring a resolution on rights at the General Assembly, citing circumstances on the peninsula, according to U.N. Special Rapporteur Tomás Ojea Quintana.
On Friday, the ministry said Seoul is "making a number of efforts" to resolve the issues of separated families, South Korean prisoners of war still trapped in the North, abductees and detainees.
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The government official added there are plans to cooperate with Seoul's National Assembly to launch a North Korea Human Rights Foundation. In 2016, South Korean conservatives sought to pass a law to establish a South Korean Human Rights Foundation Archive and an advisory committee. The foundation may have never launched following the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye.
The ministry said Friday the government seeks to establish a "virtuous cycle" that could promote North Korea human rights and inter-Korea peace, reports say.
The exchange between the ministry and reporters comes after Unification Minister Lee In-young had said at a hearing he would "like to review" or revisit the Human Rights Foundation proposal in coordination with parliament.
Seoul's North Korean Human Rights Act became law in September 2016. It allows the government to keep an official record of rights abuses in the North. According to the law, the record can be used as grounds for potential punishment of North Korean authority figures.
