Pro-democracy movement for NK must continue

China has released Kim Young-hwan, a South Korean activist seeking democracy in North Korea, and three of his colleagues after 113 days in custody. They had been arrested by Chinese public security authorities while conducting activities for the North’s democratization, and were detained in the national security office in Dandong. The four activists looked pale due to their prolonged imprisonment, but Kim said, “The situation in North Korea is that people are afflicted by grave human rights violations and a brutal dictatorship,” adding, “We`ll continue our endeavor for North Korean human rights and democracy.” North Koreans, who are shut off from information on their leadership let alone the global situation, desperately need support from the outside world. Myanmar democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi rekindled the democratization movement in her country thanks to international attention and support, including winning the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

China’s public security office, which said it arrested Kim and his colleagues to ensure “national security,” has not announced the crimes they were caught for. Unlike North Korean human rights activists, who directly and indirectly helped North Koreans defect in the past, China released Kim and colleagues without going through the process of indictment. Heavily criticized by the world as a nation oppressing human rights, China would have felt a big burden over putting Kim and his colleagues on trial. Beijing apparently sought to avoid putting the spotlight on North Korean defectors due to a trial. Using this incident as a turning point, China is advised to stop repatriating defectors, who entered China at great risk to their lives.

The Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, which Kim established through painstaking efforts while moving back and forth to and from China since 1998, has likely suffered a setback due to the latest incident. The campaign to democratize the North should not be halted, however. Campaigns to send to the North shortwave radios and balloons that provide accurate news on the North to North Koreans have such a strong impact to the point that North Korean authorities sensitively react to it. Pro-North Korea groups in the South, which seek to block the balloons from flying, are apparently linked with the communist regime in a certain way. When the human rights abuses and suffering of the North Korean people under the dictatorship of the three generations of the Kim Il Sung family is widely publicized, such groups will feel completely ashamed.

The South Korean government and National Assembly should also strive to protect the safety of activists who seek to democratize North Korea in China and Southeast Asia. Many such activists, including Kim, have been arrested and imprisoned in China while helping defectors. The Rev. Ahn Seung-hoon, who was taken to the North while conducting missionary activities in Yanji, China, in 1995, is said to have died in the North recently. Such activists are implementing campaigns despite great risk to their personal safety. Before it is too late, the South Korean legislature should display non-partisan cooperation and enact a North Korean human rights act that its predecessor failed to approve.