On
DPRK
Abductions,
Ban Says
Involved in UN
Denunciation,
No Details Yet
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 16 --
The
allegations of
abductions by
North Korea
are serious.
Serious enough
that if UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
says as he did
this week in
South Korea
that he is
actively
involved
in getting a
UN body to
denounce them,
his Office
should be able
to
describe his
involvement.
This was
described in Yonhap
News via the
Korea Herald
of August 14:
Ban "said he
'actively took
part' in
getting the
U.N. Working
Group on
Arbitrary
Detention to
denounce the
detentions and
urge North
Korea to
release the
women, in
May."
But
after 29
hours, the
requested
description
has not been
provided. At
the
August 15 noon
briefing
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's deputy
spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey:
Inner
City Press:
The
Secretary-General
apparently,
before leaving
South
Korea, he said
that he was
going to be
very involved
– it was a
South Korean
media report –
that he was
going to be
very involved
in seeking the
release of a
South Korean
couple thought
to be
abducted by
North Korea
some time ago.
And the quote
– this is
what I wanted
to ask you
about – he
said, 'Mr. Ban
said
that he
actively took
part in
getting the UN
Working Group
on Arbitrary
Detentions to
denounce the
detentions in
May.' And,
having been
here
in May, I
wasn’t really
aware of that.
Was there some
– what was
his
involvement?
Maybe you’ll
know or you
can find –
what was
his
involvement in
that Working
Group on
Arbitrary
Detentions?
Deputy
Spokesperson
Del Buey:
Well, I’ll
have to check
on that,
Matthew,
I don’t have
that
information
with me, OK?
That
was OK, August
15 at noon.
But when 5 pm
hit on the
next day
August
16, and no
information
had been
provided, this
article was
called
for. Sometimes
answers ARE
given. Earlier
in Ban's trip
on August
13
Inner City
Press asked:
Question:
Sure, I wanted
to ask about
the Koreas and
also Yemen
again. I saw
that there
were these
comments by
the
Secretary-General,
after he met
with the
Foreign
Minister of
the Republic
of Korea,
about how the
two
sides should
work together.
And I just
wondered,
during this
trip,
did he make
any – did he
ask to meet
with anyone
from the DPRK
[Democratic
People’s
Republic of
Korea] side?
And, maybe – I
don’t know if
you’ll know
this offhand –
but when was
the last
time he met
with a DPRK
official? If
he’s calling
on both sides,
is
he attempting
to speak to
both sides?
Deputy
Spokesperson
Del Buey: I’ll
have to find
out when the
last time he
spoke to a
DPRK official
was. I don’t
have that
information
with me
right now, no.
On
that question,
an answer WAS
later provided
by e-mail:
"As
for your
question on
the last
meeting
between the
Secretary-General
and a DPRK
official, the
Secretary-General
met Vice
Minister for
Foreign
Affairs Pak
Gil Yon on 28
September 2011
at UN
Headquarters."
Did
Ban raise the
abductees
issue at that
meeting? Will
he during this
year's General
Debate? Watch
this site.
, 
