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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20171212T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20171212T000000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20230109T193708Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230109T194321Z
UID:725916-1513036800-1513036800@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:Protecting North Korean Refugees: Written Statement by Roberta Cohen\, HRNK Co-Chair Emeritus
DESCRIPTION:“PROTECTING NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES”\nHouse Foreign Affairs Committee\nSubcommittee on Africa\, Global Health\, Global Human Rights\, and International Organizations\nWRITTEN STATEMENT OF ROBERTA COHEN\, CO-CHAIR EMERITUS\, COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA (HRNK) ON “PROTECTING NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES” AT THE HEARING OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA\, GLOBAL HEALTH\, GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS\, AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS\, DECEMBER 12\, 2017\nMy appreciation to Congressman Christopher Smith and Ranking Member Karen Bass for holding this hearing to maintain a spotlight on North Korean refugees and their need for international protection. The world community’s preoccupation with massive movements of people fleeing war-torn countries has often overlooked the plight of smaller groups of refugees in desperate straits. The North Korean case is one such situation that should warrant international attention because of the extraordinary cruelty to which the asylum seekers and refugees are subjected. Unlike most governments\, North Korea has made it a criminal offense to leave its country without permission\, thereby preventing its citizens from exercising their internationally recognized right to seek asylum and become a refugee. Second\, those who do try to escape face increasing obstacles — electrified fences\, enhanced border patrols\, exorbitant bribes\, and traffickers. Only 1\,418 managed to reach South Korea in 2016. Third\, if caught and returned\, North Korean refugees are subject to systematic and brutal punishment\, which the United Nations Commission of Inquiry (COI) has found to constitute crimes against humanity.[1]  Fourth\, neighboring China collaborates with the DPRK in arresting and turning back North Koreans despite the abusive treatment they routinely suffer at the hands of North Korea’s security forces.[2]\n\nIn his 2017 report to the UN General Assembly\, the Special Rapporteur on human rights in the DPRK\, Tomas Ojea Quintana\, drew attention to the “deplorable conditions” in the holding centers near the border with China where repatriated North Koreans are confined before being sent off to reeducation or other camps for extended punishment. Women constitute the majority of those who flee and of those returned and are “the target of violent practices.”[3]During interrogation and detention\, they are subject to beatings\, torture\, and sexual and gender-based violence. Those found to be pregnant are reported to have their pregnancy terminated by force\, but “the shame and secrecy attached to this practice make precise statistics on cases of forced abortion difficult to collect.”[4] When placed in reeducation through labor camps and other prison facilities\, forcibly repatriated North Koreans are deliberately denied adequate food and medical attention\, and are subject to forced labor and sexually abusive treatment.\n\nTo North Korea\, those who leave without permission are criminal offenders\, even traitors to the Kim regime. To United Nations human rights bodies\, North Koreans who leave illegally are potential refugees. They flee persecution as well as the socioeconomic deprivation emanating from the songbun system of social and political classification to which the government subjects them. But even if they were not refugees when they left North Korea\, they become so (that is\, refugees sur place) because of the well-founded fear of persecution and punishment they face upon return. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2017 called on North Korea to decriminalize illegal border crossing\, and because of the high number of women forcibly repatriated\, to  ensure that the women “are not subjected to invasive body searches\, sexual violence and forced abortions\, and that their rights to life and to a fair trial are respected.”[5] It further called upon North Korea to allow international organizations “access to all women’s detention facilities.”[6]\n\nUN bodies have also sent warnings to China\, which the UN COI found to be enabling North Korea’s crimes. A letter signed by COI Chair\, Justice Michael Kirby\, and appended to its 400-page report\, warned Chinese officials that they could be found to be “aiding and abetting crimes against humanity” by sharing information with North Korea’s security bodies and turning back North Koreans to conditions of danger.[7] It challenged China’s claims that North Koreans entering China illegally are economic migrants who must be deported\, and that those returned are not subject to punishment.\n\nOn occasion China has allowed North Koreans to proceed to South Korea\, but these cases are few and far between.[8]Over the years China has tolerated thousands of North Koreans residing illegally in its country\, some ‘married’ to Chinese men\, but the North Koreans have no rights\, are vulnerable to exploitation and bribes\, constantly fear deportation and may be expelled. The UN Committee against Torture (CAT) in 2016 described China as practicing a “rigorous policy of forcibly repatriating all nationals of the DPRK” on the grounds that they cross the border illegally for economic reasons.[9] It called on China to set up a refugee determination process for North Koreans and allow UNHCR access to border areas. The CAT noted that it had 100 testimonies showing that North Koreans forcibly returned were “systematically” subjected to torture and ill-treatment and recommended UNHCR monitoring of North Koreans forcibly returned to assure that they are not subject to torture.\n\nWhen UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited China in 2006 as UN High Commissioner for Refugees\, he told Chinese officials that forcibly repatriating North Koreans without any determination process and where they could be persecuted on return stands in violation of the Refugee Convention. UNHCR also proposed a special humanitarian status for North Koreans to enable them to obtain temporary documentation\, access to services and protection from forced return. To the refugee agency\, North Koreans are deemed “persons of concern\,” meriting humanitarian protection.\n\nTo date\, there has been little progress in persuading North Korea or China to cooperate with the international community. Nonetheless\, China’s more critical stance toward North Korea of late as well as reports of its making refugee contingency plans in the event of a crisis in North Korea\,[10] might lead to more open discussions\, the relaxing of some of its policies and the possible modification of others.\n\nThe following recommendations are offered with a view to promoting protection for North Korean refugees.\n\nRECOMMENDATIONS\n\nFirst\, an overall international strategy is needed for dealing with the refugee issue. To this end\, the United States should propose a multilateral approach to the North Korean refugee situation. Just as international burden sharing has been introduced for other refugee populations\, so should it be developed here. The North Korean refugee situation is not an economic migrant question for China and North Korea to decide alone according to their own agreements. Other countries are profoundly affected\, in particular South Korea whose Constitution offers citizenship to North Koreans and already houses more than 31\,000 North Koreans who have fled over the past two decades. Countries in East\, Southeast and Central Asia\, East and West Europe\, and North America have admitted thousands upon thousands\, of North Korean refugees. Working together with UNHCR\, a multilateral approach could be designed based on principles of non-refoulement and human rights protection. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres\, who has extensive experience with this and other refugee situations\, should be asked to initiate the process.\n\nSecond\, the United States\, South Korea and allied governments should make China’s treatment of North Korean refugees a high priority in their bilateral dialogues with China. They should make known their willingness to admit North Koreans who cross the border without permission and should call on China to allow UNHCR to begin a determination process so that North Koreans could apply for refugee status and remain temporarily in China while their requests are being processed. The United States and its allies should remind China that more than 150 governments in the General Assembly have called upon China as a country neighboring North Korea to cease the deportation of North Koreans because of the terrible mistreatment they endure upon return. Chinese officials should be encouraged to build on the instances where China has allowed North Koreans to leave for the South\, increase such cases and introduce a moratorium on forced repatriations on humanitarian grounds to remain in effect until such time as North Korea ceases its persecution and punishment of those repatriated. A new approach would enhance China’s international standing\, encourage other states in Asia to uphold international norms\, and exert influence on North Korea to modify its practices. China for its part will need to be assured that the United States and other countries are not seeking to forcibly reunify Korea\, destabilize the North and expand United States influence. Certainly\, the most effective way to reduce the number of North Koreans going into China is not for the Chinese and North Koreans to push back North Koreans but for the DPRK to begin to provide for the well-being and security of its population.