09 Summer QUATERLY JOURNAL.pdf

Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR)

Vol. 52 / Summer / 2009

Life &

Human

Rights in

North Korea

Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR)

Life & Human Rights in North Korea 3

Editor’s Note: This summer’s <Life & Human Rights in North Korea>

is a special edition of the 9 th International Conference on North Korean

Human Rights and Refugees. In addition to the welcome address and

keynote speech which were not included in the conference book, it

compiles media reports and participants’ comments on the conference.

| C ONTENTS |

S PEECHES

Address to the 9 th International Conference on North Korean

Human Rights and Refugees

Stephen Smith · 4

The Struggle for Human Rights in North Korea: The Road Ahead

Carl Gershman · 9

M EDIA R EPORTS

Land of Hidden Horrors

Greg Sheridan / The Australian · 13

World Can’t Ignore N Korea Rights: Smith

The Sydney Morning Herald · 18

Voices of North Korean Defectors Heard From Down Under

Kavi Chongkittavorn / The Nation · 19

Atlantic Eye: Branded for Life by North Korea

Marc S. Ellenbogen / UPI · 23

Human Rights in North Korea

ABC Radio National · 26

C OMMENTS

What To Do About North Korea?

Michael Danby· 33

Toward a Greater Multilateral Cooperation on North Korea

Nakagawa Masaharu · 36

International Concerns over North Korean Human Rights

Un-Chul Yang · 39

This quarterly is published in Korean and English.

All expenses were paid for with voluntary contributions

from Korean citizens.

Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR)

SPEECHES _ _ _ ____ __

Address to the 9th International Conference on

North Korean Human Rights and Refugees *

Hon. Stephen Smith MP

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia

Thank you, Michael, for your introduction.

I congratulate you on your work as Chair of the Australian Committee for

Human Rights in North Korea.

I acknowledge the support of the Citizens Alliance for North Korean Human

Rights in organising this event and welcome our international participants to

Australia and to Melbourne.

The Australian Government is firmly committed to international efforts to

protect human rights.

The human rights situation above the 38th parallel is appalling. Famine,

torture, disappearances, arbitrary detention, repression and countless other

indignities have been visited on the people of North Korea by their own

leaders.

It is over 60 years now since the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. The

international structures and systems that have developed to support that

Declaration have faced and still face a severe test in dealing with North Korea.

Today I will outline the Australian Government’s action in support of the

international protection of human rights.

We seek to strengthen international action by working to bolster international

systems and promote international respect for human rights standards. We act

where we can to promote human rights in North Korea but, like many

* This is the keynote speech of the 9 th International Conference on North Korean

Human Rights and Refugees

Life & Human Rights in North Korea 5

members of the international community, we are under no illusion that our

actions alone will bring about change.

The Human Rights Situation in North Korea

There are many experts here today, from Korea and elsewhere, who will be

able to give you first hand information about human rights abuses in North

Korea.

I particularly welcome the participation of the UN Special Rapporteur on the

Situation of Human Rights in the DRPK, Professor Muntabhorn. He has

recently reported to the Human Rights Council and I am sure he will bring a

well-informed and current perspective to discussions later today. Professor

Muntabhorn’s report makes for troubling reading in its cataloguing of the

systematic violation of human rights in North Korea.

From denial of the simple right to food and basic necessities to State-

sanctioned torture and execution, millions of innocent people in North Korea

are suffering under a brutal regime. This situation is all the more galling given

the considerable expenditure of resources in North Korea on missile and

nuclear programs.

Much of the international community’s attention is understandably focused on

these programs and Australia has long held grave concerns over

them. Australia deplores provocative North Korean actions like its current

planned missile launch, and urges that this not proceed. Australia also strongly

supports Japan’s call for a full accounting of the fate of Japanese citizens

abducted by North Korea.

Pyongyang’s continuing unpredictable behaviour is a stark reminder of the

dangers of nuclear proliferation. We are using our strong non-proliferation

credentials to support international efforts towards denuclearisation of the

Korean Peninsula, including the Six Party Talks. The Australian Government

does not, however, believe that these efforts should impede parallel action to

address the grave humanitarian situation in North Korea.

That is why events like today’s Conference are so important. We need to

continue to raise awareness, exchange information and explore new

approaches to addressing the appalling violation of human rights in North

Korea. We must remember that behind the statistics there are thousands of

individual lives being lived and lost.

I was particularly struck by the recent story of Shin Dong-hyuk, the only

person living in South Korea known to have escaped from a North Korean

prison camp. Shin was born in the camp, sentenced with his family to a life of

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