The alleged torture of North Korean human rights activist Kim Young-hwan by Chinese investigators is escalating into a diplomatic dispute between the two governments.

Seoul’s Foreign Ministry toughened its stance Tuesday, promising to assist Kim’s and his supporters’ plans to take China’s human rights abuses to the United Nations.

Earlier in the day, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman denied the claim of torture, saying China had “proceeded with the investigation according to the law” and “protected the rights and interests of (Kim).”

Kim was expelled from China on July 20 along with his three colleagues after 114 days in detention. He said that he was tortured with electricity for up to eight hours, licked on the face, deprived of sleep for a week and coerced into 13 hours of daily labor.

The Chinese authorities had demanded he stay silent about the abuses as a condition for his release but he refused, Kim added. His supporters plan to appeal to international bodies and criticized the Foreign Ministry for failing to take stern countermeasures against China.

Cho Tae-young, a spokesperson for Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, said the government will “actively support” Kim if he takes the issue to multinational agencies. The ministry will also direct its consuls in China to interview all 625 Korean inmates in the country to investigate whether they were abused. Regarding China’s denial, Cho said Korea does not regard it as an official response. Seoul demanded China reinvestigate the alleged torture of Kim after he was deported. The government is still awaiting an “official answer” through their diplomatic channel, he added

“We have requested from the Chinese government a strict reinvestigation, apology, punishment for those responsible and measures to prevent future abuses. And we will continuously raise the issue (until China responds),” spokesperson Cho told a news briefing.

South Korean ambassador to China Lee Kyu-hyung has asked for a meeting with a senior government official to explain Seoul’s position and the need for stringent fact finding, Cho said.

The Committee for the Release of North Korean Human Rights Activist Kim Young Hwan said last week that it filed requests in May and plans an additional appeal for an investigation into Kim’s confinement with the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, and the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in Geneva.

Electrical torture is a breach of the U.N. Convention Against Torture, which China signed in 1988, and a serious human rights violation targeting foreign nationals, it said.

Seoul’s National Human Rights Commission is also reportedly seeking international backing such as through a U.N. body or chairman’s statement. The agency’s officials met with Kim on Monday to learn about his detention and suspected torture.

In November, the commission issued a statement to urge the Chinese government not to repatriate about 50 North Korean defectors to their repressive homeland.

Kim was arrested on March 29 in the southeastern border city of Dalian while helping North Korean refugees. He was charged with “endangering national security.”

The other three are Yoo Jae-gil, 43, Kang Shin-sam, 41, and Lee Sang-yong, 31.

Presidential Chief of Staff Ha Kum-ioul vowed that the government will “take all measures it can” to quell the controversy and protect the citizens and activists.

Nevertheless, Beijing is expected to continue to deny the charge so as to avoid international attention over its grim human rights record. It has taken flak for deporting North Korean defectors despite severe penalties in store at home especially since Seoul brought it up at a U.N. Human Rights Council session in Geneva early this year.

The Korean government has few other options to resolve the case if China insists on having found no evidence to verify Kim’s claims, observers say.

With the December presidential vote drawing near, a potential protraction of the two-way wrangling may pile extra burdens on Seoul and dampen public sentiment toward its biggest trade partner.

“Such methods as U.N. and ICC appeals are not as easy as you may think,” a senior ministry official said on condition of anonymity, citing lack of physical evidence and other procedural complexities.

Ha Tae-keung, a former North Korean rights activist and now a lawmaker of the ruling Saenuri Party, lashed out at the ministry for failing to take proper steps even after it learned about the abuses.

“The ministry and intelligence officials knew all this but had attempted to handle it quietly because it felt burdened about diplomatic friction with China.”

The ministry said it summoned Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Zhang Xinsen to lodge a complaint after Kim told Korean consuls on June 11 about the abuses. It called in Zhang’s proxy Chen Hai last week to ask for a reinvestigation.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)