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US Congress to open database on NK prison camps

Posted June. 15, 2012 05:35,   

한국어

The U.S. Congress plans to sponsor North Korean defectors and create a public database on prison camps in North Korea.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, proposed the bill “S. 3241: Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2013” to the Committee of Appropriations on May 24. It said the State Department will provide funds for assistance for refugees from North Korea, including for protection activities in the People’s Republic of China under “Migration and Refugee Assistance.” The amount of the funds was not specified.

The bill also allowed the setup and maintenance of a database of prisons and gulags in North Korea under the “Democracy Fund.” The fund was created under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and 230 million U.S. dollars remain available. It also provides at least 8.96 million dollars for broadcasts into the North under international broadcasting operations.

According to the budget proposal for fiscal 2013 submitted to Congress on Wednesday, the State Department did not allocate a budget directed to North Korea for 2013 following this year. The department had managed an “economic support fund” to strengthen democracy in the Stalinist country and protect human rights, but did not set aside budget for the fund for next year. The department allocated 3.5 million dollars in 2010 and 2.5 million dollars last year for the fund. Washington seems to have stopped providing support to North Korea since the latter snubbed obligations such as denuclearization.



mickey@donga.com