Not a lot of North Koreans get to travel the world, telling
their life story to world leaders.
But Kang Chol-Hwan was one of the lucky few to escape the tight
grip of the North Korean government, and he is gradually becoming
the poster child for an international community aimed at ending
North Korea’s human rights abuses.
In addition to promoting his book, Chol-Hwan’s visit to
UCLA Wednesday ““ one of a series of stops at universities
around the country ““ served to highlight the disparity
between interest and action in terms of ending North Korea’s
notoriously brutal record of human rights violations. His
appearance packed a room in Haines and his memoirs have gotten the
attention of world leaders like President Bush. But, as Chol-Hwan
said, North Korea’s mistreatment of its own people has
remained unchanged ““ and perhaps even worsened ““ in the
13 years since he escaped from a North Korean prison camp.
Chol-Hwan and his family were imprisoned for an alleged crime
committed by his grandfather and he remained in the prison camp for
10 years, surviving on meager rations, often eating mice, frogs and
insects. After bribing guards with alcohol and tobacco, Chol-Hwan
was able to escape to South Korea and became determined to expose
the conditions in which North Koreans live.
“I hope I can reveal what’s really happening in
North Korea,” he said through a translator. The world often
does not know the extent of suffering in the type of labor camps he
lived in, Chol-Hwan said. “People don’t believe that
these things are actually going on.”
Organizations like Liberty in North Korea, which sponsored
Chol-Hwan’s appearance, also seek to expose the atrocities
inflicted upon the North Korean people by their own government.
Elliot Lee, the internal communications director for Liberty in
North Korea National and recent UCLA graduate, said the
group’s efforts are limited to helping the North Korean
defectors on an individual level, through orphanages and other
smaller institutions, rather than changing the regime in the
country.
But in spite of efforts aimed at addressing North Korea’s
human rights violations, the country’s treatment of its
people has not improved in recent years, Chol-Hwan said.
And improvement could be slow in coming because much of the
mistreatment of the North Korean people stems from its economic
problems.
George Totten III, professor emeritus of political science at
the University of Southern California, said North Korea’s
strength lies in its military and nuclear capabilities and the
government’s priorities are thusly shifted. With the
country’s resources geared toward the military, North Korea
does not have the capacity to support its own people, Totten
said.
“There’s just not enough to go around,”
continued Totten, who is also the founding director of the USC
Korea Project. “The need is much greater than (the North
Korean government) can cover so people are suffering greatly from
lack of food.”
North Korea made headlines recently for its decision to reject
international food aid. North Korean authorities said the aid
presents security risks but many in the international community
have berated the decision because it is believed the
country’s poorest residents need the aid and will suffer as a
result.
As Totten said, though, North Korea has a long history of closed
borders and isolationist policy and the country must open itself up
before a large-scale change will be possible. “The way to
have peace there is through understanding and contact,” he
said.
But Chol-Hwan said recent U.S. foreign policy, which demonized
the tactics of the North Korean government, has run counter to the
international goal of opening up North Korea. Instead, he said by
labeling North Korea as a member of the “Axis of Evil,”
the United States has given the North Korean regime fodder for
creating anti-American sentiment within its borders.
Rather than publicly deriding North Korea’s tactics,
Chol-Hwan said, “it will be more effective if the Americans
confront North Korea with the humanitarian crisis.”