China and Human Rights in North Korea

By exploring the "China factor" in the North Korean human rights debate, this book evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of applying the Chinese development-based approach to human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The contributors to this book treat the relevance of the Chinese experience to the DPRK seriously and evaluate how it might apply to easing North Korean human rights issues. They engage with the debate about the relevance of the developmental or development-based approach to North Korea. In doing so, they problematise, scrutinise and contextualise the development-based approach in Northeast Asia, including China, and examine different responses to the developmental approach and the influence of domestic politics on these responses.

A valuable contribution to discussions on possible ways forward for human rights in North Korea and an insightful critique of the Northeast Asian development model more broadly.

Part 1: The Global Politics of Human Rights in North Korea 1: A developmental approach to North Korea's human rights problem: Lessons from China? 2: North Korea's Human Rights: The View from the United Nations 3: China's roles in the UN Human Rights Council regarding North Korea's human rights Part 2: The Developmental Approach and Regional Actors 4: A development-based approach to human rights: The case of China and its implications for North Korea 5: Development or human rights first? Japan's approach to North Korea 6: Debating human rights and the development-led approach in South Korea Part 3: Prospects for the development-led approach in North Korea 7: The Constraints of North Korean Domestic Politics and the potential of China's Developmental Approach 8: Choosing a developmental approach for and in North Korea