Return to *North Korean Studies*

Citizens' Alliance to Help Political Prisoners in North Korea 

(October 2001 ~ October 2002)

Leading His Flock of Refugees to Asylum

By Valerie Reitman, LA Times, October 27, 2002

A missionary helps North Koreans flee via China and Mongolia. Risking death, the escapees brave the elements and jail.

ERENHOT, China -- It is their last supper together, and the shepherd has gathered his small flock of North Koreans around a table piled with steaming plates of shredded pork, rice and braised tofu. But the seven refugees are too nervous to do more than nibble. Among them: a woman claiming to be an elite worker in North Korea's nuclear missile program; a muscular former soldier whose heavily scarred arms attest to a previous escape attempt; a woman who had been sold as a bride. Urged to "be strong, be cold," she is leaving her toddler behind.

Their guide and pastor is Chun Ki Won, an affable South Korean who once sold golf clubs to high-flying Japanese businessmen. Despite his good nature and Christian heart, Chun doesn't really trust his charges. Still, he is risking his life to help them. "We're at the last moment," Chun says now as they grip one another's hands and pray. The women weep softly. "Please God, keep us safe. Please let them be all right." These "chosen ones" are at one of the final stops on an underground railroad to freedom in South Korea. Each started the journey by slipping across the border to China, where they sought out or stumbled upon a network of safe houses in which Christian missionaries hid them and taught them religion before spiriting them hundreds of miles across northeastern China.

In just one hour, they will attempt to crawl under a 7-foot barbed-wire fence into Mongolia. If things go well, the next time Chun sees them will be in Seoul. If not, they could die. Deep down, Chun is also nervous, for he knows that danger is all around. The elements could foil them, or if Chinese authorities capture the group and send them back to North Korea, they could be beaten or even executed. On the tiny screen of his video camera, he shows them footage of the terrain ahead: the dirt-and-sand road that parallels the fence; the foot-high prongs meant to keep out trespassers; and their goal, the Mongolian watchtower in the distance. They can rejoice if they get that far, even though they'll temporarily go to jail. Chun has bribed the Mongolians to hand the group over to South Korean Embassy officials.

"Move quickly. Don't run," Chun instructs them in the most reassuring voice he can muster. "There could be trucks, or guards or dogs." If they are stopped, he warns, only the two who are fluent in Chinese should speak. They are to identify themselves as shepherds accompanying foreign scientists studying "desertification" of the plain. They are en route to their house down the road. They are to gripe that the researchers aren't paying them enough. "I've had to lie ever since I met you guys," Chun jokes, acknowledging his mission's moral compromises and small payoff.

Experience has taught him that assimilation is difficult and that if they make it to the South, these North Koreans will likely be trading one form of misery for another: Most won't work; won't help others escape; won't go to church or pray. They'll squander their money on gambling and booze. "They always cry in front of me before they go," Chun says. "They say, 'I'll live the rest of my life for Him.' But they always forget it." They may do far worse and report him to authorities. One missionary, Kim Dong Shik of Lynchburg, Va., has disappeared and there is speculation that he was kidnapped by North Korean police. "You never know which one will betray you," Chun says.

Defections on Rise

War split the Korean peninsula half a century ago, dividing millions of families. North and South are technically still at war, and their border is the most heavily militarized in the world. Despite its fitful expressions of interest in reform and rapprochement, North Korea remains one of the most closed societies on Earth. Until a few years ago, at most a few dozen North Koreans managed to defect to the South each year. But Chun and others like him have led hundreds to freedom by taking them first in the opposite direction, into the Chinese hinterlands. Their motivation is Christian charity as well as a yearning to reunite the Korean peninsula. Thanks largely to the efforts of Chun and other activists, 583 defectors showed up in Seoul last year, nearly double the number that arrived in 2000. At least 838 have arrived so far this year, a few at a time.

Chun got involved after visiting China in August 1999, when he saw a North Korean woman being sold as a bride to a Chinese man while her husband stood helpless. He also met a young girl who woke up one morning to find that her mother and sister had been sold, leaving her to beg in the streets. "I could not erase the sense of helplessness of that man and young girl who saw their families sold right before their eyes," he recalled. "It tormented me." Since then, he has helped more than 150 refugees get to Seoul. An additional 350 wait in his safe houses north of the winding Tumen River, which forms the border. On one side is North Korea, a land where famine has killed an estimated 2 million people in the last decade. On the other is northeastern China, where markets groan with beef, apples, bananas, green vegetables, spices and the Korean staple, kimchi.

North Korea comes clearly into view from some vantage points on the Chinese side. Occasionally, a soldier can be seen sitting on the riverbank. Along one bend, a huge portrait of Kim Il Sung stares down from a bucolic railroad station. Bald mountains, stripped of trees for firewood, expose their bulging ribs. The North Korean town of Namyang, seen through a pay-per-view telescope, seems eerily unpopulated; its low-slung buildings appear to be mostly empty. Refugees say daily existence there is filled with horrors. They report that they subsisted on roots and leaves boiled into putrid soups; witnessed authorities shooting people who stole corn from the fields; saw loved ones starve to death and buried them in old rice sacks on mountain slopes packed with bodies. In order to get out, North Koreans might use a watch, trinket or the equivalent of a few dollars to bribe the bedraggled guards sitting sentry every few hundred feet. Or they might evade the guards and then wade or swim to the sparsely guarded Chinese side. In winter, they can trot across the river's icy bends. Once in China, poor and malnourished children have prowled the open-air market in Tumen to beg for food. Adults sought out work on farms or in factories. Some have been desperate enough to storm into diplomatic missions in a bid to gain sanctuary.

Their presence has become increasingly uncomfortable for authorities, and China has been cracking down. China considers the North Koreans economic, rather than political, refugees--people who, like millions around the world, simply seek a better life elsewhere. It has a treaty with North Korea, traditionally an ally, to return the refugees. North Korean soldiers also have crossed the porous border to round them up. Although refugees can blend in physically because the area is heavily ethnic Korean, those who can't speak at least rudimentary Mandarin rarely venture outdoors. The underground railroad is one of the few ways out of this predicament. Refugees know that it is largely run by Christian missionaries. Even though it is an alien concept for people brought up in an atheist society, they know that it improves their odds if they are religious -- or at least pretend to be. They also learn that the South Korean government provides each defector a relocation bonus of about $28,000, housing, and job training -- an astounding package for people who have earned at most a few hundred dollars their entire lives.

Missionary's Motivation

Divorced with two children in their early 20s, Chun, 46, has an easy laugh and a quick wit that he uses to put edgy refugees at ease. He worked his way up from waiting tables to managing a hotel in Seoul, which he did for 17 years. Flush with success, he launched ventures that boomed and failed, including a golf equipment business in Tokyo and a Japanese-style restaurant in Seoul. The failed ventures saddled him with $200,000 in debt. He sold his home and furnishings and sent his children to live with friends. For months, he subsisted on noodles and scraped together subway fare. He contemplated suicide and kept a bottle of pills handy. He gradually came to view the tough times as a sign from God that he wasn't meant to be a capitalist. He is studying now to be a Presbyterian minister.

Drawn to helping North Koreans and the idea of unifying the two Koreas, he established a mission he named Durihana, meaning "two become one." It survived on donations from about 600 subscribers. Providence seems to smile on him just when he is most desperate, Chun says. Once when he had run out of money, one of the largest churches in Seoul, Durae Presbyterian, gave him $10,000 to help the North Koreans. Chun's mission pays for safe houses in China. For food. For train tickets to the border. And for Korean-language Bibles. He takes most of the refugees through Mongolia, but has routes through the jungles of Vietnam and on to sympathetic, non-Communist countries such as Thailand and Cambodia.

Maps of the escape routes decorate the walls of the modest apartment four flights above a restaurant that serves as both Chun's home and Durihana's offices. Before heading to China to pick up a group of refugees, he quietly lays the groundwork with the South Korean government. The underground railroad is so sensitive that top South Korean officials say little about it on the record. It is not clear how they feel about Chun. However, Chun says five government agents regularly tail him in Seoul. In this case, Chun knows authorities will want to debrief the woman who works in the missile factory.

