An HRNK Interview with Kim Kwang-jin

By Rosa Park, HRNK Director of Programs and Editor

Q1: What motivated you to become involved in the North Korean human rights field?

Kim Kwang-jin: I frequently travelled abroad, visiting Singapore and also China for banking business. After I defected in 2003, living in the free world, I felt that a lot of things are wrong in North Korea. Most of the people are not given basic human rights. They cannot move freely. They cannot freely choose their jobs. They cannot go abroad as exchange students, with the exception of a very select few. They cannot possess their passports, They cannot have religion. In every aspect, all North Korean people’s rights are abused and they do not even know what human rights mean.

Q2: Why does the North Korean regime focus most of its resources on the mining industry as opposed to other industries?

Kim Kwang-jin: The whole North Korean economic system has collapsed. They do not have things to sell to others except by digging coal and iron ore. So, these became the major resources for the North Korean regime to sell to others, particularly China, to make money. Of course, this sector has also collapsed, but there was high demand from China for the consumption of these mineral resources. Also, in North Korea, they began to develop private transactions and market elements. Of course, it was not forced by the regime, but by individuals and by the public. They could develop themselves and have a way to mobilize resources, like coal and iron ore, and sell it to China. This was not through the state trading system, but through private individuals and small companies.

Q3: What role does songbun, North Korea’s social classification system, play in the export industries?

Kim Kwang-jin: Actually, North Korea is running a kind of caste system. They classify their own people in different categories. There is status bestowed through birth and there is social status. When a person is born, they are assigned a certain status, classification, or social category. If they are from a “good” loyal family, they can have better jobs and they can be promoted easily. They can have better education, better housing, better salary, and better rations. But when they’re born into a family with bad songbun or bad classification, they enjoy fewer privileges. They are always marginalized. The most difficult jobs in North Korea are mining coal and iron ore, and farming. Most of the workers in those areas are from these bad songbun classifications. So, the songbun system is fully in place everywhere in North Korea. It affects the export industry and slave labor in many ways. Also, because of this songbun system, these marginalized and less privileged people suffer in mines and on difficult jobs.

Q4: Who should be held accountable for the human rights violations in North Korea’s export industries?

Kim Kwang-jin: Of course, Kim Jong-un himself, the North Korean regime, and the Korean Worker’s Party (KWP). At the last Seventh Party Congress, Kim Jong-un became the Chairman of the KWP. He is in charge of everything. He is at the top. He is called the brain of the North Korean revolution. So, he’s in charge of everything. Also, the North Korea elite and the system should be held accountable for this slave labor, forced labor, and the human rights abuses in the mining industry.

Q5: Should countries refrain from importing North Korean minerals?

Kim Kwang-jin: The money from these resources is used for the development of the nuclear and missile program, but there is another very good reason that member states should be careful when importing these North Korean underground resources. The North Korean mining industry systematically abuses human rights, “capitalizing” on the loyalty-based songbun classification system. These minerals are produced through human rights abuses. This is another reason why states and private entities should exercise maximum caution when importing North Korean resources.

Original transcription by Lauren McBroom, HRNK Research Intern

​To view the full video of the interview, please click here. 

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Categories: crimes against humanity, DPRK, Exports, HRNK, humanrights, Industry, interview, KimJongUn, KWP, Mining, NGO, NK, North Korea, UN, UNCOI

North Korea Human Rights Outlook for 2014… ‘Concerning of Political Camps Expansion and Reign of Terror’

By Voice of America (VOA)

At Panmunjeom, south of the DMZ, a visitor is watching video footage of a political prison camp in North Korea.

People point out that the North Korean human rights issue deteriorated last year. We examine how the human rights situation will pan out in the new year with journalist Yung-kwan Kim.

Anchorman: There were many occurrences inside and outside North Korea which affected human rights last year, weren’t there?

Journalist: Yes, there were. The UN Human Rights Council established the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) on North Korean human rights, which brought a lot of attention to the issue. However, the situation of those attempting to defect is worsening as surveillance, punishment and overall control of the people are on the increase. The execution of Jang Song-thaek was an example of the strengthening of Kim’s regime through “fearpolitik.”

An anchorman: What is your view on North Korea human rights issues this year?

