Seventy-five years ago, on June 25, 1950, Kim Il-sung’s troops invaded South Korea,
triggering a fratricidal war that resulted in 2.5 to 3 million military and civilian casualties
as well as massive internal displacement of the Korean population. Through the
sacrifice of half a million South Korean troops, 37,000 U.S. servicemen and women, and
thousands of soldiers from other UN member states serving under the UN Command,
and through the leadership of President Syngman Rhee and other Korean patriots, the
Republic of Korea survived the greatest catastrophe in the history of the Korean people.
Following the July 27, 1953 armistice, through great efforts, sacrifice, talent, innovation,
and nurturing a capitalist market economy, South Korea has thrived, becoming a
flourishing and prosperous democracy, and a global economic powerhouse. Reinforcing
South Korean economic success, K-pop, K-cinema, K-dramas and K-cuisine have
become a global cultural phenomenon. In sharp contrast, the people of North Korea
continue to suffer from severe human insecurity under the yoke of tyranny of the
dynastic Kim family regime kleptocracy.
On this grim anniversary, HRNK pledges to continue our mission of doing what North
Korea’s leadership fears the most: Finding out and telling the truth about the crimes
against humanity and other horrendous human rights violations perpetrated against the
people of North Korea and citizens of other countries, pursuant to policy directives
issued at the highest level of the Kim regime. On this day, HRNK remembers the South
Korean POWs still being held in North Korea and the Korean families separated by the
Korean War. On this day of remembrance, we confidently state that there is one ultimate
resolution of the North Korean conundrum, comprising human rights violations, the
policy-induced humanitarian crisis, nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and the
proliferation of instability and violence directed against Israel and Ukraine. That
resolution is unification under a free, prosperous, capitalist, democratic Republic of
Korea. For one millennium prior to their division in 1945, Koreans shared the same
language, history, culture, civilization, and traditions, while living together under the
same political system. Korean unification is not a matter of choice. It is a matter of
destiny.
Greg Scarlatoiu
President and CEO
Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK)
June 24, 2025