The higher the Communist party rank in North Korea, the more thrilled the government is. Once in Seoul, North Koreans are interrogated to determine whether they are who they say they are. Because the northerners have no passports, birth certificates or other documents, the South Koreans are always on the lookout for spies, or for Chinese pretending to be North Koreans to get the resettlement bounty. Then it's off to a residential camp where they learn how to shop, use the subway and Internet, and drive. Chun sets out from home early on a Saturday morning on this trip, leaving behind his girlfriend and his two beloved dogs--a schnauzer and a poodle--named Duri and Hana.

Flight to China

Aboard a direct flight from Seoul to Changchun in northeastern China, Chun fiddles with his newest gadget, a hand-held global positioning device. It will come in handy in the Chinese hinterlands. He is met at the dingy airport by a Korean Chinese missionary whose cell phone rings to the tune of "Amazing Grace." In a beat-up truck, they head to nearby Jilin and a safe house located in a cluster of drab buildings. The local missionary helps Chun with the three suitcases, a box and a knapsack filled with donated clothing. At this first stop, Chun will minister to refugees' souls and try to soothe their anxiety; he won't include any of them on this trip. He realizes that he controls their fate, and it weighs on him heavily. All the same, he has no formula for choosing who will go, and when. The decision is part practical, part political, part gut.

If he brings too many on one trip, they are more likely to be caught and the South Korean government might balk at accepting them. Those with relatives already in the South get preference. He considers the mix as well: whether children should go, and with whom; who is in the most danger; who will do well in the South and who has become a committed Christian. Chun and the local missionary climb several filthy flights of stairs and slip into a sparsely furnished apartment. Two bare bulbs light a tidy room. The smell of simmering rice wafts in from the kitchen.

Ten North Koreans are sprawled on green-foam tiles that might be found in an American playroom. Futon mattresses lie on the side of the room. A few Korean-language Bibles are strewn about. Each day, the refugees rise at 5 a.m. to worship and read the Bible. There is little else to do, and the refugees take the stress out on each other. They fight. Fighting is one reason so many get caught; it draws the attention of neighbors, who alert the police. Chun knows that some of them might be convicts or North Korean double agents. Once, a woman tried to use him as a drug-runner. Chun still vacillates between sympathy and anger. "They are just people at the end of their rope," he says, adding in jest, "If I wasn't religious, I'd kill them."

Just now, the group seems quite civilized--and savvy. But they are auditioning for a future trip. They cluster around as Chun preaches, telling the group that faith is not just about praying or reciting the Bible. "It's about how you deal with people.... If you fight with others, you're attacking God." "Being wealthy is not what makes you happy," he continues. "When you get to South Korea, you'll have money and housing. But the South Korean guy who doesn't have that, has friends and family. Is that fair?" "If they study one hour, you have to study 10 hours. When they walk, you have to run. In South Korea, you can't catch up because you're not in a fair game. You start complaining, and that's the problem. North Koreans are taught to be lazy. From the time you're born, everything is free."

Visiting Safe Houses

This time, Chun's entire group will be from another area, around Yanji, at the eastern end of the Chinese-North Korean border. Many of the elderly Korean Chinese citizens here arrived when the Korean peninsula and adjacent area were under Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945. Hence, some of those who come across the border from North Korea have distant relatives to help them. In the next two days, Chun will shuttle among five safe houses, preaching, reassuring and making his choices. He stops by one tidy apartment where a woman cares for four North Korean children. They look healthy and well-adjusted--but very small for their ages. For many, it is as if they stopped growing precisely when the famine started in their home country in the mid-1990s.
A 6-year-old boy who looks like he's 3 cuddles up in a foreigner's lap. He says he wants to be a minister when he grows up. He was left in a church by his uncle about 18 months earlier, so malnourished he could barely walk. A girl, now 13, was found begging in the market. Two boys who are 10 and 11 but look 6 or 7 were told by their parents that they'd return for them.

The woman tries to pass the younger children off as her own. She has enrolled them in school, and they have rapidly picked up Chinese. Nevertheless, she's not sure how long she can continue the ruse because Chinese couples are supposed to have only one child. At another apartment lives an 11-year-old girl who hasn't been outside the building in three years. Chun fears that nosy neighbors would realize she's not in school and doesn't speak Chinese. She came across the river with her mother. An elder sister disappeared in the train station when they arrived. "I'm going to get you to South Korea," Chun tells the girl as she draws in a notepad he's given her. "I know you'll be a good student." He asks the girl's mother to hold out for a little while longer. After making his rounds, Chun hastily settles on a list of five, and makes calls on his cell phone to the safe houses where they are staying. At the last minute, he decides to add a young couple, bringing the total to seven.

The Seven Chosen

Late on a Monday afternoon, the group assembles in the apartment of a missionary-businessman in Yanji.
There is Chun's trophy, the 32-year-old woman who claims to have headed a small unit in a North Korean nuclear missile plant. Tiny, with glasses and eyebrows that look as though they were tattooed on, she was an elite cadre in the North Korean Communist party, went to college, learned how to use guns and grenades, and every year reported for reserve duty. Or so she says.

She grew disillusioned when her sister couldn't get treatment for tuberculosis and malnutrition. She crossed the river to China, where a church helped her get medicine for her sister. But North Korean authorities caught her bringing it back. Police questions about church and karaoke -- "enjoying life," as she puts it -- made her start thinking about how North Korea controls its people. "You can't laugh when you want to laugh or cry when you want to cry," she says, dabbing at tears. "I could never think of the meaning of life, or religion, because I always had to think of the party."

She picks at a callus on her hand, developed in 2 1/2 years of farm labor in China. Her saving grace is that she's learned to speak Chinese reasonably well, which will help on this journey. Also chosen is a small 35-year-old man with dark curly hair, who is clad in a black jacket. He left North Korea three years ago after his older brother and nephew died of hunger. He worked on a Chinese farm, was captured and spent 14 months in a North Korean labor camp, escaped to China again and has lived for a year in a safe house. "I couldn't deny God, and so I was treated like a political criminal in North Korea," he says. "I want to live for God. I want freedom."

The muscular build of another 39-year-old defector attests to his 10 years in the North Korean army, where he says he was on a special forces team along the South Korean border. With his family starving, he headed to China and worked on a farm for two years. But when he got home, he found that his wife and daughter also had fled. He returned to China to try to find them but was caught and sent back to North Korea. He escaped by breaking a window on the train back to his hometown: His forearms still bear the scars. He says he beat up three policemen when he escaped, so he is not afraid of the authorities. But he is wary of the others in the group, and he asks a reporter about his prospects in South Korea. "Are North Korean refugees doing well in South Korea?" he asks. "Can people have the jobs they want to have? I can do any kind of work."

A 24-year-old woman with long brown hair was lured to China by the promises of an illicit job broker. Instead, he sold her for $400 as a bride to an ailing Chinese farmer, who took her to his remote village to work on the farm. After she gave birth to the son the family wanted, they began to abuse her. An acquaintance in the village helped her run away, urging her to leave her 2-year-old behind. "Be strong, be cold," the acquaintance said. In Yanji, she met an accomplice of Chun's, who pressed Chun to take her along. She admits that religion baffles her. "I cannot believe 100% in God," she says. Nevertheless, she's concluded that South Korea and America are more prosperous than North Korea because they are religious. "I want to see with my own eyes what God has done to help the South Korean people," she says. She seems almost giddy.

Then there is the young couple. The man, 25, is confident, bordering on cocky. He has been sent back to North Korea five times -- four from China and once while trying to escape with Chun through Vietnam. His 20-year-old girlfriend is making her first attempt. She is stylishly dressed and pretty. Chun teases her about her earrings, which she says family members in Yanji gave her. Her parents, a brother and a sister will be on a trip that leaves a week or two later. Carrying a small knapsack, she is the only one to bring any luggage. The last member of the group is particularly nervous. He was caught once before and sent back. Chun's mission channeled $10,000 through a web of sources to free him and the cocky 25-year-old. Both had been threatened with execution in North Korea.

Journey to Mongolia

Chun will leave the seven early in the rough four-day trip in a green-and-yellow 1960s-era train to the Mongolian border. A trusted Chinese Korean man will accompany them the rest of the journey and keep in touch with Chun by cell phone. Chun appoints the missile-factory worker as the group leader. "She knows everything," he tells the group, assembled now in the living room of a downtown Yanji safe house. "Just obey her. Don't ask her any questions.... I told her everything, and I told only her. If I tell everybody everything, you'll get into a fight. You can't make it unless you pray to God." The woman from the missile factory and the forced bride are to sit together and act like sisters. The couple will stick together, and the other three men will pretend to be friends. "Now, let's pray," Chun says. The group leader weeps softly.

