24 October 2016•Update: 24 October 2016
By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
North Korea denied Monday that it was ever consulted before South Korea’s decision to abstain from a United Nations vote on Pyongyang’s human rights record in 2007.
The statement from the North’s inter-Korean affairs committee was the first comment from Pyongyang regarding the scandal that has rocked Seoul politics since a former South Korean foreign minister’s memoir was published earlier this month.
Song Min-soon alleged in his book that the Roh Moo-hyun administration sought North Korea’s opinion before abstaining from the UN vote nearly a decade ago -- a far cry from Seoul’s present day push to hold Pyongyang accountable for the reportedly widespread abuse of its people.
The claim has piled pressure on opposition presidential hopeful Moon Jae-in, who served as chief of staff to Roh -- with conservative lawmakers calling on Moon to clarify events.
But Pyongyang contested Song’s allegation with its own attempt to set the record straight.
“[South Korea] had neither suggested any opinion nor informed [North Korea] of its stand to abstain from voting for the adoption of the resolution on human rights," a committee spokesperson stated according to the North’s official KCNA news agency.
While the KCNA report went further in suggesting that a conservative “smear campaign” was underway in the South, all parties in Seoul appeared to view Pyongyang’s statement with suspicion.
A unification ministry spokesman, for example, accused North Korea of seeking “to drive a wedge between South Koreans”.
As the conservative Saenuri Party reiterated its demand for the truth, Moon also urged Pyongyang to stay out of South Korean politics according to an opposition lawmaker cited by local news agency Yonhap.
