SEOUL — Washington signaled a tougher line with North Korea as U.S. officials here savaged the communist state over its purported human rights abuses and illicit activities.
The hawkish rhetoric has ignited fears in South Korea, which seeks stable relations with the North, that hard-liners may be taking control of U.S. policy toward Pyongyang.
At a conference on Pyongyang’s human rights issues sponsored by Freedom House and South Korean nongovernmental groups in Seoul yesterday, the U.S. special envoy on North Korean human rights, Jay Lefkowitz, called the isolated nation “a hidden world of hopelessness and terror.”
“Once light begins to shine on authoritarian regimes, the march of democracy cannot be far behind,” he added.
The conference was co-sponsored by the U.S. government, which in April granted Freedom House $1.97 million to create forums on North Korean human rights. Some 20 South Korean civic groups protested the event, saying it could jeopardize Seoul’s already shaky relations with Pyongyang.
Mr. Lefkowitz’s comments followed unequivocal statements by the U.S. ambassador to Seoul, Alexander Vershbow, who was appointed in October.
Mr. Vershbow on Wednesday called North Korea a “criminal regime” and compared its currency counterfeiting operations to attempts made by Adolf Hitler to derail Britain’s wartime economy with fake notes.
Mr. Vershbow also blamed Pyongyang for setting “artificial barriers” in nuclear arms talks.
Pyongyang announced Tuesday it would boycott six-party negotiations expected this month unless Washington lifted sanctions imposed against some of its business arms.
Mr. Vershbow’s comments drew criticism from South Korea. “Speeches that could agitate the other side should be refrained from,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Analysts expressed fears that the tough U.S. rhetoric would further undermine the scant trust between Washington and Pyongyang.
“North Korea says, ’We need nuclear weapons because of a hostile U.S. policy,’ ” said Choi Jin-wook of the Korean Institute of National Unification. “I am concerned not only at U.S. policy, but also at North Korea’s reaction. It will be very tough, very harsh.”
There also have been worries in the press here that Christopher Hill, former U.S. ambassador to Seoul and chief negotiator with North Korea at denuclearization talks, may be losing influence in Washington. Mr. Hill has been viewed in South Korea as a moderate pragmatist in dealing with the North.
Senior South Korean officials reportedly declined to attend the North Korea human rights conference. One member of the governing Uri Party did attend, however.
“No one can deny that the human rights issue in North Korea is very serious,” said Chung Eui-yong, a foreign policy expert and national assemblyman. “But it can be counterproductive to politicize the issue. Speak up, but don’t provoke too much.”
After “candid, direct discussions” with Foreign and Unification Ministry officials in Seoul, Mr. Lefkowitz told reporters there were “differences” on how to achieve change in North Korea.
In an apparent swipe at Seoul, which this year pledged to give 500,000 tons of humanitarian aid directly to Pyongyang, Mr. Lefkowitz said countries providing aid “should insist on a rigorous protocol of monitoring and transparency.”
He also said he hoped Seoul, which has consistently abstained from voting on past U.N. resolutions condemning North Korean human rights abuses, would vote in the future.
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