Funny, my exams ended on the same day as the Six Party Talks. Nothing much happened on the blog, nothing much happened on the talks. On the other hand, a lot of things are gonna happen here (hopefully).

But at least this time South Korea voted for it

UNITED NATIONS: The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution criticizing a wide range of human rights violations in North Korea including torture, forced abortions and silence by the communist regime over the abduction of foreign nationals.

The resolution was approved Tuesday a vote of 99-21, with 56 abstentions. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they do reflect world opinion.

China and Russia voted against the resolution, which expressed “very serious concern” at “continuing reports of systemic, widespread and grave violations of human rights” in North Korea.

South Korea, which previously abstained on similar votes at various U.N. bodies, voted in favor of the resolution, saying last month there was an even greater need for cooperation on human rights between North Korea and the international community following Pyongyang’s recent nuclear test.

The broad range of human rights violations by Pyongyang outlined in the resolution included torture, public executions, forced abortions and human trafficking, as well as “unresolved questions … relating to the abduction of foreigners in the form of an enforced disappearance.”

But that’s about as far as UN can go. Until I see UN Apache’s ripping apart the Janjaweed in the Sudan, the UN’s “concern” (even the serious ones) is probably as worthless as North Korea’s currency.

Would you give up your identity to help others thousands of miles away?

This being The Wall Street Journal, we went straight to the bottom line. How much, we asked our visitor at a recent editorial board meeting, does it cost to free one North Korean refugee hiding in China?

The Rev. Phillip Buck pauses a moment before replying, apparently making the yuan-to-dollar conversions on the abacus in his mind. “If I do it myself,” he says, “the cost is $800 per person. If I hire a broker to do it, it’s $1,500.”

Pastor Buck is a rescuer. It’s a job title that applies to a courageous few–mostly Americans and South Koreans and predominantly Christians–who operate the underground railroad that ferries North Korean refugees out of China to South Korea, and now, thanks to 2004 legislation, to the U.S. Mr. Buck, an American from Seattle, says he has rescued more than 100 refugees and helped support another 1,000 who are still on the run. For this “crime”–China’s policy is to hunt down and repatriate North Koreans–he spent 15 months in a Chinese prison. He was released in August.

Now you know, Phillip Buck is his superhero name.