Interviews with Kang Chol-hwan

Before I met President [George W.] Bush in person, I read the book, The Case for Democracy by Natan Sharansky. I understand that this book inspired the foreign policies of the second term of the Bush administration in terms of supporting democracy throughout the world.

[The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror was written by Natan Sharansky and Ron Dermer in 2004. The book discusses why the free world should support democracy and human rights. Natan Sharansky (1948 – ) is an Israeli author, politician and civil society activist. Born in the Soviet Union, Sharansky was a prominent dissident and political prisoner. In 1986, he immigrated to Israel, where he became active in electoral politics. Since 2009, he has served as chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel.]

This book says that democracy can take root everywhere, regardless of the culture or geography of each country, because democracy is a universal value. In this context, I think that North Korea is the country in the world that needs democracy the most.

Therefore, we should work hard to bring democracy to North Korea, because it is a place where any kind of democratic values are repressed and not respected.

Also, the relationship between the United States and the Korean peninsula is quite close. We have a very strong alliance and relationship between the United States and the Republic of Korea.

Therefore, I think the United States is in a position where it has to play a role in the unification process – either directly or indirectly – and in the democratization process of North Korea.

What I find somewhat disappointing at the moment in terms of the American role, is that many times, America’s thinking is focused on military questions. I mean, I don’t think there has been a meaningful effort in terms of really working hard to spread the values of democracy; to speak to the people of North Korea.

When I say this I am referring to making various kinds of efforts on various fronts; including bringing in outside information to North Korea through tools like radio and technology like USBs. A lot of the focus when it comes to North Korea is on military, security, and nuclear weapons.

I think the United States hasn’t been able to play a significant role in bringing about genuine and practical change in North Korea. Therefore, I think both the U.S. and South Korean governments now have to work hard to bring meaningful change to the people of North Korea.

When I think about change in North Korea, I’m thinking about an approach where the people of North Korea start initiating change, with the outside world assisting in that process.

If the United States takes a greater interest and gives more attention to matters pertaining to the Korean peninsula, and on the issues of unification, then I am sure that very meaningful change can happen in North Korea. I have very high hopes that will happen.

If you look at American history, the United States also went through a civil war. President Lincoln declared the liberation of slaves, and based on this kind of sacrifice, democracy was established in the United States.

[Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865) was the 16th president of the United States.]

Likewise, there were various kinds of revolutions; popular revolutions in France and the United Kingdom, and many people had to give their lives for the cause. So democracy is not free. It comes with human sacrifice.

I think that the same rationale can be applied to North Korea, because many American soldiers gave their lives during the Korean War for the sake of bringing freedom to the Korean peninsula.

President [George W.] Bush referred to North Korea as being [part of] the axis of evil. North Korea clearly is the source of evil in today’s world. The fact the President Bush made such a comment really gave North Korean residents an opportunity to perceive their regime as being evil.

[In his 2002 State of the Union, President George W. Bush referred to Iran, Iraq and North Korea as part of an “axis of evil,” states that supported terrorism and sought weapons of mass destruction.]

When it comes to how evil the North Korean regime is, I would say that it is similar to the kind of evil perpetuated by [Adolf] Hitler and the Nazis in the past. Of course when it comes to the scale or the amount of people sacrificed, I think the Nazis killed more people, but in terms of the form of evil, I think that North Korea is no different.

[Adolf Hitler (1889 – 1945) was the leader of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Under his dictatorial regime, Germany invaded its neighbors, launching World War II. Hitler initiated and oversaw the Holocaust, the systematic extermination of Europe’s Jews and other groups deemed racially inferior by the Nazis.]

This kind of evil cannot be tolerated by humanity. I think it is very urgent to collapse and eliminate this evil North Korean regime in the nearest possible future.

Kang Chol-Hwan escaped from North Korea in 1992 and has dedicated his life to bringing attention to the horrifying conditions in North Korea.

When Kang was 9 years old, the North Korean government accused his grandfather of treason and sent the family to one of its most notorious concentration camps, Yodok. Kang lived in the camp for 10 years, surviving on meager corn rations along with rats and earthworms. He and his family were forced to work in fields and mines and to witness public executions of their fellow prisoners.

Following his release from the camp, Kang bought an illegal radio receiver and began listening secretly to broadcasts from South Korea. These broadcasts allowed Kang to understand the differences between totalitarian societies, like North Korea, and free societies. Kang and a friend escaped North Korea by sneaking across the border to China and went from there to South Korea, where he lives today.

Kang described his experiences in his powerful memoir, “The Aquariums of Pyongyang.” President Bush welcomed Kang to the White House in 2005 .

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.”