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HRNK REPORT LAUNCH: NORTH KOREA’S ORGANIZATION AND GUIDANCE DEPARTMENT: THE CONTROL TOWER OF HUMAN RIGHTS DENIAL, BY ROBERT COLL
September 17, 2019
MEDIA RELEASE
HRNK REPORT LAUNCH: NORTH KOREA’S ORGANIZATION AND GUIDANCE DEPARTMENT: THE CONTROL TOWER OF HUMAN RIGHTS DENIAL, BY ROBERT COLLINS
NEW HRNK REPORT HIGHLIGHTS THE ORGANIZATION AND GUIDANCE DEPARTMENT’S ROLE AS CITADEL OF TOTALITARIAN CONTROL AND POLITICAL TERROR
THE REPORT IS AVAILABLE AS A PDF FILE THROUGH HRNK’S WEBSITE:
https://www.hrnk.org/publications/hrnk-publications.php
WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 18, 2019. The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) releases today a comprehensive study of the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD) of North Korea. North Korea’s Organization and Guidance Department: The Control Tower of Human Rights Denial is the fifth and latest installment in a series of reports by Robert Collins, all aimed to deconstruct and explain the leadership structure and mechanisms of North Korea’s Kim regime and its policy of human rights denial.
As conductor and enforcer within the Korean Workers’ Party (KWP), the OGD ensures that party members and non-members alike remain loyal to the Monolithic Guidance System, the Monolithic Ideology System and the supreme leader. North Korea’s Organization and Guidance Departmentexamines the leadership of the OGD, its past and present as well as the relationship between the OGD and the Propaganda and Agitation Department (PAD), military, regional structures, and society as a whole.
Nicholas Eberstadt, Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and HRNK Board member believes that “no one outside North Korea itself understands the DPRK’s terrible political and social control apparatus better than Robert Collins, and his studies on the administrative machinery and political decision-making that create North Korea’s human rights nightmare are unrivaled.” According to Eberstadt, the latest Collins report “is an instant classic, and will be the go to source for the international human rights community for years to come.” According to HRNK Executive Director Greg Scarlatoiu, “the report amounts to a true Robert Collins opus magnum,highlighting the full measure of the depth and breadth of the author’s knowledge and analysis, acquired over many decades spent as a North Korea expert, strategist, and human rights scholar.”
Author Robert Collins points out: “The Organization and Guidance Department impacts the lives of every single citizen of North Korea through daily control and harsh demands for loyalty to the Kim regime's supreme leader.” As HRNK Board member and Foundation for Defense of Democracies Senior Fellow David Maxwell states, “the Organization and Guidance Department (OGD) is the Kim family regime's center of gravity for monolithic control. At its most basic level it is the key instrument of power that denies the human rights of the Korean people living in the north in order to ensure the Kim family regime remains in power.” Maxwell adds: “There is no comparable report or study that provides this level of detail and value to anyone who is concerned with the outcome in Korea. This is a seminal work.”
According to Executive Director Scarlatoiu, “the North Korean regime preserves itself through domestic oppression, aggressive behavior, and international deception. Understanding the inner workings of the Kim regime, particularly the OGD, is key to scrutinizing the chain of command, mechanisms, and lines of responsibility behind the crimes against humanity and other egregious human rights violations perpetrated against the people of North Korea.”
For media inquiries contact Greg Scarlatoiu at [email protected] or 202-499-7973 or author Robert Collins directly at [email protected].
RELEASE DETAILS
The report’s release will be held at the American Enterprise Institute’s Auditorium in Washington, DC on Wednesday, September 18, 2019 from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. The event will feature remarks by author Robert Collins.Following this, there will be a discussion with David Maxwell, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and HRNK Board Member, and Markus V. Garlauskas, US Government. Nicholas Eberstadt, AEI Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy and HRNK Board Member, will give welcoming remarks and moderate. Greg Scarlatoiu, HRNK Executive Director, will give introductory remarks.
One complimentary copy of the report will be offered to each participant.
If you are unable to attend, a live broadcast feed will be available on AEI’s program web page:
http://www.aei.org/events/north-koreas-control-tower-the-organization-and-guidance-department/
HRNK was founded in 2001 as a nonprofit research organization dedicated to documenting human rights conditions in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), as North Korea is formally known. Visit www.hrnk.org to find out more.
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