As dusk falls, they slip out of the apartment two by two by three and walk to the train station. Chun pays for their tickets, $50 apiece, for the journey in hard, turquoise seats. They dare not fly or even travel in the train's sleeping compartment because officials would check for identification cards. Around them, passengers hoist big burlap sacks onto overhead luggage racks. Dim fluorescent tubes barely light the cars. By the time the seven board the train, just an hour after it started its journey, the squat toilets already reek. As the train chugs out of the station, the cityscape quickly gives way to fields and horse-drawn carts, illuminated by a brilliant harvest moon. Vendors hawk grilled chicken, corn on the cob and magazines. Four of the seven shell out some of the pocket money Chun has given them, buying several copies of the same magazines. Chun chastises them: "Spend the money carefully. Just buy one and share it."

Chun uses the time after he has left the train to call on accomplices and visit more safe houses. On his way to Hohhot, the capital of China's Inner Mongolia province, he is asked which of the seven will do well in South Korea. The forced bride? "She'll just be trouble," he says. The young couple? "They'll just give me a hard time."
Why does he bother, then? He believes it's his Christian duty. "If you look at their character, there's no reason to bring any of them in," he says. "Some people say, 'Why don't you just bring in the good ones?' But I think that's wrong. They're all God's people, and we have to save them because otherwise they'll die.... It's my mission."

In Hohhot, Chun hires a taxi for the five-hour drive to the border. On the way, a camel occasionally comes into view in the brown fields. Sheep and goats outnumber people. Huge trucks heaped with sacks of potatoes rumble by. He uses the daylight to videotape the fence where the refugees will make their crossing. But the taxi gets stuck in the sand. After several attempts to push it out, the driver flags down one of several trucks working on what appears to be a road-building operation. He makes a deal with the truck driver to carry a group of "researchers" back to the fence that night on his flatbed. The truck seems like a Godsend. It will take them directly to the crossing point. A previous group had to start farther back and wandered for two days. A 10-year-old boy died of dehydration.

Arrival by Train

Now in a private room of a restaurant in Erenhot, the last town before the Mongolian border, Chun greets the refugees who have arrived by train. He gently teases them. Relationships among them have clearly changed. The missile worker has become close to -- perhaps even romantically involved with -- the special forces man, according to the Chinese guide who accompanied them. The former soldier was nearly arrested by police for smoking on a railroad platform, putting himself and possibly the entire group at risk. It is also clear that the group has a new de facto leader: the young man Chun added with his girlfriend at the last minute. He seems the most calm and confident.

Seated at a big round table, Chun tells the group that the Mongolians will confiscate any money and valuables they have, and suggests that they give it all to him for safekeeping. He assures them that he'd give it back when they get to Seoul. But no one gives him a thing. "Whatever they have is such a small amount. They can't even get a meal in South Korea with it," he explains later. "They don't even trust me -- they think I'm somehow doing this for my own purposes." Chun urges them to "eat tonight, even if you're not hungry," but the heaping plates of food go largely untouched. They are too nervous.

With Chun's final advice, they grasp one another's hands tightly and pray together one last time. "Let's thank God," Chun says. By now, the forced bride's giddiness has turned to fear. The cocky young man says he "won't sleep till we're on the plane to South Korea." Chun gives him a cell phone and tells him to call as soon as the group makes it across the border. As they climb onto the truck's flatbed, a fierce wind stings their cheeks. A few snowflakes flutter down as a big full burnt-orange moon rises, turning white as it finds its place high in the sky. The stars littering the sky offer a dim halo of light as the truck gets closer to the border and the Mongolian watchtower comes into view, perhaps a mile away.

The driver pulls up close to the fence, kills the headlights, and the defectors quickly jump 5 feet to the ground. They dash for their lives. It takes them no more than a minute to crawl under the fence and disappear into the night. Ten minutes later, Chun's cell phone rings. In a trembling voice, the leader describes where they are. Chun tells them to keep going, that they've only made it across the Chinese border but are still inside the no-man's-land between countries. Chun is excited too. Things are going even better than planned. An additional 25 minutes go by. The phone rings again. Nearly out of breath, the leader exclaims, "We're here!"

Epilogue

Several weeks later, the group would be flown to South Korea. But on a mission three months later, Chinese authorities arrested Chun and a dozen refugees along the Mongolian border. Charged with smuggling, he was held for seven months before appeals from South Korea and the United States, and the payment of a $6,000 fine, won his freedom. Though he lived largely on bread and water and his cell was crowded and cold, he says he was spiritually happy in jail. "I guess the words of the Bible kept me going," he says.

The woman who claimed that she worked in the North Korean missile plant really hadn't. Her husband had. She now works in a beat-up cell phone factory in a Seoul industrial park. She thinks constantly about the family she left behind in North Korea, especially her 6-year-old son. "I'm here, amid this plenty, all alone," she says. Other refugees who remained in China were caught because they did not have Chinese identification cards.

Among them were the parents and two brothers of the young leader's girlfriend, as well as the 11-year-old girl who hadn't been outdoors for years -- and her mother. Chun has also heard that some of those who were captured offered to inform on him. But as soon as he got back to Seoul, he was working the phone. Although he won't be able to return to China because of his arrest, Chun will continue with his mission. "Now that I have personally experienced a bit of the hardship they've gone through," he says, "I'll help them even more than before."

HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA 

(Briefing and Exhibit) in Washington

You are invited to attend a Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC). Members Briefing on the human rights situation in North Korea. The briefing, co-sponsored by the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, will take place from 1:30pm to 3:00pm in Room 2203 of the RHOB on Wednesday, April 17, 2002. The briefing will be chaired by Rep. Mark Kirk. 

There will also be an exhibit of remarkable pictures produced by a North Korean child, depicting scenes of life in North Korea under the current government. North Korea is a closed society, governed by a totalitarian regime under the leadership of Kim Jung-Il. Despite North Korea's ratification of the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the vast majority of its citizens enjoy no rights or freedoms, but live under conditions of hunger and poverty, fear, and oppression by their own government. In addition, freedom of the press is non-existent and any information available is government propaganda circulated by state-controlled media. 

Reports coming from the few humanitarian relief organizations operating in the country provide alarming accounts of human rights violations and the suffering of the majority of the country's population. It is estimated that since 1995, over one million people have starved to death in the North Korean famine due to poverty, unequal access to food, and the distribution of relief food according to loyalty to the state. The state also operated several prisons and forced labor camps with little regard for the judicial process. These camps hold up to 200,000 people and it is believed that 400,000 prisoners have died while incarcerated. Severely punishable crimes in North Korea include criticism of the government, independent public gatherings and escape to other countries. China, in particular, is known to repatriate escaped political refugees to North Korea. To discuss these issues, we welcome as expert witnesses: 

Panel l-Honorable Lorne Craner, Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights

Panel ll
Mr. Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy
Ms. Suzanne Scholte, The Defence Forum Foundation
Mr. Marcus Noland, Institute for International Economics
Mr. Jaehoon Ahn, Director of Korean Language Service, Radio Free Asia 

An Introduction to the Academy of North Korean Human Rights and Refugees

Despite the compelling evidence revealing the existence of the political prison camps in North Korea revealed by many North Korean defectors, the harsh conditions faced by the North Korean people stricken by famine, and the plight of North Korean refugees in China and Russia broadcasted by international media, the awareness of the South Korean citizens including younger generation on these issues is disappointingly very low. 

NKHR, therefore, opens the Academy for North Korean Human Rights & Refugees, which will give a chance for ordinary citizens, especially university and graduate students, to develop sincere interests in the human rights movement for North Korean people starting in April 2002. The Academy is co-hosted by the Institute for North Korean Studies of Korea University and sponsored by the Hangyureh Newspaper. 