\n\nThird\, the United States should expand its practice of identifying and sanctioning North Korean as well as Chinese officials and offices involved in forced repatriations and make them aware that they could be held accountable in future trials. [11] Special Rapporteur Ojea Quintana recently observed that “The more the international community has insisted on the necessity to seek justice…\, the more the [North Korean] authorities have seemingly opened to a conversation with human rights mechanisms on ways to fulfil their obligations…”[12] In response to North Koreans’ fear of accountability\, he described reports\, albeit unconfirmed\, of improved practices in detention facilities\, including toward pregnant women.[13] North Korea also responded for the first time to a United Nations human rights inquiry about returned refugees by providing some statistics. It claimed that only 33 North Korean women out of 6\,452 returned from 2005 to 2016 had been punished.[14] This small number of course contradicted the findings of many UN-commissioned reports that spoke of the routine punishment of tens of thousands returned. But North Korea’s engagement in the conversation shows that international demarches have had some effect. It is important therefore for the United States to strongly support the collection of evidence about forcibly returned North Koreans and make sure that the Seoul office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)\, which is tasked with documenting information with a view to accountability\, has sufficient resources and staff to perform its functions effectively. In particular\, the United States should contribute to the hiring of international criminal justice experts to review existing evidence\, including on forced repatriations\, and to promote the effective working of a central information and evidence repository to be set up in 2018 to facilitate future prosecutions. It should contribute the names and information it has collected to the central repository.\n\nFourth\, the United States should call on the international humanitarian organizations it funds to request\, when appropriate\, international access to detention facilities and reeducation camps that house political prisoners\, among these\, significant numbers of forcibly repatriated women. Such an opportunity arose in September 2016 when a typhoon struck the northeast and flooded not only schools\, clinics\, roads and agricultural lands\, but also a reeducation through labor camp\, Kyo-hwa-so Number 12\, housing some 5\,000 prisoners\, including up to 1\,000 forcibly repatriated women.[15] HRNK provided the UN with satellite imagery of the flooded camp\, which the Secretary-General included in his report to the General Assembly\,[16]  but the humanitarian agencies did not try to help the persons inside. It appeared they were reluctant to antagonize North Korean officials and possibly undermine humanitarian operations for other flood victims\, despite the fact that information was available to them showing that the women and other prisoners in the camp were given starvation rations\, lacked medical care and were subject to exploitation and forced labor.[17] The humanitarian organizations\, it should be noted\, had some leverage in this case because North Korea had requested the aid and had to listen to their views. While North Korea could have turned down the request\, at least the question of entering a flooded camp and reaching its vulnerable people would have been on the table as a legitimate ‘ask’ to be revisited in future.\n\nIt is important that the United States make known to the World Food Program\, UNICEF and other humanitarian agencies that they must stand up for all people at risk\, not just those North Korea might choose to assist\, and use the leverage they have to generate meaningful dialogue on the human rights principles central to humanitarian work. Failure to do so will condone the Kim regime’s persecution and marginalization of the people it considers disloyal\, contrary to the principles upon which humanitarian organizations are founded. Building upon General Assembly resolutions that call on North Korea to grant unimpeded humanitarian access to all affected persons\, including those in detention facilities and prisons\,[18] the United States should reinforce the recent call made by the UN Special Rapporteur to humanitarian agencies: he said they should “ensure” that their programs benefit “vulnerable groups\, including those who are in detention facilities\, prison camps and political prison camps.”[19] It is also time for the United States to urge Secretary-General Guterres to apply to North Korea the UN policy of 2013 which he endorsed – namely the Human Rights up Front (HRuF) approach\, which calls upon the entire UN system to come together in the face of serious human rights violations and take steps on behalf of the victims.\n\nFifth\, the United States should develop contingency plans with China for addressing a crisis in the north that also encompasses protection and assistance for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Significant numbers of North Koreans can be expected to flee to China and South Korea in the event of an emergency\, and even more become internally displaced\, making it desirable for the United States and South Korea to develop plans with China for managing migration.[20] China is already reported to be constructing refugee camps along its border areas with North Korea.[21] An agreement among the three under United Nations auspices should aim at stabilization of the peninsula\, provision of material aid\, protection of displaced persons\, and incentives and opportunities to build and transform the country in accordance with international human rights\, humanitarian and refugee standards and humane treatment of displaced persons.\n\nFinally\, the United States should revisit any restrictions now placed on the admission of North Korean refugees that could conflict with the spirit and intent of the North Korean Human Rights Act (2004). Our government should make known its readiness\, given the persecution and punishment to which North Koreans are subject\, to increase the number of North Korean refugees admitted to this country. In FY 2017\, only 12 were reported to be admitted\, contributing to a total of 212 since 2006. While the vast majority of North Koreans will choose to seek refuge in South Korea\, some have reasons for seeking to resettle in the United States\, and should not be discouraged. As Victor Cha and Robert Gallucci have recommended the United States should “seek public and private sector funding” for “educational scholarships and vocational training\,” [22] in particular from the Korean American community\, to empower the North Koreans already admitted to this country and help them overcome the traumas they experienced in fleeing one of the most tyrannical governments on the planet.\n\n\n\n\n[1] UN General Assembly\, Report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the DPRK\, A/HRC/25/63\, 7 February 2014\, paras. 42\,76\, 89(m) [henceforth COI report].\n\n\n[2] COI report\, ibid.\, para. 43.\n\n\n[3] UN General Assembly\, Report of the Special Rapporteur on human rights in the DPRK\, A/72/394\, 19 September 2017\, para. 25 [henceforth SR Report].\n\n\n[4] SR Report\, ibid.\n\n\n[5] UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women\, Concluding Observations\, CEDAW/C/PRK/CO/2-4\, 17 November 2017\, para. 45 (c).\n\n\n[6] Ibid.\, para. 45 (d).\n\n\n[7] UN General Assembly\, Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the DPRK\, A/HRC/25/CRP.1\, 7 February 2014\, para. 1197 [henceforth COI report 2].\n\n\n[8] See Roberta Cohen\, “China’s Forced Repatriation of North Korean Refugees Incurs United Nations Censure\,” International Journal of Korean Studies\, Spring/Summer 2014\, pp. 72-3.\n\n\n[9] UN Committee against Torture\, CAT/C/CHN/CO/5\, 3 February 2016\, paras. 46-48.\n\n\n[10] See Jane Perlez\, “China Girds for North Korean Refugees\,” New York Times\, December 12\, 2017; and David E. Sanger\, “Tillerson Speaks on a Largely Secret North Korea Contingency Plan\,” New York Times\, December 18\, 2017.\n\n\n[11] In October 2017\, the Department of the Treasury announced sanctions on seven North Korean individuals and three entities for hunting down of asylum seekers abroad and other abuses. See “U.S. Sanctions North Koreans for ‘Flagrant’ Rights Abuse\, Reuters\, October 26\, 2017.\n\n\n[12] SR Report\, para. 3.\n\n\n[13] SR Report\, ibid.\, para. 26; see also Cohen\, “China’s Forced Repatriation of North Korean Refugees\,” pp. 74-75.\n\n\n[14] North Korea told this to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2017. See Elizabeth Shim\, “North Korea: Repatriated women defectors are not punished\,” UPI\, August 4\, 2017.\n\n\n[15] Roberta Cohen\, “UN Humanitarian Actors and North Korea’s Prison Camps\,” International Journal of Korean Studies\, Spring/Summer 2017\, pp. 1-24.\n\n\n[16] UN General Assembly\, Report of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in the DPRK\, A/72/279\, 3 August 2017\, para. 37.\n\n\n[17] COI report 2\, para. 804.\n\n\n[18] UN General Assembly\, Resolution on the Situation of human rights in the DPRK\, A/C.3/72/L.40\, 31 October 2017\, paras. 2(vi)\, 5\, and 15(m).\n\n\n[19] SR Report\, para. 48.\n\n\n[20] See Roberta Cohen\, “Human Rights and Humanitarian Planning for Crisis in North Korea\,” International Journal of Korean Studies\, Fall/Winter 2015\, pp. 11-16.\n\n\n[21] See Jane Perlez\, “China Girds for North Korean Refugees\,” New York Times\, December 12\, 2017; and “Report: China’s Military Prepared for Collapse Scenario\,” Daily NK\, May 5\, 2014.\n\n\n[22]  See Victor Cha and Robert L. Gallucci\, Toward a New Policy and Strategy for North Korea\, George W. Bush Institute\, 2016\, p. 8; and Education and Employment Among U.S.-Based North Koreans: Challenges and Opportunities\, George W. Bush Institute\, 2016.
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/protecting-north-korean-refugees-written-statement-by-roberta-cohen-hrnk-co-chair-emeritus-2/
CATEGORIES:Congressional Hearings
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20171211T133000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20171211T164000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132551Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132551Z
UID:712493-1512999000-1513010400@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:The Role of UN Human Rights Mechanisms in the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Ko
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/the-role-of-un-human-rights-mechanisms-in-the-protection-and-promotion-of-human-rights-in-the-democratic-peoples-republic-of-ko/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20171208T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20171208T163000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132548Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132549Z
UID:712491-1512745200-1512750600@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:The 54th HUMAN RIGHTS WORKSHOP
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/the-54th-human-rights-workshop/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20171113T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20171113T153000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T125130Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T125130Z
UID:712116-1510581600-1510587000@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:From Cradle to Grave: The Path of North Korean Innocents
DESCRIPTION:AGENDA \nPresenters: \nRobert Collins\, Author \nAmanda Mortwedt Oh\, Author \nDiscussants: \nJames Durand Member of the Board of Directors\, International Council of Korean Studies Editor-in-Chief\, International Journal of Korean Studies  \nGeorge Hutchinson Member of the Board of Directors\, International Council of Korean Studies Editor\, International Journal of Korean Studies  \nMark Tokola Vice President\, Korea Economic Institute \nModerator:  Greg Scarlatoiu Executive Director\, HRNK \nQ&A \nClosing Remarks \n  \nThe event will be on the record.  \nRSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/from-cradle-to-grave-the-path-of-north-korean-innocents-tickets-39348193506 \nPlease email Rosa Park\, HRNK Director of Programs\, at rosapark@hrnk.org with any questions or concerns.
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/from-cradle-to-grave-the-path-of-north-korean-innocents/
CATEGORIES:Events,HRNK Events
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20171026T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20171026T110000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T125130Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T125130Z
UID:712115-1509010200-1509015600@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:The Parallel Gulag: North Korea's "An-jeon-bu" Prison Camps
DESCRIPTION:The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) cordially invites you to: ​ THE PARALLEL GULAG: North Korea's “An-jeon-bu” Prison Camps \nThursday\, October 26\, 2017 ​9:30 a.m.–11:00 a.m. \nNational Press Club ​First Amendment Lounge 529 14th Street\, NW  Washington\, DC 20045 \nOpening Remarks Victor Cha\, Korea Chair\, CSIS \nPresenters David Hawk\, Author Amanda Mortwedt Oh\, HRNK \nDiscussants Roberta Cohen\, Co-Chair Emeritus\, HRNK Stephen Noerper\, Senior Director\, Korea Society Moderator: Greg Scarlatoiu\, Executive Director\, HRNK \nQ&A \nClosing Remarks ​ The event will be on the record.  \nTo RSVP for this event\, please click to register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-parallel-gulag-north-koreas-an-jeon-bu-prison-camps-tickets-38539427465?aff=es2 \n​Please email Rosa Park\, HRNK Director of Programs at rosapark@hrnk.org with any questions or concerns. 
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/the-parallel-gulag-north-koreas-an-jeon-bu-prison-camps/
CATEGORIES:Events,HRNK Events
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20171007T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20171007T133000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132548Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132548Z
UID:712489-1507381200-1507383000@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:North Korea
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/north-korea/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20171007T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20171007T133000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132548Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132549Z
UID:712490-1507381200-1507383000@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:North Korea
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/north-korea-2/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170927T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170927T130000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132548Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132548Z
UID:712488-1506513600-1506517200@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:SEMINAR: U.S. POLICY ON NORTH KOREA HUMAN RIGHTS
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/seminar-u-s-policy-on-north-korea-human-rights/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170913T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170913T210000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T125126Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T125128Z
UID:712113-1505327400-1505336400@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:Korea Club with Gen. In-Bum Chun (ROK\, Ret)
DESCRIPTION:Korea Club Wednesday |  September 13\, 2017 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm \nFacing North: Managing North Korea's Military Challenge\nGuest Speaker: \nGen. In-Bum Chun (ROK\, Ret)\n Visiting Scholar\, U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins SAIS Visiting Fellow\, Center for East Asia Policy\, Brookings Institution \nWoo Lae Oak Korean Restaurant 8240 Leesburg Pike Vienna\, VA 22182 \n  \nDear Colleague: \nYou are invited to attend a meeting of the Korea Club on Wednesday\, September 13\, 2017. The event will feature Gen. In-Bum Chun\, who will give a presentation entitled\, “Facing North: Managing North Korea's Military Challenge.” \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \nLieutenant General In-Bum Chun (ROK\, Ret) is a Visiting Scholar at U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins SAIS and Visiting Fellow at the Center for East Asia Policy Studies of the Brookings Institution after his retirement from 35 years of active duty in July2016. His past positions include the chief of the Election Support Branch\, Civil Military Affairs/Strategic Operations Directorate of the multinational forces in Iraq\, the director of U.S. affairs at the Korean Ministry of National Defense\, deputy assistant chief of staff of operations for the US-ROK Combined Forces Command\, the commander of the ROK Special Warfare Command\, and the deputy commander for the First ROK Army. As one of the most decorated officers in ROK military history\, his awards include three U.S. Legions of Merit\, a U.S. Bronze Star Medal and the first Korean and third Asian to receive the USSOCOM Medal. \n Please note: THIS EVENT IS OFF-THE-RECORD \n PROGRAM DETAILS \nThe reception will begin at 6:30 pm\, followed by dinner at 7:00 pm\, and the speaker’s presentation and Q & A session. The program will conclude at 9:00 pm. The cost of the dinner is $25.00\, payable at the door by either check or cash. \nRSVP is required for this program. Seating is limited. To register for this program or for further questions\, please e-mail your confirmation to Sang Kim\, Director of Public Affairs\, at sk@keia.org. \n WOO LAE OAK RESTAURANT IN TYSONS CORNER \nThe evening program will be held at Woo Lae Oak Korean restaurant in Tysons Corner—see address above. The program will start at 6:30 pm with a cash bar\, set up inside the Korea Club conference room on the 1st floor of the restaurant. For more information on Woo Lae Oak\, please take a few minutes to visit the restaurant’s website:  http://www.woolaeoak.com. \n FOR DRIVERS \nWoo Lae Oak is conveniently located in the heart of Tysons Corner. If you need assistance locating the restaurant\, please call the restaurant (703-827-7300). Ample free parking is available in the restaurant’s multi-story parking garage. \n FOR METRO RIDERS \nSilver Line stop at Greensboro Metro Station. The restaurant is located just south of Greensboro Metro Station. Upon arriving at Greensboro Metro Station\, please exit using the West Entrance Exit. For step-by-step directions\, please use  http://wmata.com. \n  \nKorea Club Directors \nGreg Scarlatoiu  \nHRNK \n (202) 499-7973     \nJim Kelman                                              \nMeridian International Center                                         \n (703) 568-6987         \nSang Kim \nKEI   \n(202) 464-1985
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/korea-club-with-gen-in-bum-chun-rok-ret/
CATEGORIES:Events,HRNK Events
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170907T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170907T104500
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132544Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132546Z
UID:712487-1504776600-1504781100@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:Understanding North Korea by Sheena Greitens
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/understanding-north-korea-by-sheena-greitens/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170830T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170830T120000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132544Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132546Z
UID:712486-1504087200-1504094400@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:"Danny from North Korea"
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/danny-from-north-korea/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170824T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170824T204500
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132544Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132545Z
UID:712485-1503599400-1503607500@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:Speakers on the Square: Liberty in North Korea
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/speakers-on-the-square-liberty-in-north-korea/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170813T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170813T130000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132544Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132545Z
UID:712484-1502625600-1502629200@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:TED Talk: My escape from North Korea with Hyeonseo Lee
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/ted-talk-my-escape-from-north-korea-with-hyeonseo-lee/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170806T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170806T000000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132541Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132541Z
UID:712478-1501977600-1501977600@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:Jinhye Jo speaks at TEDxLakeArtemesia
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/jinhye-jo-speaks-at-tedxlakeartemesia/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170801T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170801T173000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132544Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132544Z
UID:712483-1501603200-1501608600@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:How I Became A North Korean
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/how-i-became-a-north-korean/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170729T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170729T160000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132541Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132542Z
UID:712479-1501336800-1501344000@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:Not just Otto: The 4th Teach North Korean Refugees Global Leadership Forum
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/not-just-otto-the-4th-teach-north-korean-refugees-global-leadership-forum/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170729T103000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170729T130000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132541Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132542Z
UID:712480-1501324200-1501333200@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:Official Launch: Connect: North Korea's 1st Monthly Meet-Up
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/official-launch-connect-north-koreas-1st-monthly-meet-up/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170727T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170727T223000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132541Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132542Z
UID:712481-1501183800-1501194600@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:Meet Ellie: HanVoice Pioneers Project Launch Party 2017
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/meet-ellie-hanvoice-pioneers-project-launch-party-2017/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170725T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170725T200000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132541Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132543Z
UID:712482-1501005600-1501012800@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS: IS THERE A WAY FORWARD?
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/north-korean-human-rights-is-there-a-way-forward-2/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170725T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170725T200000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T125126Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T125128Z
UID:712112-1501005600-1501012800@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS:  IS THERE A WAY FORWARD?
DESCRIPTION:   \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPROGRAM \nDate: Tuesday\, July 25\, 2017\nVenue: International Conference Hall B2\, Minerva Complex\, HUFS\n  \n  \n1. Opening of Ceremony ————————————— Greg Scarlatoiu \nModerator \nExecutive Director\, HRNK \n2. Keynote Speech ————————————— H.E. Jung-Hoon Lee \n             Ambassador for North Korean Human Rights\, \nMinistry of Foreign Affairs\, Republic of Korea \n“North Korean Human Rights: Past\, Present\, Future” \n  \n  \n3. Speakers ———————————————————–Signe Poulsen \nRepresentative\, UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (Seoul) 						“The Balance between Accountability and Engagement” \n  \nKwang-Jin Kim \nSenior Researcher\, ROK Institute for National Security Strategy \n“An Update on Kim Regime Dynamics and Overseas Economic Activities” \n  \nKwang-Il Jeong \nPolitical Prison Camp Survivor 						Director and Founder\, “No Fence for North Korea” 						“From Political Prison Camp Survivor to Information Warrior \n  \nTim A. Peters \nFounder-Managing Director of Helping Hands Korea 						“Beyond Conventional Approaches: Asymmetric Border Initiatives Aiding \nNorth Koreans in Crisis” \n  \nAmanda Mortwedt Oh 						Seoul-based Field Project Officer\, HRNK \n“A View from Above: Using Satellite Imagery to Investigate Crimes against Humanity” \n— \nRaymond Ha 						HRNK Editorial Consultant/Stanford University 						Korean-English Interpretation \n  \n  \n4. Q & A Session ——————————————————-Moderator \n  \n  \n5. Closing of Ceremony ———————————————–Moderator \n  \n6. Commemorative Photographing \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe North Korean Human Rights Situation \nFor almost 70 years\, North Korea’s human rights record has been abysmal. Almost thirty years after the collapse of communism in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe\, North Korea’s Kim regime has maintained its absolute grip on power\, while accomplishing two hereditary transmissions of power: from Kim Il-sung to Kim Jong-il in July 1994\, and from Kim Jong-il to Kim Jong-un in December 2011. The primary strategic objective of the Kim regime continues to be its own self-preservation\, regardless of the toll imposed on the North Korean people’s fundamental human rights. \nAlthough North Korea is bound\, as a UN member state\, by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights\, and although it is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights\, the International Covenant on Economic\, Social\, and Cultural Rights\, the Convention on the Rights of the Child\, the Genocide Convention\, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women\, each and every conceivable human right continues to be violated in that country. In the year 2017\, North Korea remains the only country on the face of the planet that is running a political prison camp system. Up to 120\,000 men\, women\, and children continue to be brutally persecuted behind the barbed wire fences of North Korea’s political prison camps\, subjected to unrelenting induced malnutrition\, forced labor\, torture\, sexual violence as well as public and secret executions. Those suspected of being disloyal to the regime\, of being\, from the regime’s viewpoint\, wrong-thinkers\, wrong-doers\, of possessing wrong knowledge\, of having engaged in wrong associations\, or of coming from the wrong family background\, are subjected to extrajudicial arrest and detention\, often together with members of three generations of their families. They are held in North Korea’s hidden gulag indefinitely\, in most cases without charge or hope for recourse. \nIn the year 2017\, pursuant to Songbun—a system of social discrimination established in the 1950s—the people of North Korea continue to be divided into three social categories and 51 subcategories\, based on their degree of loyalty to the regime\, and on the perceived allegiance of their parents and grandparents. Their access to food\, jobs\, and any type of opportunity continues to depend on their social classification. In the mid to late 1990s\, as up to 3 million North Koreans starved to death\, the Kim regime continued to invest in the development of its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs\, and purchased dozens of jet fighters. \nHuman Rights Trends under the Kim Jong-un Regime \nThe human rights situation has deteriorated under the Kim Jong-un regime. Three trends stand out in particular: an aggressive crackdown on attempted defections—the number of North Korean escapees arriving in South Korea declined by almost 50% from 2011 to 2012/2017; an aggressive purge—culminating in the execution of Jang Sung-taek\, the leader’s uncle\, and his associates in December 2013 as well as the assassination of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam with VX nerve gas at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in February 2017\, and more than 340 senior officials reportedly executed since 2012; and the “restructuring” of North Korea’s political prison camp system—facilities near the border with China have been closed\, while other camps have been expanded. \nThe UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) \nOn March 21\, 2013\, the United Nations Human Rights Council—composed of 47 UN member states—adopted by consensus a resolution to establish a “Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (COI).” While NGOs such as HRNK\, tasked to monitor\, research and report on the North Korean human rights situation\, had been aware of the extent of the North Korean human rights violations for many years\, this was the first time that an investigative body was established by the United Nations to determine the extent and gravity of North Korea’s human rights abuses. \nAfter investigating “the systematic\, widespread and grave violations of human rights” in North Korea\, the COI released its report on February 17\, 2014\, one month ahead of the formal submission to the UN Human Rights Council on March 17. The report finds that “in many instances\, the violations found entailed crimes against humanity based on State policies.”[1]  \nIn 2014\, 2015\, 2016 and 2017\, the UN Human Rights Council passed resolutions including strong language on crimes against humanity committed pursuant to policies established at the highest level of the state in North Korea\, and the recommendation that the UN Security Council submit the North Korean case to the International Criminal Court. In 2014\, 2015\, and 2016\, the UN General Assembly passed similar resolutions. In December 2014\, 2015\, and 2016\, the UN Security Council voted to include North Korean human rights in its agenda\, next to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. Following up on the recommendations of the UN COI\, in June 2015\, a UN field office was established in Seoul to continue the commission’s investigative work. \nThe COI’s Findings \nThe COI has determined that systematic\, widespread and gross human rights violations have been\, and are being\, committed by North Korea. These include: \n\narbitrary detention\, torture\, executions and enforced disappearance to political prison camps;\nviolations of the freedoms of thought\, expression and religion;\ndiscrimination on the basis of State-assigned social class\, gender\, and disability\nviolations of the freedom of movement and residence\, including the right to leave one’s own country;\nviolations of the right to food and related aspects of the right to life ; and\nenforced disappearance of persons from other countries\, including through international abductions.\n\nIn light of the gravity\, scale and level of organization of these violations\, the COI has concluded that crimes against humanity have been committed by officials of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea\, pursuant to policies established at the highest level of the State. These crimes against humanity involve extermination\, murder\, enslavement\, torture\, imprisonment\, rape\, forced abortions and other sexual violence\, persecution on political\, religious\, racial and gender grounds\, the forcible transfer of populations\, the enforced disappearance of persons and the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation. The COI has also established that crimes against humanity continue to be committed in North Korea because the policies\, institutions and patterns of impunity that lie at their heart remain in place. \nOne of the most important determinations made by the COI is that North Korea can be characterized as a totalitarian state that does not content itself with ensuring the authoritarian rule of a small group of people\, but seeks to dominate every aspect of its citizens’ lives and terrorizes them from within. In other words\, the COI has found that crimes against humanity and other abysmal human rights violations are at the very core of the North Korean regime’s modus operandi. The COI has characterized North Korea as “a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world\,” due to the “gravity\, scale\, and nature of the violations committed” by the North Korean regime. \nThe Victims of North Korea’s Crimes against Humanity \nThe COI determined that crimes against humanity target anyone viewed as a threat to the political system and leadership of North Korea\, in particular: \n\nthe estimated 80\,000-120\,000 inmates of the DPRK’s political prison camps;\ninmates of other detention facilities\, including political prisoners;\npersons who try to escape North Korea\, in particular those forcibly repatriated by China to conditions of danger;\nreligious believers\, Christians in particular;\npeople considered to introduce “subversive” influences into North Korea\, such as those who smuggle South Korean video material into North Korea\, or those who are suspected of having had contacts with South Koreans;\nthe COI determined that crimes against humanity have been committed by deliberately starving selected segments of the North Korean population\, in particular during the great famine of the 1990s. The purpose of de facto condemning targeted groups to death by starvation was the preservation of North Korea’s leadership and political system;\nthe COI found that crimes against humanity have been\, and are being committed against the citizens of the Republic of Korea\, Japan\, and other countries abducted by agents of the North Korean regime.\n\nThe Way Forward \nAlthough North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs continue to take center stage\, it is essential to continue to investigate and interview witnesses\, and to continue to bring attention to the systematic\, widespread crimes against humanity and egregious human rights violations perpetrated by the North Korean regime\, to protect the victims\, to bring justice to their tormentors\, and\, without further delay\, to seek ways to improve the human rights situation in that country. \n  \nKeynote Speaker \nHis Excellency Lee-Jung Hoon \nAmbassador for North Korean Human Rights\, Ministry of Foreign Affairs\, Republic of Korea \nDirector Yonsei Center for Human Liberty \nJung-Hoon Lee is the ROK government’s inaugural Ambassador for North Korean Human Rights. Before his appointment in September\, he served for three years as Ambassador for Human Rights. He is also a professor of international relations at Yonsei University\, where he is currently Director of the Yonsei Center for Human Liberty\, which he founded in January 2014. The Center has played an active role in raising awareness and providing a venue for collaboration in research\, media outlet\, and NGO/think tank network. His former positions include research and teaching at U.C. Berkeley\, University of Tokyo\, CSIS in Washington\, D.C.\, and Keio University. He is currently a senior member of South Korea’s National Unification Advisory Council and policy advisor at the Ministry of Unification. In the latter case\, he chaired the Advisory Committee for Humanitarian Affairs. Other main commitments include his role as Co-Chair of Save NK\, an NGO dealing mainly with North Korean human rights\, Chairman of the Future Korea Weekly\, a bi-weekly current affairs magazine based on Christian and conservative values\, and Vice-Chair of the Supporter’s Group for ‘House of Sharing’ where several remaining “comfort women” are housed. He is also Chair/CEO of the Board of Tongwon Foundation that houses Tongwon University\, Hanyoung Foreign Language High School\, Hanyoung High School\, Hanyoung Junior High School\, Hanyoung Kindergarten\, and Kukje Haksulwon\, a research think-tank. Ambassador Lee also hosted a weekly TV program on current affairs for five years\, and his writing and commentary frequently appear in local and foreign media. His contributions to over a hundred op-ed articles have been compiled into a book that was recently published entitled Tongbukah Kyŏkrang ui Hanbokpanesŏ [In the Midst of a Northeast Asian Current]. His most recent journal article\, “Drawing the Line: Combating Atrocities in North Korea\,” was published in The Washington Quarterly’s summer 2016 issue. He received his BA from Tufts University\, MALD from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy\, and PhD from the University of Oxford (St. Antony’s College). \n  \nModerator \nGreg Scarlatoiu \nExecutive Director Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) \nFaculty Member HUFS ISS \nGreg Scarlatoiu is Executive Director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) in Washington\, D.C. At HRNK\, he plans\, coordinates\, manages and conducts research and outreach programs aiming to focus world attention on human rights abuses in North Korea\, and to seek creative solutions for improving the human rights situation in that country. A regular guest on CNN and Al Jazeera TV as well as the John Batchelor radio show\, he has authored a weekly radio column broadcast by Radio Free Asia to North Korea for fourteen years. Scarlatoiu has authored numerous journal articles as well as op-eds and letters to the editor in publications including The Washington Post and The New York Times. Scarlatoiu is a member of the board of directors of the International Council of Korean Studies. A returning visiting professor at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) in Seoul\, Scarlatoiu co-chairs the Korea and Japan class at the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on several occasions\, and given lectures addressing the Korean peninsula at numerous U.S. academic institutions as well as other venues in Asia\, North and South America\, and Europe. Now a naturalized U.S. citizen\, Scarlatoiu was born and raised in communist Romania under the regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. He  lived in Seoul for 10 years and is fluent in Korean\, French and Romanian. He holds MAs in international relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy\, Tufts University\, and Seoul National University\, and a BA in international relations from Seoul National University. In 1999\, Scarlatoiu was conferred the title of Citizen of Honor\, City of Seoul. Scarlatoiu is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Council on Korean Studies (ICKS). \nPrior to joining HRNK\, Scarlatoiu was the Director of Public Affairs and Business Issues of the Korea Economic Institute (KEI) in Washington\, D.C. In that capacity\, he planned\, designed and implemented outreach programs to educate Americans on developments on the Korean peninsula and U.S.-Korea relations both inside and outside of Washington\, DC. Before his work with KEI\, he was Management Associate for the International Science and Technology Institute\, Inc. (ISTI) in Arlington\, Virginia. He was tasked with business development\, project management\, technical assistance implementation\, and liaising with multilateral and bilateral development agencies\, partners\, and clients under USAID\, World Bank and Asian Development Bank projects worldwide. \n  \nSpeakers \nSigne Poulsen \nRepresentative \nOffice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Seoul) \nSigne Poulsen has served as the Representative of OHCHR(Seoul) since August 2015. Prior to this\, she served in various capacities for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights including postings in Liberia\, Timor-Leste\, Kyrgyzstan\, Papua New Guinea. Before joining the United Nations Ms. Poulsen worked in international human rights organizations including Amnesty International. She is a Danish national and holds a MSc. From the London School of Economics and Political Science. \nJeong Kwang-il \nPolitical Prison Camp Survivor \nFounder and Director\, No Chain for North Korea \nMr. Jeong Kwang-il was a prisoner at No.15 Yodeok Political Penal-labor Colony for three years\, from 1999 to 2002. He is currently one of the best-known former North Koreans involved in outreach activities aiming to expose North Korea’s human rights violations and to inform the international public opinion on the human rights situation in that country. Mr. Jeong’s UN testimony was critical in passing a resolution on North Korean human rights by the UN General Assembly in the fall of 2014. He has provided testimony to UN representatives in New York City and Geneva and human rights organizations around the world. He has also been compiling lists of prisoner names in North Korea\, a rare asset in the hands of the North Korean human rights investigator. Such information will prove critical to the accountability and transitional justice process in North Korea. \nTim A. Peters \nFounder-Managing Director \nHelping Hands Korea (HHK)/Catacombs \nTim Peters is a Christian activist and founder of the NGO\, Helping Hands Korea_Catacombs (HHK). In 1996\, HHK undertook a fundamental shift in focus from projects in South Korea to the needs of North Koreans in crisis. In response to news of famine in North Korea\, Peters began by launching a pilot program to provide food aid to the most vulnerable sectors of North Korean society. Through these efforts and frequent innovations over 21 years\, asymmetric avenues of aid delivery have been developed to reach the most vulnerable as well as maximize transparency in distribution\, a chronic challenge for aid groups to North Korea. From 1998\, HHK undertook the additional task of assisting North Koreans in China who had fled famine and oppression in their own country only to find their lives also at risk in China. Emergency aid to North Korean refugees in China in their bid to escape to third countries via the so-called ‘underground railroad’ has included secret shelters\, food\, clothing\, emergency medical treatment\, and logistical support in transportation\, communication\, etc. Melanie Kirkpatrick’s landmark book\, Escape from North Korea\, The Untold Story of Asia’s Underground Railroad\, cites HHK’s aid work repeatedly in her groundbreaking 2012 study of Christian humanitarian assistance provided to escapees who flee DPRK tyranny. Since 2005\, aid by HHK in China to orphaned children of forcibly repatriated North Korean refugee women has also grown into a significant aspect of HHK’s work. \nMr. Peters’ has given U.S. Congressional testimony on three occasions between 2002 and 2005 and twice (2012 and 2014) to the U.K. Parliament’s All Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea. Peters’ written submission to the 4/28/2004 hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives  International Relations Committee\,“Korean Pathetique: A Symphony of Refugee Tears Unheeded” contains the essence of his analysis and policy recommendations as requested by the World Economic Forum later in 2004. Peters formalized this study as a chapter in the collaborative volume\, Korea Confronts the Future (2005). In 2015 Peters authored “Beset from Within; Beleaguered from Without: The North Korean Catacombs in an Era of Extermination\,” a case study chapter dealing with the history and current persecution of Christians on the Korean Peninsula in the book\, Freedom of Belief and Christian Mission\, Vol. 28 of the Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series (Oxford). \nPeters’ Christian activism was profiled in a cover story of TIME magazine (Asia) on May 1st of 2006 and HHK has received periodic attention in the international media. In 2007 The Wall Street Journal recommended Peters for the Nobel Peace Prize. HHK’s founder was the recipient of the 2008 St. Stephen’s Prize in Oslo\, presented by Norway’s former Prime Minister\, Kjell Bondevik\, on behalf of the human rights organization\, Stefanus Alliance International. \nKim Kwang-jin \nSenior Researcher \nROK Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS)/HRNK \nAs non-resident fellow at the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea\, Mr. Kim Kwang-jin is an invaluable\, experienced resource shedding light into the darkest corners of the North Korean regime‘s secret and illegal international financial operations. His revelations have saved re-insurance companies tens of millions of dollars and brought an end to an important method the corrupt regime purloined from foreign sources the funds it needed to maintain its internal oppression. \nIn September 2003\, Kim Kwang-jin and his family rushed to an airport in Southeast Asia to fly to freedom in Seoul\, South Korea. Months earlier\, Mr. Kim lived a privileged life working for the government’s overseas banking operations in Singapore. Then\, Mr. Kim fell out of favor after he was suspected of leaking information about the regime to foreign nationals. Before being summoned back to North Korea to face severe punishment\, Kim made the decision to defect with his family. During his banking career\, Mr. Kim helped earn millions of dollars for what he calls North Korea's “Royal Court Economy\,” i.e.