Journalist: Many human rights organizations anticipate that the human rights situation in North Korea will not improve this year. Greg Scarlatoiu, Executive Director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, pointed out three trends indicating that the outlook for this year is not bright.

[Tape-recording: Scarlatoiu] “ I do not anticipate spectacular improvements”
First, the Kim regime has intensified the crackdown on attempted defections in the border region between China and North Korea. Second, Kim has continued to exercise his “fearpolitik,” his reign of terror as we observed in the Jang Song-thaek execution and purging of associates. Third, the restructuring of the political prison camps will continue, and the number of prisoners will likely increase, due to the other two trends.”

Anchorman: It seems that North Korea’s dismal and deplorable human rights situation will continue this year.

Journalist: That is right. Human rights organizations are especially concerned with the possibility of an expansion of the political prison camps. The UN and human rights organizations estimate the current number of prisoners to be between 80,000 and 120,000, but that number is likely to increase.

Anchorman: Why do you think it will increase?

Journalist: That is because Kim Jong Un, the first secretary of the KWP secretariat, has been trying to strengthen his own regime through measures including the execution of his own uncle. According to sources inside North Korea, those families who were close to Jang Song Thaek have been imprisoned in political prison camp 15 at Yoduk. South Korean Minister of Unification Ryu Gil-jae also said, on December 30, that the purge in North Korea continues.

An anchorman: You mean to say that there may be more prisoners now because of the purge and the “reign of terror?”

Journalist: Yes. Some say that Jang’s execution brought more light to the human rights issue than even the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI). The execution has reminded the international community about political prison camps in North Korea. What we have learned is that North Koreans who attempted to defect to South Korea but were apprehended are no longer held in Kyohwaso (long-term prison labor facilities where prison terms are generally assigned), but in Kwanlisos (political prison camps, where imprisonment is generally indefinite). North Koreans caught watching or distributing smuggled South Korean TV shows have also been sent to political prison camps or executed. Due to these developments, the number of political prisoners is likely to increase.

An anchorman: What kind of response do you anticipate from the international community?

Journalist: The international community will strengthen their pressure against North Korea more than ever. That is because the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) will release their final report about the North Korea human rights. Here is a comment by Greg Scarlatoiu, Executive Director at The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, about the UN Commision of Inquiry’s report.

“If the UN Commission of Inquiry establish that……”

[Taping-recording: Greg Scarlatoiu] “If the UN Commission of Inquiry establishes that…”

If the UN Commission of Inquiry’s final report confirms that the North Korean regime has been committing crimes against humanity, the international community will intensify efforts to focus attention on North Korean human rights violations, and step up the pressure meant to bring about positive change.

Anchorman: What stage is the COI’s final report in?

Journalist: According to UN sources in Geneva contacted yesterday (December 31st), the first draft will be completed around the middle of January, and it will be viewed by members of the council of the United Nations. The report will be finalized in mid-February, and it will be officially submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council in March.

Anchorman: What is the UN’s next step after releasing the final report?

Journalist: It depends on the result of the final report. The report’s recommendation will be essential in eliciting an international response. If determined that crimes against humanity have been committed, this could lead to further debate within the U.N. The UN Security Council could refer the case to the International Criminal Court. However, experts estimate that China and Russia will not be on board. Because of this, other suggestions have been made, such as creating a U.N. ambassadorship to North Korea, tasked with promoting human rights and managing humanitarian assistance, including North Korean human rights issues in the permanent agenda of the U.N. Security Council, together with the nuclear issue, or establishing a special tribunal similar to the one established to address the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia.

Anchorman: Many nonprofit organizations were very active last year. What do you think about this year?

Journalist: I anticipate that these nonprofit organizations will be more active this year. Human Rights Watch, headquartered in New York, is currently looking to hire a Seoul-based researcher. Amnesty International, headquartered in New York, is planning on expanding its field research. The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is planning on continuing its collaboration with organizations with a longstanding tradition of addressing human rights abuses, such as Holocaust Museums in the United States, aiming to dismantle North Korea’s political prison camps.

Anchorman: We have looked at what the international community should do regarding North Korean human rights in 2014, with journalist Kim Young-kwan.

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Categories: analysis, DMZ, fearpolitik, HRNK, humanrights, interview, NK, nonprofit, NorthKorea, UN, UNCOI, VOA