More than 50 South Korean legal experts launched an organization to campaign for human rights in North Korea on Tuesday.

The Lawyers for Human Rights and Unification of Korea will engage in issues such as Korean War POWs from the South still detained in the North, North Korean escapees, and South Korean citizens who were abducted by North Korean agents.

“It is time that we approached the human rights crisis in the North with a firm legal basis to really improve the situation,” said its leader Kim Tae-hoon, a North Korea human rights activist and former judge at a Seoul district court.

He added that it was important to emphasize the Kim Jong-un regime’s responsibility for crimes against humanity.

The group stressed civic activists’ role in fighting the North’s abuses against its people as South Korea still lacks legal framework on North Korea human rights, while the U.N. has recently stepped up efforts such as setting up a Commission of Inquiry to raise awareness of the issue.

The South’s National Assembly has failed to pass a North Korean human rights legislation because of disagreements between the ruling Saenuri Party and the opposition Democratic Party regarding specific clauses in the bill.

By Jeong Hunny  (hj257@heraldcorp.com)