Information on Witnesses Interviewed

Witness Profiles

1. Yun Dong Geun (male)
	Born Nov. 25, 1951 in DPRK Left Korean People’s Army in 1975 and joined the Party organization. Was expelled from the Party organization and moved to government dept. during the thorough investigation of the party executives carried out when Hwang Jang-yop defected in Feb. 1997. Any members who had been out of North Korea even once and those whose hometown was in South Korea were removed from the Party. In 1998, he escaped from North Korea with his family and reached South Korea in Nov. 2001.
2. Bee Myong Ok (Wife of Yun Dong Geun, daughter of Kim Un Kum)
	Born Aug. 7, 1953 in Jilin, China After leaving Korean People’s Army in 1976, worked as director of a childcare center in Onsong for 15 years, then as a childcarer for 5 years. Retired in 1997 due to a health problem.
	Remark:
	Bee Myong Ok’s mother, Kim Un Kum (73), was arrested in the Yantai incident and repatriated on January 25, 2003, then died during the detention at Onsong. Bee Myong Ok and her husband (Yun Dong Geun) stayed in China from 1998 to 2001, and successfully reached South Korea, so they persuaded her mother Kim Un Kum to come to South Korea where her mother could enjoy the abundance of food. On January 15 and 16, 2003 when Bee Myong Ok talked with her mother on the phone, the mother repeatedly asked how soon she could meet her daughter, her daughter’s husband and the grandchildren. This was her last and only hope to which she clung.
3. Kim Young Kwang (male)
	Born February 24, 1983 in DPRK In 1996, left junior high school midway through, and entered Johnson School (orphanage) because of the hardships his family was going through. In mid-December 1998, escaped into China to flee from starvation. Arrested in the Yantai incident and repatriated to Sinuiju on Jan. 25, 2003. May 5, 2003, escaped from Musan into China again.
4. Yang Yong Ho (male)
	Born March 30, 1961 in DPRK After graduating from a boy’s high school in Musan, North Hangyon Province in 1972, worked at a mining site, construction sites, etc. until 1990. His wife and a niece died from starvation. Fled with his daughter to China in December 2002. Jan. 25, 2003, repatriated to Sinuiju. June 12, 2003, escaped into China again with his daughter.
5. Yang Gum Soon (Daughter of Yang Yong Ho)
	Born December 2, 1987 in DPRK When her mother died of starvation, escaped into China with her father, Yang Yong Ho, in Dec. 2002. Jan. 25, 2003, repatriated to Sinuiju. June 12, 2003, escaped into China with her father again.
6. Kim Myong Chol (male)
	Born January 28, 1965 in DPRK June 2001, escaped into China. Dec. 24, 2002, arrived in Yantai with the help of Yun Dong Geun, the husband of Kim Un Kum’s daughter, Bee Myong Ok. Released Jan. 31, 2003.

 

 

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