The West German policies on East German human rights from 1949 to 1990 can be classified into the following three types. The first type (Type I) was ``hostile human right policy`` toward the communist regime. Based on the militant anti-communism and t...
The West German policies on East German human rights from 1949 to 1990 can be classified into the following three types. The first type (Type I) was ``hostile human right policy`` toward the communist regime. Based on the militant anti-communism and the political and ideological condemnation it is aimed at the overthrow of the communist regime in the GDR through various propaganda activities and strategies. It didn``t allowed any official dialogue and negotiation with the East German political leaders to improve the situation of human rights in the GDR. The second type (type Ⅱ) of the normative human rights policy is grounded on the democratic critique of communism. While rejecting the militant anti-communism and Cold War political culture rooted in hostility and confrontation, it showed an interest in freedom, self-determination and human rights as universal values and principles and gave fundamental and normative censure on the human rights abuses in the communist system. Finally, the West German governments in the 1970s and 1980s carried out the practical human rights policy(Type Ⅲ) toward the GDR. The core of this policy was to seek harmony and reconciliation from antagonism and confrontation and, by dong so, to relieve concrete human sufferings and improve the human rights conditions in the GDR gradually and realistically. Constant dialogue with the Communist rulers was essential and desirable. A lot of humanitarian issues could be resolved by negotiations that were focused on each specific issues. Just as the West German governments had done since the late 1960s, in my opinion, the government of South Korea should adopt in the long run both the type Ⅱ and the type Ⅱ human rights policies in parallel and combined fashion, but not the type I. On the one hand, it should constantly monitor human rights abuses of the North Korean regime and clearly criticize North Korean political leaders based on the normative standards of human rights. On the other hand, we must remember that the most important dimension of the human rights policies has something to do with the pragmatic and realistic way. In addition, the German experience shows the importance of the political consensus on the possible combination of the normative and pragmatic dimensions of the human rights policies. It is imperative that various South Korean politicians and NGOs agree among themselves on the coexistence or parallel development strategy of making peace with the communist regime and on the criticism of its human right situation.