Scenes of Horror Take Place Regularly

Thank you very much, Chairman Nakadaira and Ms. Okamura, for this opportunity.

We all have heard tales of misery shared by North Korea refugees.

In December, 1995 in Vladivostock, three North Korean refugees were apprehended and North Korean security officers were alerted by the Russian authorities. Immediately upon being handed over to the North Korean security officials at the Russian-North Korean border, one of the defectors, Song Chang Keun, was shot to death on the spot by a NK official. This barbaric act was committed openly in the presence of Russian border guards and so frightened the Russian official in charge, that he promptly reconsidered his decision and brought the two remaining North Koreans back to a prison in Vladivostock.

Amnesty International reported this incident in June, 1996 and quoted Yevgency Nazdratenko, Governor of the Maritime Province of the Russian Federation.

In October 1999, an alarming report raced by word of mouth through the Chinese border town of Tumen. The account was frightening. A North Korean border official had executed a captured refugee by hanging on the bank of the Tumen River. For several days the body was left dangling from a tree as a warning and meant to intimidate other North Korean villagers who might consider crossing to China.

I have compelling evidence that a similar incident took place in China this year. On May 28th, a cruel tragedy took place, and again it was in Tumen City on the Chinese-North Korean border. 56 NK refugees had been caught by Chinese police and were awaiting repatriation to North Korea. Among the refugees was a retired NK army major named Sohn In Kuk. When a North Korean State Security official recognized him, he yelled in contempt, "You again!" The North Korean official picked up an iron pipe from the ground nearby and began to club him mercilessly. For over 20 minutes, and in the presence of Chinese police and prison officials, the beating continued until Mr. Sohn's body lay lifeless, a bloody pulp.

These brutal executions are not merely a direct violation of universally held human rights. They also raise grave concern about the fate of NK refugees who are forcibly repatriated to North Korea by neighboring governments.

Who are these people? Why are they forced to seek their survival on foreign soil? Who is responsible for this unspeakable tragedy?

You will have an answer to the question of "Why?"

In November 2000, BBC reported that full bags of grain, donated by the international community in the name of Humanitarian Aid, were being sold in marketplaces of North Korea.

Thailand and North Korea signed an agreement whereby 300,000 tons of rice would be delivered to the North on the basis of "humanitarian government to government" assistance. Less than a quarter of it reached North Korea. 75% of it was shipped to Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa for commercial gain. In July of this year, Mr. Pichet, a House Budget Committee Member of Thailand, strongly accused North Korea with the charge of abusing humanitarian aid and diverting it to third countries.

North Korea's so-called, "Dear Leader," Kim Jong-Evil spent 1 billion U.S. dollars to embalm the corpse of his late father, Kim Il Sung, and to make his resting place a sacred precinct. He himself spent $30 million to build an armored train for his trip to Russia in 2001. These astronomical sums were being spent at the same time 3 million of his people perished with starvation and related disease.

Mr. Konstantin Pulikovsy, President Vladimir V Putin's envoy to the Russian Far East, in The New York Times notes the North Korean's affinity for platform shoes, his fondness of women and his gourmet meals. Described it as a sybaritic excursion. Of course he brought several of his pleasure girls with him. During his trip, Mr. Viktor Popov, Russia's Far Eastern railway director, commented on the growing drug problem in the region. The North Korea leader replied: "Mr. Popov, if you find Koreans in Khabarovsk who deal with drugs, you can shoot them. I give you permission. We have a huge population, so there shouldn't be any problems even if we shoot many people."

Mr. Yun Dae Il, a former Military Security Service officer defected to South Korea, and wrote a book " Axis of Evil, the Executioner". The book records that Kim Jong Il ordered every co-op farm to raise 10 hectares of opium in October of 1998. Na-Nam Pharmaceutical factory, located in the provincial capital of Chung-jin, North Korea currently produces one ton of methamphetamine (aka pillofon) and one ton of heroin per month.

These dangerous and illicit drugs are traded at $1000/kg at the Chinese-North Korean border area and $ 1,500/Kg on the high sea. Also he told me that Mr. Yun himself was once involved in drug deals. It seems almost unthinkable, but North Korea is much like the Mafia masquerading as a State. These realities demonstrate that all North Korea's neighboring countries are not secure.

We find ourselves in the 21st Century, living in a civilized world. Every individual has the right to choose his or her religion. Does the North Korean regime allow religious freedom to its people?

I have met quite a number of NK refugees in China who have converted to Christianity. If caught in China and repatriated to North Korea, these new Christians will be executed or imprisoned in political prison camps if the regime discovers their new religion.

Another ghastly practice the world community must investigate is genocidal atrocity carried out under the name of "race purification" by North Korea.

Over 50,000 North Korean women have married Chinese citizens after fleeing the North. Some NK women have found a measure of security and domestic happiness in China and live in fear of being arrested and repatriated to North Korea. Unfortunately, their marriages have not prevented many of them from being caught and deported during pregnancy. After crossing the border, their babies have been systemically murdered by NK prison guards with the explanation that their babies were racially impure. These shocking facts have been well-documented and reported by Human Right without Frontiers, a respected NGO based in Belgium in Feb., 02, as well as by the New York Times on 6/11/02, News Week on 3/5/01 and the Marie Claire Monthly Magazine on October, 02 Issue.

One question should haunt us---What we can do to stop this horror?

I strongly demand that the UNHCHR become actively involved in investigating this unspeakable human atrocity, and condemn North Korea's actions. The People's Republic of China should accept part of this responsibility and issue these women permanent visas.

North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, and his regime should be brought to the International Criminal Court and charged with a Crime Against Humanity.

There are approximately 200,000 of North Korean refugees hiding in fear in China. Their life is in danger.

Their blood cries out to us who have the power to make a difference.

I will end my speech by quoting a Washington Post editorial dated 2/14/99.

Considerable deference is due the Kim (Dae Jung) Government, given its democratic credentials and its place on the front line. Still as one read the tales of North Korean misery, it's hard not to think that later generations will wonder why the West treated with such an evil regime--and why this giant concentration camp of a country was permitted to endure for so long.

Ladies and Gentleman, it is the time to prepare the answer to that question.

Thank you.
Jae Joong Nam, M.D.
President
AEGIS Foundation