Open Letter to Kim Jong-un Urges Explanation
Letter to:
Kim Jong-un, First Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea,
Chairman of the National Defense Commission
Letter Dated: May 7, 2013
We, the undersigned human rights NGOs of Japan, without political, religious, or economic motives, met in Tokyo on May 7th to review the decades long, systematic, widespread, and grave human rights violations in North Korea, which are documented in the publications listed below, as well as multiple other sources of information.
- North Korean Human Rights White Paper, North Korean Human
Rights Database (NKDB Seoul) 2012. - North Korean Political Prison Camps Today, NKDB, 2012.
- North Korean Prisoners Today, NKDB, 2012.
- Eyewitness Testimony, Crimes Against North Korean Human Rights, Volume 1, Chongo-ri Kyo Hwa So (known as Death Camp).
North Korean Human Rights Third Way
For the first time, we have awakened to the light of this reality, emphasizing the severity of the crimes committed in North Korea for so many years. These claims are backed by hundreds of documents, worldwide media reports, and eyewitness testimony from over 8,000 North Koreans. We can no longer ignore the reality: these claims are not based on the evidence of a minority. This information is from independent organizations focused solely on human rights, not from anti-communist, right-wing groups, or any other groups opposed to North Korea.
Therefore, we agreed that we should request an explanation before we report to the United Nations Commission of Inquiry established on March 21, 2013. As you are probably aware, the Commission of Inquiry’s aim is to fully investigate human rights violations taking place in North Korea, and to determine whether or not they rise to the level of crimes against humanity.
We urge you to explain the information contained in the documents listed above, giving this your full attention and responding as soon as possible. If you believe that the above assessment is mistaken or false, we hope you will be open, as any other country in the world would be, to an inquiry simply to establish the truth without disrupting your country’s prisons. We respectfully caution you that if we do not receive a timely reply, it will be interpreted as an acknowledgement of the above charges. Please give this your full attention and reply as soon as possible.
(Signed)
* Hiroshi Kato, President, Life Funds for North Korean Refugees
* Kotaro Miura, Vice President, Society to Help Returnees to North Korea
* Kazuhiro Araki, Representative, Investigation Commission on Missing
Japanese Related to North Korea
* Takashi Fujita, Executive Secretary, Kawaguchi Association to Consider
the Issue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea
* Hiromitsu Takemoto, Representative, Saitama Association for the Rescue
of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea
* Tomoyuki Kawazoe, Representative, Kanagawa Association for the
Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea