), issued a statement criticizing the new South Korean law, which, he said, could deepen the brutal isolation imposed on millions of North Koreans by the dictatorship in Pyongyang. However, a leading sponsor of the bill argued there was another motivation: to salvage nuclear negotiations with North Korea. Seoul’s actions affect Washington because the incoming Biden administration will have to act fast to come up with a new U.S. policy on North Korea. Nongovernmental organizations in Washington and human rights groups are also warning that their activities on behalf of North Korean human rights — many of which are based in South Korea — could become collateral damage. He also said that danger to South Korean communities along the border was real, and that the South Korean government had to balance two competing interests, the safety of its citizens and their right to free speech.

Source: Washington Post December 17, 2020 11:02 UTC