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| Photo Credit: CIA |
By Catherine Mullin
Last week President Song acknowledged
that the UN Security Council could refer a case in North Korea to the
International Criminal Court, allowing the ICC to take up alleged human rights
crimes in the country. The Office of the
Prosecutor is currently gathering information on North Korea, and such events
as including the shelling of
Yeonpyeong Island on November 23, 2010 and the sinking of South Korean warship,
the Cheonan, which was hit by a torpedo allegedly fired from a North Korean
submarine on March 26, 2010, during the preliminary examination phase. Though North Korea is not a state party, the
alleged crimes have been conducted against South Korea, a state party. Because North Korea has not ratified the Rome
Statute, it would be unlikely that individuals from North Korea would give
themselves up, or be handed over by other North Korean nationals to the Court.
Thus, an arrest warrant might be executed only if the suspect travelled to a
state party, though such leaders as Kim Jong-Un do not often travel outside of
North Korea.