A. Overall Information of the Academy for North Korean Human Rights & Refugees

1. Host
Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR)
Institute for North Korean Studies of Korea University

2. Sponsor
The Hangyureh Newspaper 

3. Place
Education Hall, Room 401 Shimji Bldg. Chongro-gu, Gyobuk-dong 10-22, Seoul 110-090

4. Time/ Date 
7 - 9 p.m., Every Thursday

Term 1: April 18, 2002 ~ June 27, 2002
Term 2: July 18, 2002 ~ Sept. 26, 2002
Term 3: Oct. 10, 2002 ~ Dec. 12, 2002

5. Participants 
University & graduate students and ordinary citizens interested in the issues of human rights condition in North Korea and the North Korean refugees

6. Administration Guidelines
a. Number of participants: 20 ~ 30 (maximum) per each Term
b. Term offer: 3 times over a year
c. Certification: Confer a certificate of completion to those who have attended more than 8 lectures among the full 10 lectures. 
d. Tuition fee: Students – 30,000 won, Ordinary citizens – 40, 000 won
e. Fee for a separate lecture: 5,000 won

B. Proposed Program for Academy for North Korean Human Rights & Refugees

▲ Term 1

Conversation with the Youth in China

Benjamin Yoon, Citizens’ Alliance for NKHR 

In the middle of March, Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights' research team travelled to the northeast part of China. The purpose of the trip was to see how the Chinese security agency changed their surveillance after the incident of the 25 North Korean defectors' entry into the Spanish Embassy. The overall atmosphere of China observed by our research team was very strict and acute. There were reports of hidden cameras and suspicious technological devices possibly used for phonetic detection that were installed around the Tuman River. Monitoring of passer-bys was highly strict and one of the members of the research team staying at a hotel was terrified by an unexpected break-in and inspection at night by a security agent. Considering what the activists say, "these days, we live in fear.", we can conjure the general circumstance of what is going on in China.

In spite of such situation, the investigation team was able to meet some defectors and hear from them about their particular situations. They all said one thing in common that they fear leaving their rooms and remain inside with the lights off. They all have been through starvation and realize the depth of suffering. It is very tragic that the children and youngsters, who should be well fed and play outside, are forced to this kind of life.

The conversation shared with two sisters (14 and 19-years-old) brought us many things to think about.

-When did you leave North Korea?

"Just 10 days ago."

-Where have you lived?

"Chunjin"

-What was the food supply condition like? Did you attend school?

"It has been a long time since the ration stopped. We had to get around to find fire wood, so we couldn't go to school ."

-We heard that people there can get education for free….

"We don't have to pay for tuition….but, the school collected our money for the railroad construction and Kumkang mountain development project, therefore, it is really hard to go to school."

It have been 5 years since we attended school.

-Oh, I see. Then, what do you want to do the most?

"What we really want to do is study."

-What kind of study are you doing now?

"There is nobody to teach us and also no book, so we can't do anything."

3 years ago, the video titled, "Children of the Secret State" produced by Hardcash Productions showed that children in Pyongyang seemed to be happy, but those living in the countryside looked deserted. At that time of watching the documentary, I wondered about the reality of it, but now I realize that what I saw was all real. I'm really concerned about the future of my country. 

Interviews from the Border

The research team of Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR) went to Yanbian, China to investigate the overall circumstances within China after the incident of the 25 North Korean refugees entry into the Spanish Embassy seeking asylum. NKHR interviewed 6 individuals, being cautious of their own security under the current tense dangerous situation of a possibility of being detected by Chinese authorities. With the introduction of activists assisting North Korean refugees, our investigation team was able to meet with a couple, their cousins, two students and a mother with her child. They all escaped to China seeking food and were not able to endure the hardships and poverty any longer in North Korea. 

Pertaining to the case of the couple, the man was forcibly discharged due to using Korean products and clandestinely listening to South Korean radio broadcasts therefore was imprisoned and severely monitored for 8 years. His wife and their 3-year-old child was arrested and deported to North Korea when they were caught worshiping in a church in China. The woman did not reveal that the Church assisted them when she entered China while undergoing investigations by the North Korean security police. However, they were successful in their next attempt of escaping to China, managing their life with the support of the church, barely able to find a job under the extreme acute surveillance by the Chinese authorities. Their future plans are to arrive in South Korea before being arrested again. Regarding to the incident of the 25 North Koreans' entry into the Spanish Embassy, they expressed that there aren’t many options other than taking radical actions similar to the incident of the 25 refugees. Furthermore, they stated that most North Korean refugees would agree with this type of action and admitted that they would do the same thing if such a chance was given. 

Another case is of two young females, sisters, who escaped to China with the couple. They couldn't attend school, which was their primary priority, due to financial difficulty and instead scrambled for firewood for their livelihoods since the ration had stopped. Regarding the ration, they emphasized that the food aid from foreign organizations was primarily given to the military, then hospitals, and then workers in iron factories that was only enough for 15 days. In fact, ordinary North Korean citizens didn’t receive any of the food aid provided by international humanitarian organizations. The reason behind the favourable food supply condition currently is due to people's own self-efforts for survival, not because of the ration, many people sold their household furniture and items in the market to survive. An effect of the aid from foreign organizations was it’s relation to a lower market price and cost of living, however supply of electricity was not provided at all except for 24 hour electric service to the people , she is currently selling rolled vegetable rice (1/6 cents) trying to maintain a livlihood and obtain a residence certificate from the Chinese government. After the incident of the 25 North Koreans' entry into the Spanish Embassy, she covered her windows and door to hide from suspicion and prevents her 17- year-old daughter from leaving their small single room apartment. In her first interview last December, she stated that she didn't have any intentions of going to South Korea if she received a residence certificate, but now, she is seriously considering a trip to South Korea with the news of 150 dispatched security agents from North Korea. All of them are in extreme emotional states of fear and uneasiness with the probability of repatriation to North Korea. 

This field research was limited to a few cases due to the tense atmosphere of surveillance in China. North Korean refugees' escape to China is also dangerous and threatens their freedom and safety similar to that of North Korea in poverty and continuous oppression and monitoring. Their current situation of hiding requires the regular protection and assistance from the relief organizations. Since vehicles and people passing by the border area are checked and recorded, we were unable to obtain information or conduct thorough investigation in that area. When considering humanitarian organization's opinion of limited options for North Korean defectors other than running into a foreign embassy with the support of the media, we realized the severity of the dire situation of the North Korean refugees.

Increased Surveillance

We recently received photos from an anonymous source, who took photos of the modified surveillance of the border between North Korea and China. This increased activity of sound and visual detection with cameras and technology represents the present and future actions that may be taken by the Chinese government. You can see the photos at the bottom of the FNN report or click on the picture files.

The following is the letter of appeal from NKHR addressed to Ambassador Li Bin.

NKHR ask of you to send a letter by fax to the Embassy of the People's Republic of China to protest against his and the Chineses government's unyielding hard stance toward the North Korean refugees and also toward the opinion of the international community. Fax Number of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in South Korea. 82-2-319-5103

March 21, 2002 

Dear Your Excellency, 

In the wake of the recent asylum bid of 25 North Korean refugees who dashed into the Spanish embassy in Beijing, we would like to pay a tribute to the Chinese government for allowing their safe passage out of China, respecting their own will. However, it was to our great disappointment, that the Chinese government rejected to grant them refugee status completely ignoring the mounting evidence and the consistent claims supporting the eligibility to give them refugee status. 

Moreover, we were agitated by your statements at the meeting hosted by the Korea Press Foundation on March 20, 2002. As far as we understand, you made two points clear. First, you warned that relations between Seoul and Beijing could be undermined if NGOs continue to help North Korean people seek asylum. Secondly, you reiterated that the North Koreans who cross the border are not refugees, but merely illegal migrants. We are struck by the fact that you and your government are deliberately closing your eyes and ears not only to the pleas of desperate people asking for humanitarian treatment, but also to the well-established customs and laws which are supposed to be respected by a decent member of the international community. We feel obliged to respond to your recent statements in the hope that you will have a chance to look at this issue apart from whatever factors that may obscure the essence of this problem. 

On your assertion that the North Korean people fleeing North Korea are not entitled to the refugee status, we present you the following counterargument based on the international legal instruments as well as the compelling evidence from the refugees themselves. North Korean defectors in China satisfy the requirements of the universal definition of a “refugee” in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, to which China is a signatory nation. They define a refugee to be someone: 

- with “well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinions” and 
- “unable or unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country” or “outside the country of his former habitual residence and unable or unwilling to return to it.” 

