North Korean Defectors on Their Fight for Human Rights
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DEFENSE FORUM FOUNDATION Reporting from the Front Lines on our Fight to Save Our Homeland TESTIMONIES FROM NORTH KOREAN DEFECTORS FOR WELCOME/MODERATOR: SPEAKERS: YOUNG SOON KIM, MEUNG SEOB KO, MI SUNG BANG, SANG HAK PARK, CHUL HO KANG, FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2009 Transcript by SUZANNE SCHOLTE: I’m Suzanne Scholte, president of the Defense Forum Foundation. I want to welcome you all to a very special lunch that we’re having today. This is part of North Korea Freedom Week. I know those of you that work on Capitol Hill, you know we do our forums regularly, but this particular forum is a very special one because every year since 2004, we’ve organized this event called North Korea Freedom Week. It was at the DFF forum in 1997 that Choi Joo-Hwal and Mr. KXXX, who are members of this year’s defector delegation, first came to the United States and spoke out for the first time about the conditions in North Korea - the first North Korean defectors ever to speak out publicly about conditions in North Korea. They’re part of this year’s delegation. Now, I want to be sure that the defectors have as much time as possible to speak, so I’m going to be very brief because this program is all for them. But I do want to recognize a few people before we start. And first of all, if the members of the North Korea Freedom Coalition could just stand up, I just want to recognize the members of our coalition in helping organize these events: (NKFC members stood up .) (Applause.) They are the volunteers who have been helping with the events all this week. And I also want to recognize the DFF staff – Henry Song, Hyoju Kim, an Angel – she’s an angel – that have been helping with all the events this week. And I also want to recognize a member of the Defense Forum Foundation board of directors and his guest, Ty McCoy and his guest Chris Griner. (Applause.) And in this fight, we’ve always had the solid backing of NGOs from Japan which we deeply, deeply appreciate. We have two special guests – their sisters were abducted by the North Korean regime, and they’ve partnered with us all these years on these events, and I just want to recognize – Shigero Iizuka and Teruaki Masumoto. (Applause) We’re also very honored to have a member of the Japanese Diet with us who has also been a champion on the abductee issue and on North Korean human rights issue. We’re very honored that he is with us today: Jin Matsubara. (Applause.) And we also have a representative from the South Korean government, from the embassy, Dr. Jo Jangwan. There he is. (Applause.) Now, North Korea Freedom Week, for those of you who have been involved with this before, you know that this has been the most intense: more events, more programs, more panels, and more North Korean defectors here than ever before. It’s the biggest one we’ve ever done. And I think that there’s a sense of urgency in this movement right now. There’s a great sense of urgency that this is a very key time. We have a new president of South Korea that was elected last year who cares very deeply for the North Korean people – something that we haven’t had in the the two previous presidencies. We have a new president of the United States who wants to chart a course on this issue and is trying – developing a strategy now. And we’ve had incredible meetings with representatives of the Obama administration. And we’re in a key point right now. Are we going to go back and follow the path that Clinton and Bush took in the failed agreed framework, the failed Six-Party Talks, or are we going to finally talk about human rights? This is a very critical time because we’re at a crossroads on whether we’re going to end up with millions and millions of more North Koreans being killed and suffering and trying to escape, and being abused because they are trafficked in China, and suffering in the North Korean gulags. Are these atrocities going to continue or are we going to finally try to stand up for these issues and make human rights as equal in importance as the nuclear issue? I would contend that the human rights issues are more important than the nuclear issue. I just wanted to begin with that because I feel everybody has that sense of urgency about this time. I want to introduce the key delegation leader of the North Korea Freedom Week delegation who helped lead the delegation. We have over 30 defectors, including 10 defectors that represent a musical group. And I’m going to introduce Kim Seung-Min in just a moment, but I want to recognize Mah Young Ae, if she could just stand. Mah Young Ae, where are you? (Applause.) She’s the one that was responsible for the music, and she brought a delegation of 10 people to be part of North Korea Freedom Week. I’m going to introduce now Kim Seung-Min – many of you know him. He’s been fighting with me for many years. He is the director of