I’m firmly in the camp that this is something I will have to see to believe:

The just-inaugurated Lee Myung-bak administration on Monday made it clear to the international community that it will get more active on the human rights of North Koreans than the previous two administrations. The new South Korean government represented by Park In-kook, deputy foreign minister for international organizations and global issues, presented a position on the human rights issue in North Korea at the seventh session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.  [Chosun Ilbo]

The previous Roh Moo-hyun administration abstained from voting for UN resolutions condemning the North Korean human rights situation every year except 2006 which they only voted for the resolution because of the North Korean nuclear test.

Lee Myung-bak in a short time has already spoken out much more vocally about promoting human rights in North Korea then Roh ever did, but what Lee says and what he actually does could be two different things.  Call me cynical, but I will believe South Korean efforts to improve North Korean human rights when I actually see it happen because a slave labor island is not my idea of improving North Korean human rights, but hopefully Lee will surprise me with his commitment to North Korean human rights.

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