November 5, 2006

1. Please briefly introduce yourself.

I am the Executive Director of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. I am responsible for conceptualizing and coordinating all projects undertaken by the Committee. HRNK is a broad domestic and international grassroots initiative on the issue of human rights in North Korea. I have testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the subject of North Korean refugees and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on life inside North Korea. I am a member of the Senate Foreign Relations focus group on North Korean refugees, and the China task force sponsored by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

2. How did you become involved with NK refugees?

I first became involved with the issue of North Korean refugees when the Committee was established, 5 years ago. Addressing the North Korean refugee crisis is one of the primary areas in which the Committee is currently conducting work. In fact, we will be releasing our refugees study “The North Korean Refugee Crisis: Human Rights and International Response” in early December.

3. What are the NK and the NK refugees’ greatest needs these days and how is your group helping?

The greatest need right now for North Korean refugees living in hiding in China is that they are not forcibly returned to North Korea. North Koreans in China are highly vulnerable, and must have protection. Currently, China does not allow the UNHCR to evaluate the status of North Korean refugees. China considers them to be economic migrants. By not allowing the UNHCR to assess the status of North Koreans in China, the Chinese government is failing to carry out its obligations under the UN Refugee Convention, to which it is a state party. In addition, despite the importance of economic motivations and the government of China’s desire to portray North Korean refugees as economic migrants, they must be considered refugees on the basis of their well-founded (and well-documented) fear of persecution should they return to North Korea. North Korea is a highly authoritarian regime with an abysmal human rights record. Under North Korean law, leaving the country without permission is a capital crime, punishable by imprisonment and torture. Importantly, it is North Korean government policy-political repression, economic incompetence, and denial of the most basic human rights, including the criminalization of exit-that creates the refugee problem.

It is in this regard that the Committee is trying to address and create long-term solutions. By urging and working with the international community, including UN member states, up to the UN Security Council, to take up the case of human rights and humanitarian concerns in North Korea, the Committee is seeking to achieve human rights reform in the country, such that its citizens are less vulnerable, and thus creating more stability on the peninsula and along its borders. In its work with DLA Piper, an international law firm, on a legal argument for addressing human rights and humanitarian concerns in the form of a document entitled “Failure to Protect: A Call to the UN Security Council to Act in North Korea” (October 2006), and through the initiative of the report’s three co-commissioners (Vaclav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic; Kjell Magne Bondevik, former Prime Minister of Norway; and Elie Wiesel, Nobel Laureate), the Committee has outlined how North Korea is committing crimes against humanity, and we make recommendations to the UN Security Council under Chapter VI of the UN Charter to engage with North Korea in a formal process through which human rights and humanitarian concerns can be addressed.

4. What are some of the biggest blessings from/hindrances to your work?

There are two big blessings in my work. The first is meeting North Korean refugees who have survived, and who have reached safety. Speaking with them, and working with them have enriched my experience with this issue enormously, and provide motivation in my work. The second is working with individuals and members of the NGO community, who have devoted themselves to helping the North Korean people. They are an inspiration.

5. What is your vision for NK?

My vision for North Korea is a country in which every citizen, regardless of their station, enjoys the personal freedoms that are enshrined in the UN human rights covenants, to which North Korea is a state party. The ability to speak freely; to move freely inside and out of the country; to have adequate access to food; to have access to information; to practice one’s own religion; to associate freely; all without fear of persecution and torture. This is my vision for North Korea.

6. What is your advice for anyone interested in helping?

My advice to those wanting to help on this issue is get involved in any way that you can. In this campaign everyone can contribute something.

• Give of your time as a volunteer to an NGO.
• Write to your Representative about your concern about the issue.
• Organize an awareness-raising event at your school, church, or other civic institution.
• Donate money to your favorite human rights in North Korea NGO.
• Keep yourself informed.

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