\, the enterprises and often illegal schemes that financially supported the country’s totalitarian regime. \nSince arriving in South Korea\, Mr. Kim has served as an analyst at the ROK Institute for National Security Strategy.  A household name on TV and radio programs addressing North Korea\, he has worked as a consultant for the ROK Unification Ministry as well as media organizations including KBS\, MBC\, and RFA. He is a standing member of the ROK National Unification Advisory Council (NUAC). His educational background includes completion of Ph.D. course work and an MBA in Finance and Insurance from Kookmin University (Seoul\, 2014\, 2012)\, a Master’s in Economics/IT of North Korea at the University of North Korean Studies (Seoul\, 2008)\, and a BA in British Literature from Kim Il Sung University (Pyongyang\, 1989). Working for the North Korean regime\, Mr. Kim served as Singapore Representative of North East Asia Bank (2002-2003); an agent of the Korean Foreign Insurance Company and North East Asia Bank\, Pyongyang\, (1998-2002)\, and Professor of the Pyongyang Computer College (1991-1997).  He has published numerous papers and articles on the North Korean economy and the current power transition in North Korea\, including: “Gulag\, Inc.—The Use of Forced Labor in North Korea’s Export Industries” (HRNK\, 2016); “After Kim Jong-il: Can We Hope for Better Human Rights Protection?” (HRNK\, 2009\, 2011); “Financial Institutions in North Korea and Their Role”(2016); “North Korea's Provocations after Presidential Elections in South Korea”(2012); “On KWP's Role and Its Prospect in Power Transition to Kim Jong-eun” (2011); “The Defector's Tale\, Inside North Korea's Secret Economy”\, World Affairs Journal (2011); “Kim Jong Il’s Royal Court Economy and Destruction of the People’s Economy” (2008); “The Change of North Korea’s Foreign Exchange Control System and its Increasing Dependence on Foreign Currency” (2008); “The Dollarization of North Korea Economy and Kim Jong Il’s Royal Court Economy” (2007); “The Korea Foreign Trade Bank and North Korea’s Foreign Exchange Control System” (2007); and “The US Financial Sanctions Regime on North Korea and Its Prospect” (2006) \nAmanda Mortwedt Oh \nProject Officer \nHRNK \nAmanda Mortwedt Oh is a project officer at HRNK in charge of a series of more than 30 studies monitoring and investigating North Korea’s political prison camps through satellite imagery and escapee testimony. Her research focuses on human rights\, international criminal law\, and North Korea’s prison camps. Amanda authored a report that was submitted to the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea (COI) on behalf of HRNK and co-authored a Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights study calling for a “Rights Up Front” policy toward North Korea. She holds a Master of Laws in International Law (LLM) degree from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University\, where she studied “North Korean State and Society” and wrote her thesis on North Korea and transitional justice. Amanda also serves as an attorney in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General's Corps. \n  \nKorean-English Interpretation \nRaymond Ha \nEditorial Consultant \nHRNK \nStanford University \nRaymond Ha is an editorial consultant for HRNK\, and was the Office Manager & Outreach Coordinator from 2014 to 2016. He has participated in editorial work on publications including North Korean House of Cards: Leadership Dynamics Under Kim Jong-un; Arsenal of Terror: North Korea\, State Sponsor of Terrorism; Pyongyang Republic: North Korea's Capital of Human Rights Denial; and Gulag\, Inc.: The Use of Forced Labor in North Korea's Export Industries. He has a B.A. in Politics from Princeton University and is currently a Ph.D. student in Political Science at Stanford University. \n   \n\n\n[1] Human Rights Council\, A.HRC.25.63\, Report of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic Republic of Korea\, February 17\, 2014\, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/CoIDPRK/Pages/ReportoftheCommissionofInquiryDPRK.aspx. 
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/north-korean-human-rights-is-there-a-way-forward/
CATEGORIES:Events,HRNK Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.hrnk.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Screen-Shot-2017-07-18-at-5_34_00-PM.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170720T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170720T180000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132538Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132538Z
UID:712474-1500555600-1500573600@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:Bridging Borders: Lessons from Cuba and Myanmar for North Korea's underground media
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/bridging-borders-lessons-from-cuba-and-myanmar-for-north-koreas-underground-media/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170718T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170718T140000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132538Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132539Z
UID:712476-1500372000-1500386400@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:International Forum for ONE KOREA by Global Peace Foundation
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/international-forum-for-one-korea-by-global-peace-foundation/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170626T091500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170626T170000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132538Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132539Z
UID:712475-1498468500-1498496400@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:Leadership Dynamics: The Korean Peninsula in the Moon and Trump Era JoongAng Ilbo-CSIS Forum 2017
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/leadership-dynamics-the-korean-peninsula-in-the-moon-and-trump-era-joongang-ilbo-csis-forum-2017/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170624T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170624T160000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132538Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132540Z
UID:712477-1498312800-1498320000@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:Dear Leader: Q&A with a former North Korean poet propagandist
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/dear-leader-qa-with-a-former-north-korean-poet-propagandist/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170622T080000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170622T180000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T125126Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T125126Z
UID:712109-1498118400-1498154400@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:The Annual Conference of ICKS: THE CHANGING SITUATION ON  THE KOREAN PENINSULA:  CHALLENGES FOR NEW PRESIDENTS IN 2017
DESCRIPTION:  \nTHE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF \nTHE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON KOREAN STUDIES \njointly with \nCOMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA AND \nKOREA ECONOMIC INSTITUTE OF AMERICA \n  \nTHE CHANGING SITUATION ON\nTHE KOREAN PENINSULA:\nCHALLENGES FOR NEW PRESIDENTS IN 2017\n  \nJune 22\, 2017\, Thursday \nKorea Economic Institute of America \n1800 K Street\, NW Suite 1010\, Washington\, DC 20006 \n  \nClick here to RSVP \n Conference Schedule:  8:00 AM \n Registration \n 8:45–9:00 AM \n Opening Remarks  Dr. Bruce E. Bechtol\, Jr.\, President International Council of Korean Studies and Angelo State University    Honorable Donald Manzullo\, President Korea Economic Institute of America  Mr. Greg Scarlatoiu\, Executive Director Committee for Human Rights in North Korea  9:00–11:45 AM \n Panel I: Human Rights in North Korea  Moderator:  Mr. Christopher J. Griffin Executive Director\, Foreign Policy Initiative  Papers:  “The North Korean Gulag Humanitarian Crisis: A Military Perspective” Mr. Robert Collins\, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea  “The North Korean Gulag and International Humanitarian Action: A Human Rights Perspective” Ms. Roberta Cohen\, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea   “Overseas North Korean Laborers” Mr. Greg Scarlatoiu\, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea  Discussants:  Dr. Steve Noerper\, Korea Society and Columbia University  Mr. David Chulwoo Lee\, Korean-American Public Affairs Committee  Dr. Bruce E. Bechtol Jr.