As you know, North Koreans defect to China in pursuit of food or/and freedom in the first place, which makes your claim that they are “illegal economic migrants” plausible. However, they are not simply migrants because they don’t enjoy the protection of his or her home government at all. On the contrary, they don’t expect to avail themselves of its protection, nor do they want to return to it, because they are well aware of the deadly consequences they will have to face. Under the North Korean Criminal Code, Article 47, defectors are punishable by capital punishment or a minimum prison term of 7 years. The brutal persecution awaiting North Korean defectors has been fully verified by hundreds of thousands of victims and witnesses, and known to the outside world. We want to question you how else you can possibly describe what they feel other than as a “well-founded fear of being persecuted.” 

“We are now at the point of such desperation and live in such fear of persecution within North Korea that we have come to the decision to risk our lives for freedom rather than passively await our doom.” – One of the 25 North Koreans who entered the Spanish embassy 

“We have always felt that North Koreans should not be returned to North Korea because they would face persecution there.” – The U.S. State Department spokesman 

“We hope China and Spain to confirm the free will of the refugees and decide where they settle, from a humanitarian viewpoint.” – South Korean Foreign Ministry official 

“There is compelling evidence that convinces us that North Korean defectors absolutely qualify as refugees. One conclusion is inescapable; Chinese government officials can no longer feign ignorance of this glaring injustice.” – Representative of Human Rights NGO based in Japan 

Your Excellency, 

Now, let us remind you that you emphasized the importance of the bilateral relations between Seoul and Beijing. You also made a significant remark saying that both North and South Koreas need to take the lead in realizing peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. We strongly believe that unless we deal with the human suffering and misery properly and stop trying to blindfold ourselves and the outside world, the genuine and durable peace and stability in Northeast Asia cannot be achieved. We implore you to reconsider what is best way for your country to take the leading role in Northeast Asia as a full supporter and guardian for freedom and inalienable human rights. 

Yours sincerely, 

Benjamin H. Yoon, 
Representative of Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR) 

The Essence of North Korean Defection

Segye Ilbo, March 18, 2002. Lee, Won-woong, Professor of Kwandong University in South Korea, 
Advisor to NKHR

As many movies have shown, the escape from oppression is always dramatic. The recent case of 25 North Korean defectors sporting red caps stormed into the Spanish Embassy in China was as dramatic as the movie “Papiyon”. This case reminds us of the issue of North Korean defectors domestically and internationally in China. It is worth while to be appreciative in this regard that urges the Korean government and its people that have not paid much attention to this issue to become engaged and interested. Apart from others, I welcome the defectors on their safe passage to South Korea.

This event has saved 25 precious lives who escaped from a hell-like reality that deprived them of the most basic human right and social protections such as the right to education and medical care. They don’t have to be afraid of being sold to strange Chinese widows in countryside at the price of animals.
Also, they are able to rest from worrying about the danger they would have faced if they were returned to their homeland being stamped as a ‘national traitor’ and live under oppression of beatings, discrimination and control. Some North Korean defectors are released from the fear of being imprisoned in 'group camps' where they are imprisoned for life. 

This last event does not put an end to the dramatic escapes from a place of insecurity. These escapes have been preceded by other cases such as the Jang, Gil-su family seeking asylum in 2001 and the case of the '7 North Korean Refugees' who were forcibly repatriated to North Korea in 2000. It seems that these kinds of escape tactics, such as running into various foreign embassies in China, will continue in the future to raise more awareness of the desperate situation of the North Korean defectors. We should look at the fact that this case did not make a single change for the core of the North Korean defectors in China. We were not able to obtain any systemic measures that could terminate human rights infringement of North Korean defectors in China. This case will be recorded as the highest tragedy and disgrace since no refugee status was granted and the Chinese government exiled them in the name of 'Humanitarian Deportation'.

The essence of the North Korean defectors problem lies in the reason of why they flee from North Korea, not the escape, itself. The main reason they escape at the expense of their lives is that the Chinese government has forcibly repatriated them to North Korea where the harsher pressure and violence await them. The essence of North Korean defectors problem is North Korean human rights. The matter of North Korean human rights is the lethal Achilles' tendon of the 'Sunshine Policy' that the current government has placed great efforts on. I wonder why there has not been any single lights of sun to the North Korean defectors in China, who have lived day by day under the inhumane and desperate conditions.

The Chinese and North Korean government policy toward North Korean defectors will not change a lot. Similar to the aftermath of Jang, Gil-su family last year, the Chinese governmental patrol in Jilin, Lyaoning, Heylungjang provinces has been reportedly reinforced. North Korean control at the border and punishment toward North Korean defectors will be reinforced. I urge our policy makers to proceed in research of North Korean human rights situation in China step by step and the measures that can terminate their human rights infringement. As proven in this case, NGOs which have worked voluntarily under poor conditions to solve the North Korean defectors problem will assist governmental efforts.

Their Defection, Still on the Road

The Chosun Ilbo, March 19, 2002
Hong, Seong-Phil, Board Member of Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights/ LL.M. JSD. Yale Law School

The 25 North Korean defectors who desperately barged into the Spanish Embassy in Beijing, China finally arrived in South Korea. Their long run for freedom was closer to the scenes in a movie than from a real life. Wearing caps and sneakers, they ran past the security guards, raising their hands in the air for Western journalists who gathered to broadcast the remarkable scene and to provide protection for them as if willing to form ‘a human ring’ in emergency, and within a few hours, one German emergency doctor emerged to provide an explanation of the event… 

On one hand, the defectors’ safe passage brings to mind an inquiry and a regret. Why were foreign agencies deeply involved within this mission? Why was the development and explanation of this incident given by a foreigner, not a Korean, while the foreign organizations and journalists seemed to be so actively involved? Amid the prediction of more enforced control by the Chinese government, what will happen in the future to those remaining defectors and supporters who have been devoted to assisting them?

The most important aspect is that we need to look at the issue of ’defection’ from the perspective of ‘Human Rights’. The defectors chose to come to South Korea with a strong belief that South Korea would guarantee them with freedom of basic human rights and dignity. Hence, the issue related to North Korean Defectors should be understood and solved as an agenda for ‘Human Rights and Humanitarianism’, prior to the issue of ‘International Politics’ or ‘Diplomacy’. Until now, an active North Korean Human Rights advocacy movement led by a number of civic groups and private organizations has produced a fruitful outcome internationally in the successful and gradual promotion of ‘North Korean Human Rights’ as a problem of ‘humanity and human rights protection for individuals’. 

Now, it is time for our government and concerned authorities to recognize that we need to create a separate section for the issue of ‘North Korean Defectors’ under the broad based human rights apart from concerns of either international politics or diplomacy, discussing it as a particular pending task. The government should not be blamed for being a ‘coward’ any longer. In addition, the Chinese government need to change their perspective on this issue. As a member of the international community with their membership to the WTO (World Trade Organization), the Chinese government is urged to abide by the obligation under the International Human Rights Law and respect human rights as a member of the UN (United Nations), prior to ‘North Korea-China Agreement’ in solving the issue of North Korean Defectors. Any forced repatriation to North Korea by the Chinese government must be suspended immediately and the requests from the international community urging the Chinese government to grant the refugee status to North Korean defectors, should no longer be overheard. 

Additionally, the informal way of handling the issue of North Korean defectors has reached the limit. The threat to the personal security of human rights activists both in South Korea and abroad for providing assistance has worsen with more exposure to the issue of North Korean defectors. The style of assistance at the non-governmental level needs to be developed into a more active and vitalized system from the current informal and small-scale one. Also, continuous efforts need to be made in order to build consensus towards a more stable settlement with international recognition and cooperation. 

However, we must examine the problem within our own society. The suffering of our North Korean brethren has not yet ended, for now their life journey takes a turn onto another rough path. Their will to survive that has not been deterred by either their hard time in the concentration camps or terror of death in North Korea should not be thorned by another cruel reality within our society. In any case, apathy and indifference in our society should not undermine their great courage to go on which had enabled them to take risks to escape North Korea. 

In reality, many North Korean children fail to adequately adjust to the new educational environment and often give up their cherished dreams. The failure of adults in adjusting within their workplace consequently leads to divorce and the breakdown of their family. We have driven those defectors to wander around the streets of Seoul at night, not in North Korea or China. It is cruel for us to push them away to run again towards another road of desperate survival. For their stable settlement in our society, we need to develop more fundamental institutional infrastructure and shift our thoughts into accepting this issue as “of us” and not ”of them”. 

I expect intensive assistance and cooperation on establishing open educational facilities for North Korean teenagers in Seoul, which has been proposed by humanitarian relief agencies for defectors. Temporary education for the adjustment at “Hanawon” is far less sufficient for both adults and children for effective adjustment within the South Korean society. Many volunteers are filled with great enthusiasm and are devoted to assist the defectors once appropriate facilities are provided. Our government and society need to put every effort in providing assistance to them. If we are to help North Korean defectors, and to prepare for the reunification of Korea, now is the very time to take action. 

The Resolution of The 3rd International Conference on North Korean Human Rights & Refugee

February 10, 2002. We have gathered here for this 3rd International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees solely because of our deep care and concern for the human rights situation in North Korea and the situation effecting the returnees, detainees and abductees in North Korea. We believe that the North Korean regime is the paramount human rights violator of our time. We affirm that the people of North Korea are entitled to the human rights as enjoyed by free people everywhere and enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The government of North Korea has obligated itself to protect these rights by becoming a state party to both the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. We pledge to continue to work as organizations and as individuals to do all that we can to bring the light of human rights to North Korea. In addition to the activities we have pledged to undertake during this session, we also call for these specific actions:

1) The international community in conjunction with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees should press China and Russia to allow independent relief organizations to go onsite to help North Korean refugees that have fled North Korea.

2) We call upon the U.N. Commission on Human Rights during their meeting in March and April to adopt a resolution condemning the human rights record of the DPRK.

3) We call for the immediate end to the forced repatriation of any North Korean refugee requesting shelter.

4) Donors should have full control over the distribution and consumption of the food aid to prevent the diversion of this aid from being used to further subjugate the North Korean people.

5) All contacts between the international community and the government of North Korea should include discussion for the improvement of the human rights conditions, particularly the abolition of the political prisoner camps and the release of all political prisoners in North Korea's gulag.

6) We call for the release of all returnees, detainees, and abductees being held in North Korea in violation of their freedom of movement.

7) International human rights groups, especially Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, should provide an accurate and comprehensive portrait of human rights conditions in North Korea.

In conclusion, we pledge to continue to expand the international network of human rights groups devoted to saving the lives of North Koreans; urge our respective governments to pay highest attention to the issue of North Korean human rights; cooperate together in disseminating information on North Korean human rights issues to both government and non-governmental sectors of society including the media; and look forward to participating in the 4th International Conference on North Korean human rights and refugees to be held in Paris.

NKHR Appreciated Mr. Michael Sheehan's Donation

Mr. Michael Sheehan has sent a donation of USD 110. NKHR appreciates his ceaseless concerns and help for improving the North Korean Human Rights.

Improvement of Human Rights Situation, The Most Urgent Task toward The Unification 

By Benjamin H. Yoon

10 years ago when Communist parties who controlled most of East European Countries were replaced by Democratic parties, lost of scholars of international politics have doubt about the future of East Europe. They questioned themselves whether it is possible for those countries that had not experienced democratic tradition to settle democratic idea within their society. “It takes six months to revolutionize the political structure and six years to settle liberal market system. It takes sixty years to have civil society,” one distinguished political scientist said. He meant to emphasize how it is difficult to reform our mentality.

Considering current mood of East Europe, we can partly agree that his anticipation was right. While Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary could successfully confirm its status as the member of European Society, Bulgaria, Rumania, and Albania are still struggling to overcome depression and chaos. Worst of all, Yugoslavia is ravaged by incessant bombing by NATO. 

What brought the apparent gap among those countries although all of them are sharing similar history? One scholar suggests that the degree of the impact of communist party may be one of the major causes. The communist regime that controlled Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary pursued relatively moderate policies in a sense and adopted open door policy earlier than other neighboring countries. On the other hand, Bulgaria, Rumania, and Albania refused to revolution and openness under the iron fist of their dictators. 

Mentioning the difference in the ruling system of communist parties, Andrzej Pidique, a popular film maker in Poland, once said that,” Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary may score 50 while Rumania, and Albania score 90 in terms of the degree of control of Communism on private life. From his remark we can note that, people in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary could enjoy liberty to a certain degree. The three countries including Czechoslovakia could establish democratic and liberal market system based upon the previous less-tightened social structure. 

No one deny that unification between North and South is our long-held national goal to be achieved in the near future. Unification should bring liberty and prosperity to all the people in both North and South. In order to help North Korean people adapt themselves to the new environment, liberty should be allowed to them from now on.

People of FNN-North Korea – Il-chul Shin, Emeritus Professor of Korea University, Korea

By Phoebe Park

With the Third International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees at hand People of FNN-North Korea will be featuring interviews with the participants of the conference. Our guest this week is Professor Il-chul Shin who will be giving a presentation on North Korea’s Second Periodic Report submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee for the first session of the upcoming International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees. A professor of historical and social philosophy, he is currently Professor Emeritus of the Department of Philosophy, at the renowned Korea University in Seoul. His views on North Korean Juche ideology is reflected in his books and articles such as Social Philosophy and Korean Thought (1977), A Study on North Korean Juche Philosophy (1993), and Will Spring Come to Pyong-yang (1999). 

His interest in the human rights situation of North Korea originated from his studies on Juche ideology. He believes that Juche ideology is not so original as some see it, but merely a paradigm reflecting the ideas of Marxist-Leninism. Added to that is the Stalinist cult of personality. The basis of Marxist-Leninism is found in the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov’s theory of conditional reflex. Like the dog that salivates when hearing a bell ring, the thoughts of people under communism are controlled through propaganda and ideology. This is manifested in the circus, all so common to Communist countries, where the individual can be completely manipulated by a command. There is total neglect for the rights and freedom of individuals.

As his paper suggests, North Korea shows no change from its neglect of individual rights of human beings in the Second Periodic Report. Although many viewed Kim Jong-Il’s visit to Shanghai and promoting Shinsago (new way of thinking) as signifying North Korea’s embrace of change, he argues that what North Korea was doing was in fact “pretending to change in order not to change.” Using a quote from Andre Gide’s Return from the USSR (1939) where Gide said that talking to a Soviet was the like talking to all the Soviets, he said the same can be applied to North Korea: “Talking to one person in Pyong-yang is like talking to all North Koreans; only the ones trained, like an actor who memorized his lines well, are able to talk to outsiders.”

He believes that in essence the Korean government and NGOs share a common idea in wanting to improve the human rights situation of North Korea. However the government is using a different means from NGOs that would not provoke the North and create an obstacle to the ongoing North–South dialogues. The significance of human rights movements organized by NGOs such as NKHR is in pursuing human rights advocacy upfront, which is impossible for governments to do. This movement will also lead to an increase in interests of the general public on North Korean human rights issues.

NKHR Appreciated Mr. Aidan Foster-Carter's Donation

Mr. Aidan Foster-Carter has sent a donation of USD 500. NKHR appreciates his concerns and promises that his generous contribution will be used for helping the North Korean refugees.

The 3rd International Conference Slated for February 9 to 10

Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR) will host the 3rd International Conference on North Korean Human rights & Refugees in Tokyo, Japan in Feb 9-10, 2002 sponsored by National Endowment for Democracy and The Chosun Ilbo, and is busy preparing for the last arrangement of the impending Conference. Representatives of more than 15 human rights related NGOs and other organizations from 8 different countries, such as Good Friends (Korea), International Society for Human Rights German Section, US Commission on International Religious Freedom, the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, Defense Forum Foundation (USA), Human Rights Without Frontiers (Belgium), Christian Solidarity Worldwide (UK), Rescue! The North Korean People! Urgent Action Network (RENK, Japan), the Society to Help Returnees to North Korea (Japan), Life Fund for North Korean Refugees (Japan), the French Committee to Help the Population in North Korea, etc. are all participants for presentation and discussion. The 3rd International Conference will focus on scheming out more effective methods for future action and strengthening international cooperation for efficient campaigning through identifying the overall and more detailed specific situation of extremely infringed human rights of the North Korean people, on the basis of initial networking to arouse international awareness and share growing concern on the human rights situation in North Korea. (Please visit our website for more information)

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for FNN – North Korea or for Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR), please write to us:

Website: http://www.nkhumanrights.or.kr   E-mail: ( [email protected] ). 
Fax: +82 2 723 1671
Tel: +82 2 723 1672, 2671 

How to Guide Former North Korean Children

Benjamin, H. Yoon

It’s been two years since we first started activities to help North Korean children adapt themselves in their new lives in South Korea. Eleven undergraduates of Korea University helped eight North Korean teenagers by visiting their homes once a week for the purpose of familiarizing themselves to the parents of these North Korean children, which, as they found out later, would be difficult for various reasons; for one thing, meeting with their parents, who were busy in their business, was not available and for another, having conversation in depth was not possible for the invisible gap coming from age and background. 

We found out that it is not easy than we’ve thought for North Korean children, to adapt themselves in the new environment. North Korean children are still required to study in an academy or a private institute, but most of them usually absorb at most half of the lecture that the instructor delivers to them either because of the differences in intonation or because of the fact that we have so many new terms generated from foreign languages. Their dialogue, which differentiates them from other classmates, becomes the cause to make fun of them. North Korean children, who can’t catch up with up-to-date entertainment news, fail to intervene in South Korean children’s conversation. Under these circumstances, majority of North Korean children can’t find themselves enjoy school life and become outsiders, just fooling around their school. 

We finally changed our goal from gaining confidence from the North Korean parents to directly approaching North Korean children. Needless to say, such social delinquencies as violence, crimes, and committing a suicide, were main causes. Worrying about the possibility that North Korean children may become mafia in South Korea if they are abandoned without being paid an attention, we started to organizing programs like ‘one to one guide,’ ‘tutoring,’ and ‘ha-na-won program,’ after educating South Korean undergraduates. 

We finally came up with holding summer school for the North Korean children, which fortunately got positive feedback from participants, under this purpose, and satisfied with the result that most North Korean children graduated all the difficult courses without fail. Teachers and undergraduates who put their efforts in this program, could get a sense of reward, seeing that the children’s attitudes are changing and their aspiration toward learning lessons are increasing. This is why we reserved to hold the winter school. 

Story of our children (Newsletter vol.49)

Benjamin H. Yoon

'My children were arrested by Chinese policemen,' said Kim, on September 16, 2000. Kim, who is one of our cooperators, has protected North Korean children in China. We've helped North Korean children with Kim, through whom we could know what was happening in China. Two of our volunteers, Yim, Ji-yong, and Jin, Ik-han, could live with North Korean children in China for four nights and five days with the help of Kim.

According to Kim, Chinese police suddenly cracked down on one of their two asylums, and 2 adults and 4 children were arrested. Kim hesitated to say, "It may cost some money to bring back these children." We began to raise fund in Seoul and Jinju, where National Kyongsang University that Yim and Jin attend to was located. When we received some money from Jinju, we had a call from Kim who said that two boys successfully escaped and two girls were released after negotiation. However, two adults were supposedly deported to North Korea. We decided to relieve our sorrow in thinking of that it is fortunate for us to have children back. 

Yim, Ji-young wrote an article entitled 'Today I pray for the safety' in the newsletter vol. 44. She introduced Won-i, Shin-hyuck, Jeong-sub, En-chul, and Kuk-hwa. On her departure, after four days with them, Won-i, who used to be brusque, tearfully said he would miss her so much. She spent the night talking with them, sitting on the roof. Won-i and Shin-Hyuck hold her had and asked her to take care of herself. She felt heartbroken when all the children overstrained themselves and tried to find places to hide themselves on hearing someone's knocking, which was so unfamiliar to them that the whole house was thrown into utter confusion. 'I saw darkness behind the smiles on their face. Their smile, on the other hand, made me sad,' said she. 

The movement to raise fund for these NK children drew national attention, spreading out to Pusan, and Daeku. Kuk-hwa, Shin-hyuck, and Jeong-sub could enter South Korea on October 6 in 2000 and Won-i and Eun-chul could enter on March 2 this year. Now they are free from fear. 

Donate for the North Korean refugees:

NKHR accepts donations of medicine, new and/or used clothing, and money (from donors outside of South Korea money only). Until recently donors from abroad have found high charges for currency conversion and bank transfer unsatisfactory. NKHR can now accept donations by credit card. If you would like to send a little something to help the North Korean refugees in China and Russia please e-mail us the following:

1. Your name
2. Name of your credit card (American Express, VISA, etc.)
3. Credit card number
4. Expiration date of your card 
5. Amount you wish to donate 

And forward your payment to: 
1. Account name: Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights 
2. Bank name: Korea Exchange Bank, Sodaemun Branch
3. Account number: 071-22-01342-6

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for FNN – North Korea or for Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR), please write to us:
Website: http://www.nkhumanrights.or.kr
E-mail: ([email protected]). 
Fax: +82 2 723 1671 Tel: +82 2 723 1672, 2671

Like planting apple trees (Newsletter vol.48)

Benjamin H. Yoon, Representative, NKHR

“If the end of the world comes tomorrow, I will plant an apple tree”, which is well known saying. However, it is foolish in a way that we plant an apple tree. It usually takes 4 or 5 years to wait until we can get apples from it. If the world were destroyed sooner or later, who would plant a tree knowing that he cannot get any fruit from it? How considerate he might be if he plants the apple tree for those who can survive.

The number of young defectors entering South Korea is getting increased. 'This situation will be continued', one officer concerned said. The number of young defectors who had come to South Korea earlier is not little. This is high time for all of us let alone the government to consider education of young defectors in earnest. A survey conducted by several education experts, shows that their schoolwork is not good. Former North Korean children belong to middle class at best, and most of them are inferior. Given the fact that what they've learned in North Korea is far different from what they are learning here in South Korea, it is impossible for them to get a high grade in schoolwork. Besides, most of them reportedly hid themselves in the third country before coming to South Korea, and it may be inconvenient for them to sit on a chair for a long time. They will feel a heavy burden psychologically coming from their colleagues in South Korea due to the gap of age among the their classmates. For example, if a boy dropped out second grade of middle school in North Korea, he should begin with second grade although all other classmates are 3 or 4 years younger than he. 

Even tutoring, which is becoming a social epidemic mushroomed in South Korea, works against former North Korean children. How can former N.K. children, especially who got out of North Korea for themselves, afford to have a tutor! It is unimaginable for those who live hands to mouth every day to have a tutor. Among former N.K. children are some brilliant students who finished junior and high school curriculum within fourteen months in South Korea. In general, former N.K. children have much desire to learn. Most of them had an experience of memorizing English word and learning computer even when they hid themselves in China.
If we take into account the reunification of two Koreas in the future, we should devote our time and effort to former N.K children just like planting apple trees. 

Schedule for the 3rd International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees: Tokyo

Friday, February 8, 2002
15:00 Press Conference 

Saturday, February 9, 2002
Registration
09:30 ~ 10:00

Opening Ceremony
10:00 ~ 10:50 
Moderator: Seong-Phil Hong, Professor, Ewha Woman’s University, Korea
Report on Development: Seong-Phil Hong, Professor, Ewha Woman’s University, Korea
Welcoming Address: Benjamin H. Yoon, Chairman, Organizing Committee, Korea
Haruhisa Ogawa, Representative, The Society to Help Returnees to North Korea, Japan
Carl Gershman, President, National Endowment for Democracy, USA
Keynote Speech: Marcus Noland, Senior fellow, Institute for International Economics and Associate of the International Food Policy Research Institute, USA

Election of Steering Committee
10:50 ~ 11:00
Video Presentation

First Session: The North Korea’s Second Periodic Report versus the Truth
11:00 ~ 13:00
Moderator: Haruhisa Ogawa, Representative, The Society to Help Returnees to North Korea, Japan 
Presenter:
1. Sophie Delaunay, Medecins Sans Frontieres, France
2. A reporter from Action Contre la Faim, France
3. Norbert Vollertsen, MD., Germany
4. A Professor from USA
13:00 ~ 15:00
Luncheon

15:00 ~ 16:00
Defectors’ Testimony
Video Presentation

Second Session: Situations of North Korean Refugees in China
16:00 ~ 18:00 
Moderator: Alexander Epstein, Barrister, Canada 
Presenter:
1. Young-hwa Lee, Professor, Kansai University & Secretary-General, RENK, Japan
2. Seung-yong Lee, Good Friends, Korea
3. A staff, Medecins Sans Frontieres, France
4. Ki-young Lee, Professor, Busan National University, Korea

Discussion

Reception
18:00 ~ 20:00

Sunday, February 10, 2002
08:00 ~ 10:00 
Breakfast
Closed meeting of Delegates

Third Session: Human Rights Situations of Kidnapees, Detainees, and Returnees from Japan
10:00 ~ 11:00
Victim’s Testimony

11:00 ~ 13:00
Moderator: Pierre Rigoulot, President, French Committee to Help the Population in North 
Korea, France
Presenter:
A. Korean Case
1. On Prisoners of Korean War, Man-ho Heo, Professor, Kyungpook National University, Korea 
2. On Korean Kidnapped Citizens, Jay Kun Yoo, Member of National Assembly, Korea

B. Japanese Case
The working committee in Japan will choose Japanese presenters

Discussion

13:00 ~ 15: 00
Luncheon

Fourth Session: Planning Future Actions
15:00 ~ 17:30 
Moderator: Suzanne Scholte, President, Defense Forum Foundation, USA
Presenter: Jack Rendler, Executive Director, Aurora Foundation, USA 

Discussants:
Human Rights Without Frontiers, Belgium
Action Contre La Faim, France
French Committee to Help the Population in North Korea, France
Medecins Sans Frontieres, France
International Society for Human Rights, German Section, Germany
Society to Help Returnees to North Korea, Japan
Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean human Rights, Korea
Open Doors Netherlands, Netherlands
Defense Forum Foundation, USA
National Endowment for Democracy, USA 
US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, USA
Solidarity-China, France
Life Fund for North Korean Refugees, Japan
Rescue! The North Korean People! Urgent action Network, Japan
Good Friends, Korea
Christian Solidarity Worldwide, UK
National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea, Japan

Adoption of Resolution

Closing Ceremony
17:30 ~ 18:00
Rounding up: In-jin Yoon, Professor, Korea University, Korea
Invitation to Next Conference: Pierre Rigoulot, French Committee to Help the Population in North Korea, France
Acknowledgements 

BULLETIN

The 3rd International Conference slated for February 8 to 10, 2002

The “3rd International Conference on North Korea Human Rights & Refugees” will be held in the conference hall at the Asia Youth Center in Tokyo from Feb. 8 to 10, 2002 . We have already hosted two international conferences, involving North Korean asylum-seekers in South Korea, human rights or refugee-related NGOs, diplomatic representatives, journalists, and scholars from different parts of the globe, to provide an opportunity to learn more about the issue and discuss possible solutions. This will be a unique occasion for human rights advocates to share their knowledge, recommendations and new ideas for collective action in the future. This year's conference, also supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is determined to refocus waning international concern on human rights issues in North Korea. 

Donate for the North Korean refugees!

NKHR accepts donations of medicine, new and/or used clothing, and money (from donors outside of South Korea money only). Until recently donors from abroad have found high charges for currency conversion and bank transfer unsatisfactory. NKHR can now accept donations by credit card. If you would like to send a little something to help the North Korean refugees in China and Russia please e-mail us the following:

1. Your name
2. Name of your credit card (American Express, VISA, etc.)
3. Credit card number
4. Expiration date of your card 
5. Amount you wish to donate 

And forward your payment to: 
1. Account name: Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights 
2. Bank name: Korea Exchange Bank, Sodaemun Branch
3. Account number: 071-22-01342-6

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for FNN – North Korea or for Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR), please write to us:
Website: http://www.nkhumanrights.or.kr
E-mail: ( [email protected] ). 
Fax: +82 2 723 1671 Tel: +82 2 723 1672, 2671

A Slice of Bread and a Bottle of Water in front of Houses 

Newsletter vol. 9 

We can read stories about escapees from labour camp in 'Archipelag Gulag,' written by Solzhenitsyn. Most of the runners are tailed by detectives and arrested by the reports of residents around them. Others are tired to death, lost in the frost and desert. Minor ethnics who are fed up with poverty hold a festival with foods paid in return for their letting on information to the detectives. Those who succeeded in running away from the camp are those who saved their lives with the help of a slice of bread and a bottle of water, found in front of houses. Although government portrays them with harsh terms, such as 'enemy of people,' 'puppets of Imperialism,' and 'human trash' while, at the same time, warning helpers that they will be convicted same penalties, genuine countrymen put some foods and bottles of water in front of their houses. We had a chance to have a talk with pastor Y, whose missionary activities are well known in Russia. 

Hearing our saying that we've so far tried to impeach Russian government not to repatriate defectors to North Korea, to my surprise, he replied what matters is not the Russian government but South Korean government and its people. He said, when even officials and missionaries of South Korea are reluctant to help North Korean defectors, our solitary request for Russian government will not work at all. Although I would not agree with him who  belittles the power of international opinion, I cannot deny that his remark makes sense. Those who are suffering hardships are not only defectors in Russia but also defectors in China, according to the reports of recent visitors of China. Out of fear of punishment by the Chinese government who previously warned ethnic Koreans residing in China, no one would help defectors and they are starving to death throughout the country. Above all, defectors who are lucky to enter South Korea feel sorry for the apathy and coldness of officials and people of South Korea. Lee, Sun-ok, who announced that she would rather commit suicide by drinking a posion with her little son, disappointed in the nonchalant attitude of South Koreans. Are we really losing a sense of compassion, one of the human nature?

NKHR has launched our new English-version homepage.

Our homepage is composed of About NKHR, FNN, Life & Human Rights, Witness Accounts , Your Action, International Campaign, Donation. We hope that all of you can get useful and meaningful information on this site. If you have any suggestion or comment, don’t hesitate to tell us. The website is as follows: (http://www.nkhumanrights.or.kr )

North Korean Human Rights Activities Improved

Newsletter vol.54 October, 2001. UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva was held last July, where human rights reports of North Korea and other countries were examined. North Korea once has declared that they will withdraw from International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , when the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities accused North Korea of the maltreatment on its people 4 years ago. That is why the second periodic report of North Korea drew world’s attention.

During the examination process representatives of North Korea was asked to answer written questionnaires about the reports followed by face-by-face question-and-answer. One week later, UN Human Rights Committee announced concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee after comprehensive observation on North Korea’s report with an assessment and recommendations.

A Korean expert who watched all the process said that members of UN Human Rights Committee thoroughly inquire of human trafficking regarding North Korean female defectors residing in China. Those questions, according to what a Korean expert said, seem to have something to do with the final report of the second international conference on North Korean Human Rights & Refugees. In the second international conference, we have talked about the human rights situation of NK female defectors, especially of human trafficking. He told us that NGOs in South Korea should focus on examining practical situation of human rights abuses of NK defectors and providing the world society with reports. 

In late September, US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea has launched, which is the outcome of long efforts of Carl Gershman, Suzanne Scholte, Jack Rendler with other prominent individuals of the US. Now we have NGOs, working for improvement of North Korean human rights situation, in Korea, Japan, France and the US. It is high time for all of us to step up our efforts in alliance with the organizations in other three countries, extending our scope of activities. 

The initiative activities of US Committee listed seven objectives that would guide its work:

1) Demanding that the famine relief that is being donated to North Korea can be monitored by independent assistance organizations to verify that this relief is reaching those whom it is intended to help;
2) Demanding that other economic assistance to North Korea be conditioned on meaningful improvements in addressing the three critical problems of human rights, refugee protection, and famine relief;
3) Pressuring the government in Pyongyang to cease criminalizing the act of leaving the country without permission and severely punishing those who are forcibly repatriated; and also insisting that China recognize the escapees as political refugees who must not be forcibly returned;
4) Finding new ways to provide information to the people of North Korea, thus ending their enforced isolation;
5) Developing multiple channels of exchange and contact with the North Korean people; and
6) Insisting that human rights organizations and independent media be given access to North Korea, thereby ending the information blockade that has prevented the true picture of conditions in North Korea to be revealed to the outside world;
7) Encouraging companies investing in North Korea to develop a code of conduct, similar to the Sullivan principles that were applied in South Africa to protect workers and other citizens. 

Now we can say human rights activities was improved one step farther.