Sadly, the main obstacle to democratizing North Korea is that North Korean defectors in South Korea are at the center of this movement; which means our numbers are small.
We try to work hard, but because we are a small population, our influence on North Korea is relatively small. This is our fundamental shortcoming. Nevertheless, my predecessors and fellow defectors are working very hard to democratize North Korea. This effort has been going on for one or two decades now. This has provided a lot of encouragement for the North Korean people.
I believe that if the [South Korean] government and the international community combined their support with the defector communities’ endeavors, our influence on North Korea could be even greater.
Democratizing North Korea doesn’t have to mean dropping a bomb on North Korea to collapse the regime. In the Tunisian Revolution, the so-called Jasmine Revolution, meaningful change started to happen with a person burning himself in protest of police [brutality].
[The Jasmine Revolution refers to the 2011 uprising in Tunisia that toppled the regime of the former dictator, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. It was inspired by Mohamed Bouazizi (1984 – 2011), a Tunisian fruit vendor who set himself on fire in protest of the government’s harassment and unlawful confiscation of his products.]
The North Korean people’s mentality is beginning to change. In the past, they blindly and unconditionally gave their loyalty to the regime, but these days North Koreans now realize their lives are very important. They have become more resistant to having someone else take away their possessions.
So if we can somehow educate these people on the concepts of democracy and freedom and how inhumane their circumstances are, then I think they would be far more willing to protest against the regime.
So once again, I don’t think we have to go as far as mobilizing all 26,000 North Korean defectors in South Korea, or having the South Korean government provide some kind of major assistance.
If those people, groups, and organizations that are active could come together, I believe they could provide enough meaningful influence on North Korea.
We also have people supporting and helping us; people like Suzanne Scholte of the North Korea Freedom Coalition. This group has put together a group of sponsors for Free North Korea Radio.
Major figures like Mr. Nam Sin-u in the United States are also providing their support and encouragement.
[Suzanne Scholte (1959 – ) is an American human rights activist and the President of the Defense Forum Foundation. The North Korea Freedom Coalition is a nonpartisan coalition founded in 2003 to work for the freedom, human rights, and dignity of the North Korean people. Nam Sin-u (1940 – ) is a South Korean-born human rights activist and architect who now lives in the United States.]
Our third source of hope comes from the North Korean people. Whenever we are reminded of their desperate situation, we appreciate even more how our programs or leaflet drops into North Korea might help them.
Kim Seong Min was born in 1962. He grew up and received his education in Pyongyang, North Korea. Kim is the son of a poet and was trained as a writer. After serving ten years in the military, he worked in one of the regime’s propaganda offices. Troubled by the society in which he lived, Kim escaped to China in 1997. He eventually arrived in Seoul, South Korea in 1999, and ever since has fought for the liberation and democratization of his homeland.
In 2004, Kim established Free North Korea Radio (FNKR) to broadcast messages about freedom to those being oppressed and exploited by the regime in Pyongyang. These tireless efforts have been recognized by several international awards, including the “Prize for Press Freedom” from Reporters Without Borders and the “Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award” from the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. Recently, Kim was elected as a Representative of the Coalition to Promote the Democratization of North Korea, an alliance of North Korean defector organizations based in South Korea.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/freedomnk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/radiofreenk
Website: http://www.fnkradio.com
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.”
See all North Korea videos