Defector calls for more sanctions on North Korea over human rights abuses
ROC Central News Agency
06/30/2023 08:51 PM
[Editor's Note: This is part two of a three-part series that shares the views of defectors from North Korea as the country becomes increasingly isolated. The series includes interviews with two defectors and an expert on North Korea, which will be published in the coming days.]
Seoul, June 30 (CNA) North Korean defector Kim Ji Young is calling on the international community to intervene as a matter of urgency to help tackle the dismal human rights situation in North Korea.
Humanitarian aid North Korea has received from the world has gone directly into the pockets of the country's dictatorial leadership, according to Kim, who currently serves as the head of Free North Korea Radio, based in Seoul.
The ruling elites enjoy lavish lifestyles at the expense of the rest of the population, Kim told CNA in an interview, adding that "North Korean people cannot rely on anybody but themselves to survive."
She urged the international community to carry on calling out Pyongyang for its human rights violations and to continue imposing sanctions against the regime, adding that promoting the concept of human rights in the pariah state will be fundamental in forcing political change.
Finding her freedom
After fleeing North Korea along with her mother in 2013, Kim decided to join the radio station run mostly by defectors, out of a desire to be part of a team spreading news, accurate historical information and hope into North Korea.
She explained that although through their work they had managed to reach numerous people up and down the country, but that there were still many completely in the dark about the outside world, because of the authorities' vice-like grip on disseminating information in the country.
She used to be one of those people, she explains, completely unaware of what life was like outside North Korea.
The concepts of human rights and freedom of speech, religion or participating in free elections were not on her radar. All she knew was how to conform to authority.
Kim grew up in a well-off family and both of her parents were loyal members of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea. The idea of defection never occurred to her, until her father had died and her mother became a target of the authorities.
Her mother was apparently facing severe punishment, all because she had helped a subordinate at work, an act deemed by the authorities as an attempt to build up a cult of worship around herself.
It was listening to a radio broadcast from a North Korean defector that pushed them over the edge, and convinced them to give escaping a try.
Completely cut off
Defectors know how to reach the souls of those trapped in the country, Kim said, not just because they speak the same Korean dialect, but because their personal stories of hardship and escape resonate closely.
If people on wider scale became aware of how the lives of those who escaped have improved, more people would try to leave, she said.
For those prepared to take the risk, however, the odds are stacked against them. Many have faced the risk of torture, trafficking and even death in their bid to leave. And those who do make it to China are repatriated if they are discovered, left to face the wrath of the North Korean authorities.
A turning point?
Kim explained that younger North Koreans had "much lower loyalty" to the party compared with older generations, because their childhoods had been largely characterized by extreme economic difficulties brought about by food shortages and flooding.
"Socialism didn't bring them any benefits," she said, adding that people had started to become even more unhappy with the government over its draconian - even for its standards - handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a Human Rights Watch report, at that time the North Korean government took steps to further isolate the country under the pretext of helping prevent the spread of COVID-19, by closing its borders, restricting foreign trade, and limiting domestic travel and the distribution of food and other products.
The government also had not demonstrated any interest in supporting people facing severe financial difficulties, but instead chose to continue conducting missile tests, squandering US$30 million on each launch operation, Kim explained.
Adding to public anger was the imposition of a new law in February aimed at cementing state control and discipline, which makes the leaking of vaguely defined "state secrets" punishable by death, she added.
Stop the funds
Although the amount of aid flowing into North Korea has reduced in recent years, she called on the international community to replace any remaining aid going to the country with sanctions.
The aid is "only used to feed the Kim Jong Un family, providing resources to them to develop missiles and nuclear weapons," she said, explaining that it does little to help the general public in North Korea.
Kim is frustrated at the lack of change in her country, but vowed to continue doing whatever she can to persuade North Koreans that the possibility of a better life exists abroad.
(By Ariel Liao and Teng Pei-ju)
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