\, Angelo State University   12:00–1:45 PM \n Luncheon and Luncheon Speech  Sponsored by the Korea Economic Institute of America  “Topic to be announced” General John H. Tilelli\, Jr.\, USA (Retired)\, Co-Chairman Council on U.S.-Korean Security Studies (U.S. Council)   Introduced by Dr. Bruce E. Bechtol Jr.  2:00 – 3:45 PM \n Panel II: Prospects for Korea’s Economy   Moderator:  Dr. Anthony Bartl\, Angelo State University   Papers:  “Population Prospects for the ROK to 2040: Impending Changes and Their Implications” Dr. Nicholas Eberstadt\, American Enterprise Institute  “THAAD and Economic Relations with China” Mr. Troy Stangarone\, Korea Economic Institute of America  “The Strategic Case for Korea to Join the ‘TPP 11” Mr. Kyle Ferrier\, Korea Economic Institute of America  Discussants:  Mr. William Brown\, Korea Economic Institute of America  Mr. David Maxwell\, Georgetown University  Mr. William Newcomb\, Former UN Security Council Panel\, DPRK\, Panel of Experts  3:45–4:00 PM \n Coffee Break  \n 4:00–5:45 PM \n Panel III: Korea and Major Powers: The Quest for Peace and Security    Moderator:  Dr. Jai Poong Ryu\, Professor Emeritus\, Loyola University Maryland and President\, One Korea Foundation  Papers:  “China and the Korean Peninsula” Mr. Gordon G. Chang\, Forbes.com  “Japan’s Role in North Korean Security Issues” Mr. James Durand\, International Council of Korean Studies   “The United States and the Korean Peninsula” Mr. James Kendall\, Sasakawa Peace Foundation  Discussants:  Dr. Andrew Scobell\, Rand  Dr. Douglass Streusand\, Marine Corps University  Mr. George Hutchinson\, George Mason University   5:45–6:00 PM \n Closing Remarks   Dr. Bruce E. Bechtol\, Jr.\, President International Council of Korean Studies and Angelo State University  Honorable Donald Manzullo\, President Korea Economic Institute of America  Mr. Greg Scarlatoiu\, Executive Director Committee for Human Rights in North Korea  6:00 PM   \n End of the Conference
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/the-annual-conference-of-icks-the-changing-situation-on-the-korean-peninsula-challenges-for-new-presidents-in-2017/
CATEGORIES:Events,HRNK Events
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170607T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170607T210000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132538Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132538Z
UID:712473-1496860200-1496869200@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:Korea Club with the U.S. Department of State
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/korea-club-with-the-u-s-department-of-state-2/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170607T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170607T210000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T125126Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T125127Z
UID:712111-1496860200-1496869200@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:Korea Club with the U.S. Department of State
DESCRIPTION:  \nKorea Club  \nWednesday |  June 7\, 2017 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm \n U.S. Korea Policy: Issues\, Priorities\, Prospects \nGuest Speakers:  \nJames Applegate Chief of DPRK Unit in the Office of Korean Affairs U.S. Department of State & Will Cobb Chief of ROK Unit in the Office of Korean Affairs  U.S. Department of State \n Woo Lae Oak Korean Restaurant 8240 Leesburg Pike Vienna\, VA 22182   \nDear Colleague: \nYou are invited to attend a meeting of the Korea Club on Wednesday\, June 7\, 2017. The event will feature Mr. James Applegate\, Chief of DPRK Unit and Mr. Will Cobb\, Chief of ROK Unit at the Office of Korean Affairs in the U.S. Department of State\, who will give a presentation entitled\, “U.S. Korea Policy: Issues\, Priorities\, Prospects.” \n James ApplegateJames Applegate is the Chief of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Unit in the Office of Korean Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.  Prior to taking this assignment\, Mr. Applegate served as Deputy Counselor for United Nations Affairs at the U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Vienna\, Austria (UNVIE) (2013-2016).  His other overseas assignments include Kabul\, Afghanistan (2012-2013); Canberra\, Australia (2009-2011); and Guangzhou\, China (2007-2009).  He also served as a Watch Officer and Senior Watch Officer in the Department’s 24-hour Operations Center\, which monitors developing crises around the world.  A graduate of Michigan State University\, Mr. Applegate spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Armenia before joining the Foreign Service.  \nWill CobbWill Cobb is the Chief of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Unit in the Office of Korean Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.  Prior to taking this assignment\, Mr. Cobb served as a Special Assistant to Secretary of State John Kerry.  His overseas assignments include Mexico (2008-2010)\, Nicaragua (2010-2012) and Colombia (2013-2015.  In addition to working for the former Secretary\, his Washington assignments include the Operations Center as a Watch Officer and his current assignment.  Mr. Cobb also spent seven years as a business consultant with Deloitte and Booz Allen Hamilton.  He attended the United States Coast Guard Academy and obtained his MBA at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Mr. Cobb is married to Pam Cobb who is also a Foreign Service officer.  \n  \nPlease note\, this EVENT WILL BE OFF THE RECORD.   \nPROGRAM DETAILS \nThe reception will begin at 6:30 pm\, followed by dinner at 7:00 pm\, and the speaker’s presentation and Q & A session. The program will conclude at 9:00 pm. The cost of the dinner is $25.00\, payable at the door by either check or cash. \nRSVP is required for this program. Seating is limited. To register for this program or for further questions\, please e-mail your confirmation to Sang Kim\, Director of Public Affairs\, at sk@keia.org. \n WOO LAE OAK RESTAURANT IN TYSONS CORNER \nThe evening program will be held at Woo Lae Oak Korean restaurant in Tysons Corner—see address above. The program will start at 6:30 pm with a cash bar\, set up inside the Korea Club conference room on the 1st floor of the restaurant. For more information on Woo Lae Oak\, please take a few minutes to visit the restaurant’s website:  http://www.woolaeoak.com. \n FOR DRIVERS \nWoo Lae Oak is conveniently located in the heart of Tysons Corner. If you need assistance locating the restaurant\, please call the restaurant (703-827-7300). Ample free parking is available in the restaurant’s multi-story parking garage. \n FOR METRO RIDERS \nSilver Line stop at Greensboro Metro Station. The restaurant is located just south of Greensboro Metro Station. Upon arriving at Greensboro Metro Station\, please exit using the West Entrance Exit. For step-by-step directions\, please use  http://wmata.com.
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/korea-club-with-the-u-s-department-of-state/
CATEGORIES:Events,HRNK Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.hrnk.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Screen-Shot-2017-05-30-at-3_33_58-PM.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170602T171500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170602T190000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132528Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132530Z
UID:712462-1496423700-1496430000@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:The Birth of Materialism in the DPRK (SOAS Centre of Korean Studies)
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/the-birth-of-materialism-in-the-dprk-soas-centre-of-korean-studies/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170525T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170525T200000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132534Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132536Z
UID:712471-1495731600-1495742400@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:Voices from North Korea: Defectors' Stories
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/voices-from-north-korea-defectors-stories/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20170524T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20170524T213000
DTSTAMP:20260409T231846
CREATED:20190107T132534Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190107T132535Z
UID:712470-1495650600-1495661400@www.hrnk.org
SUMMARY:North Korea: a different perspective (public lecture)
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://www.hrnk.org/event/north-korea-a-different-perspective-public-lecture/
CATEGORIES:Events,North Korean Human Rights Events Calendar
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR