North Korean Problems and International Cooperation

North Korean human rights problem centers on the North Korean problem. South Korean government recognizes that improving the human rights situation of the North Korean people is a way to uphold a universal value of mankind and an important task in achieving unification on the Korean Peninsula. Accordingly, the South has made efforts to improve human rights in the North together with the international community, for instance, by joining the UN in adopting resolutions on North Korean human rights. At the same time, experts and policy makers in the South also fully understand that human rights issues are sensitive enogh to aggravate the North's any possible communication channels to international soceity. Therefore carefully-designed policy options to cooperate with international players are critically needed. Based on this backgound, the panel has been organized to acedemically analyze, 1) to evaluate the North Korean problem in the context of the non-traditional security threats to global community, 2) a comprehensive approach on the North's economic and social conditions in terms of human rights protection mechanism, 3) how to achieve better roles of UN and global governance to solve the problem, and 4) the importance of "paradigm shift" in leveraging global initiatives to advance North Korean problems.