Interviews with Ji Seong-ho

I had never thought of engaging in any kind of democracy activism before. All I wanted to do was to enjoy my freedom in South Korea, and lead a happy life.

But, there was an incident that ignited my interest in becoming an activist. There was a period of time where many foreigners were entering into North Korea to promote human rights activism.

When I learned about this, I thought to myself: “I didn’t even know what human rights meant when I was in North Korea.”

Now that I am able to lead this happy life, and now that I see many people trying to improve the lives of my fellow North Koreans, that motivates me to become a democracy activist.

[My organization], NAUH [Now Action and Unity for Human Rights] engages in several kinds of programs and activities. First, we want to deliver information to North Korean youth, because the channels of information there are entirely blocked.

Via Radio Free Asia and Far East Broadcasting, we try to inform young North Koreans what the lives of their South Korean counterparts are like, and what kind of freedoms they enjoy so that North Koreans can begin to think about these issues. [Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation that broadcasts news and information to listeners in Asian countries. Far East Broadcasting is a Christian radio station in South Korea.]

We also help defectors, like me, escape. So far, we have succeeded in helping more than 30 North Koreans come to South Korea, and we have plans to bring some 30 more to the South.

We also assist defectors in the resettlement process. Some defectors have successfully settled in the South, some are attending colleges and universities, and some have married and started families here in South Korea.

Our name contains the word “action” and this is what we emphasize a great deal. Every Saturday, we hold human rights campaigns which are designed to expose the realities of North Korea to South Koreans.

We also provide assistance to defector university students who are adjusting to life in South Korea. We also run various programs such as our cultural project where we try to tell young South Koreans about the lives and difficulties faced by ordinary North Korean citizens.

Ji Seong-ho is a North Korean defector and freedom activist. Growing up in the midst of North Korea’s great famine in the mid-1990s, he helped support his family by stealing coal and selling it. While doing so, Ji Seong-ho fell off a train and crushed his left hand and foot; portions of his limbs were amputated forcing him to move around on crutches.

In 2006, Ji Seong-ho escaped North Korea with his brother. They crossed into China via the Tumen River where Ji Seong-ho nearly drowned. After crossing over, Ji Seong-ho urged his brother to leave him fearing his disability would get them both captured. With the help of brokers and religious groups, he trekked across China on his crutches and eventually reunited with his brother in South Korea.

Since escaping, Ji Seong-ho has raised awareness about North Korea and encouraged activism to improve his country’s human rights situation. He founded the organization Now, Action, Unity, Human Rights (NAUH) and initiated various projects geared towards helping North Koreans and preparing for the Korean peninsula’s unification. These efforts have included enhancing mutual understanding and social integration between North and South Koreans, broadcasting information to North Korean youth via Radio Free Asia and Far East Broadcasting, and helping defectors escape and resettle in South Korea.

North Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) is a country of 23 million people in northeast Asia, ruled by Communist dictator Kim Jong-Un. His deceased predecessors—father, Kim Jong-Il, and grandfather, Kim Il-Sung – respectively retain the titles of “Eternal President” and “The Great Leader.”

The Korean War began in 1950, when Kim Il-Sung, backed by the Soviet Union and China, attacked South Korea. The conflict ended in a cease-fire rather than a peace treaty, and the border between the two Koreas remains tense and heavily militarized.

Kim Il-Sung employed harsh tactics to consolidate his power and propagated an extreme personality cult that has been continued by his successors. A blend of communist doctrine, state terror, xenophobia and hyper-nationalism has given North Korea its unique ideology. Despite some recent openings, North Korea remains largely isolated from the rest of the world.

With the end of Soviet communism and withdrawal of economic support, North Korea’s economy collapsed in the 1990s. A massive famine, aggravated by the regime’s indifference, killed as many as 2 million people between 1994 and 1998. While conditions have improved, even today, North Korea faces problems of malnutrition and insufficient access to food.

Tensions between North and South Korea remain high. In 2010, North Korea sank a South Korean naval vessel, killing 46 sailors and attacked a South Korean island, killing four civilians. North Korea has developed and tested nuclear weapons in contravention of several international agreements. The country withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003 in order to test ballistic missiles and eventually a nuclear device. Multilateral negotiations have so far failed to constrain North Korea’s arms buildup and nuclear program.

North Korea is among the world’s most repressive states, engaging in widespread and systematic human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions, torture, forced abortion, arbitrary detention, and denial of the rights of expression, association, assembly, and religion. The government pervasively regulates all aspects of the lives of its citizens, each of whom is categorized as “core,” “wavering,” or “hostile,” according to the history of his or her family’s relationship with the regime. Access to housing, employment, education, and other social and economic goods depend heavily on these security classifications. The government determines where each citizen will live, and travel within the country is strictly limited.

Emigration is prohibited. Refugees who have escaped to China have frequently been forcibly returned to North Korea where they are imprisoned, subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, and sometimes executed. The government operates a network of forced labor camps for an estimated 120,000 political prisoners. While persons convicted of ordinary crimes serve fixed sentences, those convicted of political crimes are confined indefinitely. Punishment is extended to three generations – the offender’s parents, siblings, and children are also incarcerated, as a way to pressure North Koreans to conform. Political offenders are often denied food, clothing, and medical care, and many die in prison.

Freedom House’s Freedom in the World report classifies North Korea as “not free” and as one of nine nations whose lack of political rights and civil liberties are considered the “worst of the worst.”