On February 25th, president of the Defense Forum Organization Suzanne Scholte spoke at the seminar ‘Human Rights in North Korea’ hosted by Pierce College in Seattle.
Throughout the seminar, she discussed the current status of human rights in North Korea and suggested possible solutions for the peaceful reunification of the two Koreas. She also had a Q&A session with the audience and a free discussion with North Korean defectors.
During her speech, she stated that “human rights in North Korea are severely limited and suppressed. Human rights issues in North Korea should be prioritized, rather than prioritizing the nuclear issue in North Korea. Even at this moment, innocent North Koreans are being tortured… Although the United Nations impose sanctions on North Korea, those sanctions are not very effective because major European countries are not in favor of supporting the UN in imposing sanctions on North Korea. The U.S. should suppress North Korea with both soft and hard power.”
Currently, there are about 26,000 North Korean defectors living in the U.S. and South Korea. According to them, about 60% of North Koreans are exposed to the outside world in different ways and are realizing they should be treated better by their government. Among North Korean defectors, about 300 are former North Korean military personnel ranging from soldiers to officers. Scholte stated that these North Korean defectors are probably more knowledgeable regarding North Korea’s situation than anyone else and supporting them would lead to the reunification of the two Koreas.
After Scholte gave her speech, she had a discussion session with three other North Korean defectors including Chul Park about how they escaped from North Korea, anti-Americanism in North Korea, and human rights issues. One of the defectors stated “I was told that the U.S. is the axis of evil. However, when I arrived in the U.S., I realized what I was told was all wrong. I can’t thank Scholte enough and the U.S. government for supporting and accepting me into the U.S.” Another defector said “I wouldn’t have escaped from North Korea if I wasn’t treated like an animal or had enough food to eat.”
Scholte and defectors from North Korea all stressed that the global community should suppress the North Korean government to stop abusing human rights. They also asked the audience to support North Korean defectors living around the world fighting against the North Korean government, not only for their survival, but also to free North Koreans from its tyranny.
