Christians In Crisis
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Wednesday, March 30, 2005

TWO SURVIVORS OF NORTH KOREAN PRISON CAMPS WILL HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE AT BRITAIN'S FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

Both the North Koreans and Bill Rammell MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with responsibility for North Korea and global human rights issues, are due to speak at a parallel meeting at the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on March 31, according to information received by ASSIST News Service (ANS) from Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

CSW’s National Director, Stuart Windsor, who was also at the UNCHR, will be present at the press conference. At the UNCHR parallel meeting on March 31, the first ever video footage of public executions in North Korea will be shown. In addition, a list of more than 600 individuals who have disappeared into the North Korean gulag will be revealed.

The two survivors, who are both Christians, were imprisoned at the Yodok Political Prison Camp and suffered appalling abuses, CSW said.

Kim Tae Jin, 49, initially defected to China in 1986 to escape the inequality and lack of freedom in North Korea. While in China he became a Christian, an act attracting severe penalties in North Korea.

After 16 months he was repatriated by the Chinese authorities and a Bible was discovered in his belongings. He suffered severe torture and interrogation in the eight months following his return, to the extent that he swallowed a nail, preferring to undergo an operation than stay in the cell. He was subsequently imprisoned without trial in Yodok Political Prison Camp (No 15) where he experienced barbarous treatment, including being beaten with burning wood, the CSW report says.

CSW said Jin was forced to carry out hard labor on minimal food intake and beaten unconscious when too weak to carry out his tasks. He survived the imprisonment and eventually defected again, arriving in South Korea in June 2001. He is Director of Missionary Works at NKGulag and Chairman of the Special Committee for North Korean Gulag Dismantlement. He is also currently studying at Chongshin University, a theological school in South Korea.

Kim Young Soon, 67, was arrested by the North Korean security forces after they disappeared her husband. She and her four children were imprisoned in Yodok Political Prison Camp (No 15) solely as a punishment for their association with him. She spent eight years in the camp, from 1970-8, enduring conditions of forced labor, regular physical and verbal abuse, ideological indoctrination and severe degradation, the CSW report said.

Soon describes the camp as “a living hell where prisoners were treated as less than animals.” Her father, mother and youngest son perished in the camp. Her second son was executed after an unsuccessful attempt to escape from North Korea and her eldest son become disabled as a result of his imprisonment. She has never seen her husband since his disappearance.

Soon eventually fled North Korea and arrived in South Korea in November 2003. She is now a member of the Operations Committee of NKGulag, a human rights agency representing survivors of the political prison camps, CSW reported.

The two North Koreans are due to meet Michael Ancram QC MP, Conservative Party Deputy Leader and Shadow Foreign Secretary. They will also attend meetings with other Parliamentarians.

CSW is at the forefront of exposing human rights abuses in North Korea and has successfully lobbied at the UN for the introduction of the first ever resolution on North Korea in 2003 and then for the appointment of a Special Rapporteur in 2004.

Stuart Windsor, CSW’s National Director, said: “North Korea is widely held to have one of the worst human rights record in the world and these two survivors have a unique and painful story to tell. It is our privilege to work with them at the UN, in the EU and here in the UK so they can tell us the truth about life and death in North Korea. Our hope is that their testimonies will encourage the international community to do more to put pressure on the North Koreans to improve their human rights record.”

The statement adds: "CSW is deeply concerned that North Korea should be pressed to address the concern over its prison camps, where an estimated 100,000 people are held. As part of its mandate to promote religious freedom, CSW is also keen to see the North Korean authorities reform their very severe policies of repression of religious freedom. Amongst the many other issues of concern are the restrictions on leaving the country, the widespread use of public execution and the lack of freedom of expression and association."

CSW has carried out extensive research on North Korea over the last four years, conducting in-depth interviews with over sixty North Koreans on human rights and repression in their country.

The interviews have been carried out at the Chinese border and in South East Asia, with additional interviews in South Korea, Japan, Europe and North America. Witnesses include individuals who have been imprisoned and also those who have been responsible for imprisonment and torture.

CSW has worked with and talked to numerous individuals and organizations working with North Koreans, as well as diplomatic staff and those who have worked inside the country. CSW has also used medical examination, psychiatric analysis and expert medical advice in analyzing evidence.

As a result of the horrifying accounts received, CSW has prioritized highlighting the egregious human rights situation in North Korea and has been at the forefront of encouraging the international community to address these particularly serious human rights concerns.

The Press conference to be held at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, SW1A at 12.30pm – arrive by 11.45am. To apply for accreditation on a first come first served basis, contact Tom Soper at the FCO on tom.soper@fco.gov.uk or ring 020 7008 3076

For more information, please contact Richard Chilvers, Communications Manager at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on 020 8329 0045 or 07776 135169 or email richard.chilvers@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk