Securitization of Human Rights

North Korean Refugees in East Asia

Mikyoung Kim

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780313364075
• eBook ISBN: 9798216142997
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Emigration & Immigration
• Index: Social Sciences

This important book focuses on North Korean refugee human rights issues—a topic largely ignored in favor of addressing North Korea's domestic politics and deterrence of Pyongyang's nuclear threat. The first book of its kind, Securitization of Human Rights: North Korean Refugees in East Asia examines the complex problem of "what to do with North Korea"—specifically, regarding human rights issues and treatment of North Korean refugees. The book spotlights four key countries—China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States—with regard to their policy stance towards North Korean human rights issues, analyzing the dynamic tension between realpolitik and moral principle by looking at the regional governments' responses. Rather than focusing only on politics and foreign policy, this book is about the people involved, describing the plight of North Korean refugees, the perspective of South Korean citizens, and the quandary facing power elites in the regional governments.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• 1. Introduction: North Korean Human Rights
• 2. The Refugees
• 3. Political Construction of Human Rights in China
• 4. Security Construction of Human Rights in Japan
• 5. Social Construction of Human Rights in South Korea
• 6. Moral Construction of Human Rights in the United States
• 7. North Korea in the East Asian Community
• 8. Conclusion: Reality and Theories
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index