In Brief with Ji Seong-ho, National Assembly Member

*In Brief: Ji Seong-ho, National Assembly Member*

6 December 2021

9DASHLINE recently sat down with Ji Seong-Ho, who escaped North Korea in 2006 and after a difficult journey made his way into South Korea. He is the founder of Now, Action & Unity for Human Rights (NUAH) — an advocacy NGO that works to raise awareness of the dire human rights situation in North Korea and helps defectors settle in South Korea. In 2020, Ji was elected to the South Korean National Assembly as a proportionate representative for the Future Korea Party.

9DL: You have dedicated your life to putting an end to the suffering of your people. What inspires you to continue on this path and remain hopeful for a better future?

JS: What gets me going is the invariably horrendous human rights condition facing the people in North Korea. The North Korean authorities have suppressed the rights of its people for seventy years under the three Kim generations — Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and Kim Jong-un. No one is allowed to express his/her thoughts or will freely. All actions and words are controlled unless authorised and violators are subject to forced detention and labour.

There are currently four political prison camps in North Korea, with around 150,000 people in forced labour. These people have been detained for criticising the authorities, having a religion, or serving in the ROK military in the past. The accused are detained forever along with their family members, including children. Children born in political camps end up spending their life there. This is why I have to commit myself to this path. If people like me who have suffered human rights violations in North Korea do not raise their voice about this issue, the North Korean people will continue to be slaves to the regime and spend their lifetime suffering.

9DL: “In North Korea, every single article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is violated in extremity”, according to Human Rights Watch. In your view, how should the democratic world engage North Korea to see improvements to the human rights situation? What are the areas that need the most urgent intervention?

JS: That is an accurate description of the situation in the country. The democratic world had high expectations of Kim Jong-un when he became the third hereditary successor because he had spent many years attending school in Switzerland. However, Kim Jong-un has been more ruthless in committing human rights violations. He poisoned his half-brother to death and executed his uncle with anti-aircraft guns. Afraid that outside information might reach his people, he introduced a new law against what the regime describes as “reactionary thought and culture”. Under the law, anyone caught owning, watching or listening to music, movies, or dramas produced outside North Korea can face the death penalty.

Kim Jong-un is against outside information because authorities have been struggling to control the younger generation. North Koreans in their twenties and thirties are the ‘jangmadang generation’ for their active involvement in North Korea’s ‘black markets’ called jangmadang. Because this generation had never received any support from the authorities, they have a stronger sense of resistance against government control than any other generation.

The situation is so fragile that the very foundation of the North Korean regime is in jeopardy. This suggests that human rights could be restored through the power of culture. This is why many human rights groups in the Republic of Korea send USBs containing Korean dramas, movies and other content to North Korea by air or by sea across the border areas.

Of course, North Korea has responded strongly to these propaganda activities from the South. On 4 June 2020, it blew up the inter-Korean joint liaison office in Kaeseong and warned of further military actions should propaganda leaflets or USBs be sent into its territory again. The ROK government, in need of some outcome in its policy of engagement with Pyongyang, blocked the leafleters by crafting an anti-leaflet law in just four hours. The law prohibits North Korean human rights groups from sending anti-North Korean leaflets to North Korea.

North Korea is sensitive about propaganda leaflets and USBs from the South because the materials may reveal the truth to its people, which, would imperil the regime. Kim Jong-un is covering the eyes and ears of his people to keep them enslaved and strengthen his rule.

The North Korean people should be told the truth. This is why I organised a hearing with lawmakers in the US to inform them of the unjust nature of the law banning the launching of anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets. Despite this effort, however, the law continues to sanction the activities of North Korean human rights groups while violating the right to information of the North Korean people. For this reason, I believe that the liberal, democratic world should strive to send into North Korea truthful information and the widely-known Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I absolutely do not want another war. That said, I cannot turn a blind eye to the human rights violations in North Korea. The North Korean regime must safeguard the human rights of its people and the most efficient way to induce such a change is to ensure that truthful news continues to flow into the country.

9DL: Given Europe’s increased interest in the Indo-Pacific what role do you think the EU can play on the issue of North Korea?

JS: The European Union can play several critical roles with respect to North Korea. The first is to enact a ‘North Korean Human Rights Act’. Such a law only exists in the Republic of Korea, the US, and Japan. Unfortunately, instead of having its intended effect, the law in the Republic of Korea has become a political scapegoat because of the unique relations between the South and the North, and due to forces that seek to exploit relations with the North Korean regime for their own political goals. So, if at all possible, I ask that a North Korean human rights law be enacted in the European Union.