Free North Korea Radio. He was a captain in the DPRK army, and became disillusioned, and escaped from North Korea to China, but was repatriated back to North Korea. He was on his way to be executed because he had served in the military and tried to defect, and he jumped from a train and made it across the border into China again, and with the help of his uncle was finally able to make it to South Korea. He’s become one of the most respected North Korean defectors for the way that he’s worked with all the different organizations. We have many represented here today among the defectors. I’m going to turn the program over to him so he can introduce the speakers from the North Korean defector delegation who will speak on behalf of the whole group. Also, I do want to remind everybody that you can see at nkfreedom.org the biographies of all the defectors that are here this week. And don’t forget there’s a protest at the Chinese Embassy tomorrow at noon. And it’s my great honor to introduce my little brother, Kim Seung-Min. (Applause.) SEUNG-MIN KIM: (Translated.) Hello. We meet again, and I’m glad that we’re meeting some of the familiar faces from the prior year. And I’m glad that we all have a common purpose when we come together – that of throwing the dictatorship of North Korea out the window. And we come from many different countries including U.S., Korea, and Japan. There’s a lot of things I really want to say here, but before that, it is my honor to introduce some of the members that have come with me from Korea. First and foremost would be Young Soon Kim, an elderly lady who lost her mother and father in the gulag and she herself had suffered in the [North Korean] gulag for nine years. And she has also lost two of her sons. However, she’s fighting very hard for democracy for the people of North Korea. From the words of this elderly lady, Young Soon Kim, although her words will be short, you will get to hear about the truth behind the gulag, and how severe it is, and the kind of dictatorship that runs the gulags. We have Mr. Gwang-il Jung who is also working with Mrs. Young Soon Kim for the closing down of the political prisons in North Korea. The two gentlemen that are standing up are Mr. Gwang-il Jung and Mr. Tae Jin Kim. Both are survivors from the North Korean gulag. From these people you will hear what atrocities took place, and are still being carried out in this gulag, and how harsh it is under the dictatorship if Kim Jong-il. Next will be Mr. Meung Seob Ko. He actually has a hard time speaking so he’ll be short in his speeches, but he is the person – one of the many who have been actually kidnapped by North Koreans from South Korea. At the age of 30 when he was a fisherman, he was taken by the North Korean Army and suffered in North Korea as an abductee for 30 years. He recently, in 2005, came back to his fatherland, and he has formed an organization along with seven other abductees for the welfare of the people who had been kidnapped by North Korea. (Applause.) Also, among the defectors, we have here and also back at home, we have many female defectors, and of those females, we have two very brave people who are with us. One is Ms. Young Ae Kim and the other one is Mi Sun Bang Park and these people had been sold like pigs when they were living in China. It is really hard for women to stand up and speak of the hardships that they have gone through. But they have decided that it’s important that the people know about it, that people hear about what really took place and what a devil Kim Jong-il is. They wanted to rise up and speak about their experience. (Applause.) Again, please, a very warm welcome for these two very brave people who are speaking up against the dictatorship. (Applause.) Also amongst us from Korea is a person who had been a member of underground church in North Korea. We have heard quite about the underground church but we haven’t really had somebody speak on that issue. Her father and her relatives were taken to the gulags because they were worshiping in underground churches. I actually was able to bring their family out as well as her, and I brought them to Korea. So she actually calls me an uncle. And so she will speak here today about the underground church in North Korea, and her name is Eun Jung Hye. (Applause.) We also have people who just like Eun Jung, have been worshiping and following God and eventually because of that lost their parents and siblings. And these two very brave people had fled to China and later to Korea. They went through seminaries in Korea and eventually became ministers. These two defectors have brought refugees together to bring them under the arms of Christ. Their names are Chul Ho Kang and Myong-Heui Eom. (Applause.) I thought it was important to bring those two out and introduce them to you because amongst us, we have many people who represent various different North Korean refugee associations and groups. However, I felt that Christianity is an important uniting force for these refugees, and they have done a lot of work, so I thought it was important that we shine a light on their activities. We’ll try to keep it short from here on. This is Sam Lee. She works with the Seminary Broadcasting for North Koreans. She broadcasts about Christianity to North Korea. Although the first broadcasting attempt (had difficulties), the second broadcasting attempt is becoming very successful. (Applause.) This is Mr. Young Il Kim (ph) and Min Jae Oh. These people have united the youth among the refugees. Of the 16,000 defectors, we have quite a few young people, and they are representing the youth. (Applause.) Next is Su Jin Kang. She has, from the very beginning, organized a women’s rights group amongst the refugees. That group is the first group that advocated for women’s rights for the North Korean refugees. And again, this is Ms. Su Jin Kang. (Applause.) And also, Mr. Young-il Kim and also Ms. Su Jin Kang are notable for something that they have done in recent years, they have for the first time for the refugee groups, came to the U.S., and asked the State Department for funding and much gratitude to Ms. Suzanne Scholte, they have actually been able to get some funding from the U.S. State Department. This is something that the refugees in before days could not even think of, could not even imagine, but this became a reality and this became a very good start for us. Next is someone that Suzanne Scholte calls “fireball” and this is Mr. Sang Hak Park. He does ballooning into North Korea. This ballooning activity, as you probably know, is something that Mr. Kim Jong-il really, really hates. And perhaps even U.S. State Department is a little bit concerned about the activities, but this is the man behind all those balloons. (Applause.) Now, the leaflets through these balloons are a very effective means of communication with North Koreans and I cannot stress the importance of it enough. This is a very aggressive tactic, and I hope and I wish that many of you would show more support and those who have been giving support continue to give support to this activity. Next is Mr. Song Ju Cha who is the general secretary of a group that was organized by Mr. Hung Jong-il and this is for the overthrow of the North Korea dictatorship and many groups have come together under the umbrella under this organization and we are attempting very hard to overthrow the dictatorship in North Korea. Again, Mr. Song Ju Cha. Next person – I’ve been waiting for him and now he has arrived. And this man actually came to South Korea from North Korea directly, and it is interesting that the day he came to South Korea was on the day that Mr. Bush was visiting the DMZ in year 2002. However, the South Korean government did not announce his coming over to South Korea for a couple of days for political reasons. However, this is the man who actually came to capitalistic society from a socialist society right away without having to go through any other venues such as China. However, to my surprise, he has adjusted quite well to the capitalistic society. He’s done well. He went to Yonsei University. He’s gotten his bachelors, he’s gotten his masters, and since then he has worked for a couple of assembly members both in the ruling party as well as an opposition party. Now he’s the chairman and president of a group that leads the young people in South Korea known as Baekdu Halla. This is Mr. Sung-il Joo. (Applause.) I simply introduced them as a staff, but they actually are journalists, reporters, and analysts, and they do everything at the broadcasting North Korea Freedom Radio. So they do quite a bit of work. Earlier, Mrs. Suzanne Scholte had mentioned a couple of names as the ones who had started out the whole program together Chou Joo Hwal and Mr. XXXX and these two people are on the way. This is not something that you want to write on the reports actually, if you could leave it out. And then the person that I really wanted to introduce was Mr. XXXX who has been a cornerstone of our program from the very beginning. (Applause.) I realize the introduction has gotten quite long, but these have been some very important people and I cannot leave these last two people out. And that would Ms. Young Ae Mah and Sang Ho Byun, and actually the beautiful members of the Pyongyang musical troupe. (Applause.) Through the past days of North Korea Freedom Week, the delegation from Korea had really not had much opportunity to do anything (because of so many sessions and events) and didn’t have a chance to eat all that much! However, I have been told and advised by Mrs. Suzanne Scholte that this is our time. This is our opportunity to speak what’s on our heart and speak about what had happened, what our experiences have been back home. So, please, give it a good listen. It might be a little longer than you may have expected, but do stay with us if you could. Mr. Peter Beck, Mr. Chuck Downs, and also