HONOLULU -- No issue more clearly illustrates the chasm in public perceptions that has developed between the United States and South Korea than the issue of human rights in North Korea.
Last October President George W. Bush signed the North Korean Human Rights Act, which provides funds to focus international attention on the problem, calls for appointment of a special envoy and mandates special treatment for North Korean defectors.
The legislation passed unanimously in Congress in an election year, but some reformist members of the South Korean National Assembly -- reflecting mainstream public opinion there -- have complained that the law is a potential obstacle to inter-Korean cooperation. These "progressive" lawmakers charge that the law constitutes interference in Korean affairs and is an attempt to promote regime change on the Korean Peninsula.