The North Korean regime hates that the international community raises its human rights issues. The reason is very simple: the country ruled by Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un must be a perfect country. Acknowledging human rights issues in the North amounts to recognising that Kim Jong-un’s leadership is flawed. But the country’s human rights situation is known through various testimonies from North Korean defectors. I myself am a victim of human rights violations by the regime; my left arm and left leg are evidence.

This is why I am asking the European Union to legislate a North Korean human rights law. Doing so would put pressure on the North Korean government. In fact, North Korea responded most strongly when it was pressured by the international community on human rights issues.

Some defectors who were forcibly repatriated from China to North Korea testified that the level of verbal and physical abuse was comparatively less intense than in the past. Of course, this is not because Kim Jong-un cares about his people. It’s because the international community has raised human rights issues in North Korea and put pressure on the regime. Change from within is desperately needed for a fundamental solution to North Korea’s human rights issues, so I ask the European Union to help trigger a starting point for this change.

I also ask that the European Union create a supranational alliance of lawmakers to advocate for human rights in North Korea. Through the alliance, strategies for effectively improving the human rights situation in North Korea could be discussed with European Union parliamentarians who have an interest in human rights issues in North Korea.

9DL: In your view how can the international community ensure that accountability remains at the core of efforts to engage North Korea?

JS: China can play a critical role in the democratisation and informatisation of North Korea. More than anything, because of their shared border, many North Korean people who escape the country first land in China. However, because China sees North Korean escapees merely as illegal immigrants and not as refugees, it arrests and repatriates them under a secret agreement with the North Korean government. These individuals face the risk of ill-treatment such as torture and forced detention, China could not be less concerned despite being party to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

When I was working as a human rights activist, I helped North Korean defectors who were at risk of being arrested by the Chinese authorities escape to the Republic of Korea. The number of such defectors is reportedly around 200,000, which far exceeds what a few human rights activists like me can accommodate. I would like to propose the following to the international community with respect to China.

First, the international community should come together to urge China to stop repatriating defectors to North Korea. Second, the international community should engage with China to ensure that North Korean defectors in China can go to a country of their choice under the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Third, the international community should work with China to ensure that the North Korean people have access to outside information. And finally, the international community should work with China to secure the denuclearisation of North Korea and to safeguard the most basic human rights, such as the right to movement, civil liberties, and social rights for the North Korean people.

9DL: How do you assess Seoul’s COVID response?

JS: Tight preventative measures left room for privacy violations, but thanks to an active citizenry, the government was successful in responding to the COVID-19 crisis without a full lockdown. However, as the world entered a new phase in fighting the pandemic through vaccination, the government’s failure to secure vaccines early caused confusion, which initially led to an imbalance in the supply and demand of vaccines. Now, I assess that the situation has become stable.

9DL: Can we hope that there could now be a rare opportunity to increase access to North Korea for cooperation in healthcare?

JS: Despite the North Korean regime’s claims, according to local sources, a recent outbreak of an inexplicable respiratory disease has caused many deaths. The authorities have been actively covering up by quickly cremating the bodies, which makes it difficult to assess whether the deaths were associated with COVID-19, influenza, or tuberculosis.

The biggest challenge facing North Korea is its poor healthcare infrastructure. Currently, COVAX has allocated around 2.1 million doses to North Korea. However, a successful large-scale COVID-19 vaccination program is contingent upon a country’s cold chain capacity. Due to prolonged sanctions, North Korea has had frequent power outages outside of major cities like Pyongyang. Additionally, its poor road and railway conditions make distributing vaccines practically impossible without external support. A COVID-19 vaccination program would require a large-scale inflow of foreign resources and personnel into the country, but the North Korean authorities are very reluctant to entertain this idea.

For now, I believe it is highly likely that North Korea would continue to claim that it has zero COVID-19 cases and reject international vaccine offers. It is also true that apolitical international organisations that are involved in humanitarian assistance and healthcare cooperation have more opportunities for dialogue with North Korea than any other country. In light of the US State Department’s announcement to exempt sanctions for humanitarian assistance to vulnerable groups in Korea, efforts should continue to bring North Korea back to the dialogue table.

DISCLAIMER: All views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of the 9DASHLINE.com platform.

Biography

Ji Seong-Ho is a member of South Korea’s National Assembly and the founder of Now, Action & Unity for Human Rights, an advocacy NGO that works to raise awareness of the dire human rights situation in North Korea and helps defectors settle in South Korea. Image credit: Wikimedia.