the honorable member from the Japanese Diet, and also the Congressional staff and also other very important members who are present here with us. Please, do give us a good hearing. Give us your good ears and attention. These are some very important stories that we really would like to get out. The stories that they tell you and the promises that they make, please remember what they have been through and please keep it close to your hearts. Thank you. All the ones that are going to speak come up and sit down so that they’re right here. MS. YOUNG SOON KIM: (Translated.) My name is Young Soon Kim. I was born in 1937. I escaped North Korea in year 2001, and following November 25th of 2003, I made my way into South Korea. In 1970, this was 1st of August, I was investigated by the investigative arm known as Number 312. And after two months of investigation by 312, I was sent to a political prison known as Yodok gulag. I actually did not even know what was happening to me when I was arrested in the first place. I was told at first to go to Sinujiu, an area on the northern part of North Korea from west of Pyongyang, and that’s how my first troubles started. Now, this Number 312, this – not too many people in North Korea know about the existence of this group, and it’s actually more of a secret agency that does investigations. When I was arrested, and apprehended, and taken away by these people, this was a very hard time for me because at the time, I had a child at home that was very young. At the end of a two-month investigation by number 312, five officials of the group came upon me and told me that, “Comrade Young Soon, you have said certain things and this has been reported in South Korean media. You should be responsible for your actions.” And that was the reason that was given, and after that reason, I was taken to Yodok gulag. Now, I had been friends with Hae Rim Sung, who is currently the wife of Kim Jong-il, since high school, and we had attended both high school and college together. Because this Hae Rim Sung (the interpreter will start using the last name first so that it’s in keeping with the other names )– so, Sung Hae Rim used to be actually a wife of another person, and one day Sung Hae Rim told me that she was invited to and she was going to go to the house of Kim Jong-il. Even that didn’t preclude me from being taken away and sent to Yodok gulag. And this Yodok gulag, this is the 21st century Auschwitz – perhaps even worse than that. At Yodok gulag, my mother and father were also there and as well as my son. And eventually, I ended up seeing them dead, and when I saw them, I saw that they were put on a straw mat and that they were eventually taken away on these straw mats. At the gulag, in Yodok, the prisoners eat whatever we can. Anything that walks or crawls, we eat. Anything that sprouts from the ground, we would eat. And the atrocities that have been carried on in this place, I witnessed for nine years and I can’t say all those things in such a short time here. Whenever I think back of the days that I was in the gulag, blood seems to shoot from my eyes. It’s really just a miracle that some of us have survived the gulag and that some of us have actually made it into South Korea. Well, if you caught a rat, this was a special day for you – you had a special menu. And I have also witnessed people who tried to eat snakes raw, and from eating that, they would be poisoned and have blisters all over their body and it eventually lead to their death. There are certain types of deficiency of vitamins – we called it vitamin PP deficiency – and this results in the opening of the anal cavity getting enlarged. And I have actually witnessed many people dying, up to five or six people per day, from this vitamin deficiency. Let me tell you how my son had died. My son, at the age of 23, tried to escape from the Yodok gulag, but he was brought back and he was shot to death. I also lost my husband – he was taken to a gulag on July 4th of 1970. And at that time he was age 35, and to this day, I do not know where he is. At the time, I was taken to the gulag, I had a daughter who was six years of age and she had been adopted by a farmer. The warden of Yodok gulag would tell the prisoners that you should all have died, but for the generosity of the great leader Kim Jong-il, you are still living on. You should thank the generosity of the great leader. Including those who are still incarcerated in the Yodok gulag, there are over 200,000 prisoners who are imprisoned in North Korean gulags. Now, you here in America and people in many other parts of the world live in freedom and democracy, but we have many people who are imprisoned in North Korea who are not aware of their fate, what will happen to them, and at which point they might even die. In 1989, there was a high official of the security forces in North Korea who had visited the Hamhung area. At that time, I was taken to the security forces again and was given a stern warning from an official from the security forces. What he said was that Sung Hae Rim is not the wife of Kim Jong-il, nor has she had any son from Kim Jong-il, and if you are to speak of that again, you will be met with a harsh punishment. That’s the stern warning I received. So at that time, that’s when I realized why I was sent to Yodok gulag. People that are sent to Yodok gulag, they don’t even know why they are being sent, and they don’t even know how long they would have to serve the sentence. I was sent out from the gulag in 1979, so I came out. It was nine years that I had served my time. Those people in the gulag who attempted to escape, if you were taken back, you would be shot to death without any exception. These gulags must be broken up. During a time of emergency in North Korea, the North Korean regime will make sure to bomb or explode these gulags first if anything happens to their regime. Those of you who are here who are freedom-loving human rights supporters, please come together with us and let’s break up the gulags in North Korea. Let’s break up the dictatorship that exists in North Korea, and let us work together hand in hand for the human rights of humanity. (Applause.) MEUNG SEOB KO: (Translated.) My name is Ko Meung Seob. I am representing the kidnapees of North Korea. Thanks to the association’s efforts, we do have one escapee who has returned to South Korea since then – since the inception of the association. And also we have some members who are in the consulate, under the consulate protection of the Chinese government, and these people have not been disclosed by the government yet, but that I know for a fact. One of the reasons we do not disclose these returnees is that, as in my case, when the North Korean’s found out that I had returned to South Korea, my family members who were left behind have suffered tremendously and that’s why the government had decided that we are not going to disclose the identity of these returnees. The kidnapees in North Korea, under the current regime, have a system of segregation, and we have gotten old and we have gotten sick and diseased. Our association shares and feels the pain and suffering of those other kidnapees who are still left in North Korea, and our activities revolve around having these people returned to South Korea. Our association’s purpose and our activities involve ensuring return of these kidnapees and also bringing about democracy, the news of democracy to the regions where these kidnapees had been previously. Our association will endeavor to enlarge the scope of our activities. I certainly hope that all of you here in this room would share the interest that we have on the returnees and also make sure that these kidnapees are returned eventually. I hope you will also understand, and share, and sympathize in the pain and suffering of the kidnapees. For us to continue this type of activity, I hope you will take interest in us and share your love with us and that will make us stronger. Thank you. (Applause.) MI SUNG BANG: (Translated.) Hello. It’s really good to see you here today. It is a great honor for me to stand here before you who are the great people I see, and this is the honor that I must attribute to God. I came to South Korea January 8th of 2004. My name is Mi Sung Bang. Escaping from North Korea, which was a hell to me, for me to be in South Korea, I feel like I found my heaven. In South Korea, I do not have to worry about finding food to eat, nor do I have to worry about the temperature in the room. This is indeed heaven to me. I used to live in an area called Hamgyong-Bukto. At the time, my husband was working as a laborer but during the famine period my husband could not find enough food for him to sustain himself while working. So he starved to death. At that time, my oldest daughter, who had been a ballerina at a Pyongyang ballet troupe, came home and then was gone. She disappeared one day. So at the time my daughter went missing, my husband had died and the starvation hit us. So, all these things were happening at the time, and my pain was exacerbated by all these things, and my psychological state was not there anymore. At the time, I felt that it’s important that I escape in order to make sure that the remaining second daughter and my son would survive. So I decided that I will cross the Tumen River. I hoped and thought I might find refuge in China. So when I went there, what actually ended up happening was that waiting for me were the police – Chinese police – who were getting ready to apprehend me and send me back to North Korea. I thought to myself that for the safety of my children, there is nothing that I am not going to do. This is when these Chinese brokers appeared before me, and they threatened me by threatening with the safety of my children. For the sake of my children’s safety, I told myself that there is nothing I am not going to do, and I followed these brokers. That’s the beginning of how I started becoming sold to others. My first buyer sold me to another buyer and then that buyer sold me in turn to another buyer, each buyer for additional profit. So, I was being sold like a beast. I remember these Chinese brokers would call us, those who were being sold, “pigs.” Well, I was the best pig they had, and I was sold at top price. And eventually, I ended up with this last buyer who became my husband and this is in a land that I am not used to. This is in a land where I did not speak the language. My so-called husband was a disabled person who was 20 years older than me. He told me that he had paid 7,000 yuan and this was a big amount for him. He said that was his one year’s farming income and that he had farmed using his bad legs. He told me that he would kill me if I did not listen to him, and he started treating me like a beast from day one. After I started living with this man just after a few days, a few men showed up at the door and they took me away. I found out that there are brokers who would take the people who had been sold and take them away and sell them again to a third party. I never knew that this buying and selling of people existed. And further, I did not realize that these type of people existed. And I got sold and sold again. And at the end, I ended up with this person who was younger than me, and he was 33-years-old. At the time, my age was 48. And all of a sudden this man had told me that I had to bear his child. I told him that after our last child, I had a ring attached to me and that I can no longer bear any child. And when he heard that, he actually brought his sister and someone who appeared to be an OB/GYN doctor, and they held me down and ripped the ring out of me. This was very painful for me, but more than the pain that I had suffered, there was much hemorrhaging, and it was very hard for me to get up. I was bedridden. Why do North Korean women have to be treated like pigs and sold like pigs and suffer these things? However, I was thinking of my children who might be looking for me and so I found the strength to get up. And after a few days, I found an opportunity, I ran away. I met some good people after that, and I was able to get to Yongbyon. I started looking for my children but before I could find them, I was, again, caught by the Chinese police, and I was repatriated to North Korea and send to an area called Musan. In Musang-on area, there was a camp called “physical camp.” At that camp, there were various people of various ages, ranging from 20 and up. And at first, they told us to sit and stand up repeatedly for about 100 times and after that, they had us running around a track which was about the size of a soccer field. We had to run about 100 rounds. I did not want to be punished so I tried my very best to keep on running, but in the end, I just could not finish my run. And when I fell down, somebody ran over to me and started kicking me with his boots up and down and stepping on my body. Eventually, with what appears to be a two-by-four, he started hitting me until I lost consciousness. The damages that I had suffered at the time, the marks are shown in my head and also my leg. I’m actually unable to use my leg very well, and became disabled from then on. Then I was moved to another camp in the same Musang-on area. I was taken to this other camp where groups of us were being held together. I could take the abuses that they were giving, but the problem was that there were way too many ticks in the area. The space was quite limited and even when the ticks bite, we were not allowed to move about or even twitch, so we just had to sit there and sit there. At one point, my leg started itching so much, I looked down and I see that it is a tick. It was so big it looked like a worm to me. I actually grabbed the tick and said that this is not my tick and threw it at the guard’s feet. All the abuses that take place in that place, I have such a limited time here today I can’t speak of all that. A few days later, I was taken to another area, a correctional facility in Hamhung. In this correctional facility, I’ve suffered something that you could not even imagine. In this correctional facility, the prisoners were not like human beings; they were just like monkeys. To survive, they would eat whatever they can, whatever they can find on the ground, on the walls, anywhere. And it was so hard that it was hard to even find a glass of water. So the reality was very bleak. However, I thought and I felt that I had to survive in order to meet my children, so I did what I could. It took me one-and-a-half years at that facility. When I was finally released, I came back to my hometown but I could not find my children in my hometown. A few days later, someone came and said that a person came from China and that he was sent by my son, who was in South Korea. With that person, I crossed the Tumen River and eventually ended up in the Korea Embassy in China, and from the consulate service, I was sent to South Korea. Now that I am in South Korea, I think back and I think of the people in China who are suffering and the people who are and who have been sold as animals, and this was very, very painful for me. Thank you, thank you Mrs. Suzanne Scholte and all the human rights groups who are helping us and who are working for the human rights of North Korea. Once again, thank you. (Applause.) SANG HAK PARK: (Translated.) This is a very meaningful day marking the sixth year of our North Korea Freedom Week. Also, thank you very much for allowing us, the North Korean refugees, to talk about our sufferings. And a special thanks to Mrs. Suzanne Scholte for giving us this very special opportunity. We have quite a few refugees now in South Korea. We have come together. And for the past six to seven years, we have worked very hard to overthrow the dictatorship of North Korea and to spread freedom and democracy to North Korea. Against the ruthless ruling dictator Kim Jong-il and also the anti-humanitarian activities that are taking place under the leadership of Kim Jong-il, we have done quite a lot of activities and we continue to do these activities. Now, some of the activities that we carry on including the dropping of the leaflets using balloons, I believe these are the message and news of hope. This is something that Kim Jong-il does not want to hear. These are peaceful weapons that are stronger and more effective than nuclear warheads or missiles, and so I intend to carry on with my activities. And for the activities of the refugees and also the important work that’s being done by Mrs. Suzanne Scholte, I hope you will continue to show interest and give us much support. Thank you listening. CHUL HO KANG: (Translated.) Thank you very much. It’s an honor to be with you who take interest in the activities of the refugees. In reflecting on the sufferings of the North Koreans, I am here standing before you with a prayer on my mind. We had stories told by refugees here earlier. And it’s stories, but it’s not just their stories. Who will wipe the tears from these people? Who will comfort them? Who in here could do that? We come to the United States with the hopes that you will take interest in the North Korean issues. We have to come together. We have to form an alliance so that we can topple the regime in North Korea. Worldwide, I think we must come together and have an alliance, form an alliance so that we can fight against the dictatorship. This should not be a one-time, passing interest that we have on North Korea, but we hope that you will have an interest in North Korea consistently. We pray that you will stand with us together in struggling against the dictatorship. In conclusion, I must extend my deepest appreciation to Mrs. Suzanne Scholte and everyone who has stayed on with us for such a long time. Thank you very much. MS. SCHOLTE: Thank you. I want to acknowledge real quickly the translators that helped us out today: Justin Oh, Peter Kang, Henry Sung, HyoJu Kim, Peter Beck, Dennis Halpin, Helen Lee, James Victory, who also did the translations for the program, and Pastor Heemoon Lee and Steve Kim, who I also want to acknowledge. This is the gentleman who was in jail for four years for trying to rescue the North Korean refugees. We are deeply appreciative of those of you that came today, especially the members of the congressional staff. And I hope that we can see greater and greater interest on Capitol Hill on this issue. One of the things that we struggle with is trying to get the attention of the American people and of the administration and of the Congress. The challenge that we face is that the media can’t go there to see what’s going on. That was certainly illustrated last month when Laura Ling and Euna Lee were in China trying to record and report about what was happening to the North Korean refugees, especially the women who were being trafficked. They were trying to report on this and they were – you probably are all familiar with the story, but the North Korean border guards crossed over to China and took these two women at gunpoint. And they’re in Pyongyang now facing trial. And this is the challenge that we face in trying to get these issues out. That’s why we’ve always made an emphasis in bringing the North Koreans here to Washington to speak out and tell their stories. So anyway, I want to thank everyone for coming today. And again, testimonies, the information on the refugees, their backgrounds and everything are also on the nkfreedom.org Web site. But just a reminder: Tomorrow is the last event of North Korea Freedom Week. It’s going to be at the Chinese Embassy, at their new location, so we have to break in a new, little Tiananmen Square across from the Chinese Embassy, and I hope to see everybody there. Thank you all. God bless you. Thanks for being with us. (Applause.) (END) |
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