Background: Ever since Kim Jong Eun came to power, his regime has worked aggressively to prevent North Koreans from escaping. The China-North Korea border is more dangerous today than ever before, which has made the cost of rescues grow astronomically along with a sharp decline in the number of refugees escaping. Complicit in the Kim regime’s reign of terror and… Read more →
Some time ago, I took a seminar class on Island Disputes in Northeast Asia. Our professor, for all of her expertise in objective instruction on the issues in question, stressed to us one subtle but critical point in forming our arguments: avoid pronouns, where possible. Simply put, she wanted us to always remember the entity to which we were referring… Read more →
“Collapse.” It is a word which one can hardly go a day without hearing and/or using in North Korea related dialog. Whether the discussion is about Human Rights, economics, or security issues, one can scarcely go a day without hearing the word “collapse” in some way or another. This word, in all of its universal use and commonality, is, to me,… Read more →
No doubt, the conference celebrating the one year anniversary of the UN COI Report was a valuable “state of affairs” gathering in terms of understanding the turbulent events of the past year. I do believe that I can say with confidence that any individuals who watched or attended the anniversary conference, hosted by CSIS, can scarcely argue that there was… Read more →
This email was sent to the Meetup Group (Meetup.com/NorthKorea). Please join the group to receive similar emails and event announcements in the future. All links below are to Meetup.com and will require you to sign-up for a free account and join our group. Good evening everyone and welcome to the group! I just wanted to take a second and send… Read more →
By a vote of 11 in favor, 2 against, and 2 abstentions, the Security Council voted to permanently add the issue of North Korean Human Rights to its agenda…so what have we learned? The vote and ensuing discussion made clear the divide on the issue. The Human Rights situation in North Korea, as detailed in COI released earlier this year,… Read more →
Modern Times in North Korea: Scenes from its Founding Years, 1945-1950 Monday, Dec 15, 2014, 4:00 PM 6th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 5 Members Went Washington History SeminarHistorical Perspectives on International and National AffairsModern Times in North Korea: Scenes from its Founding Years,[masked]Suzy KimRUTGERS UNIVERSITYClick here for more information and event registration.North Korea is often… Read more →
Yesterday with a vote of 116 yes, 20 no, and 53 abstentions, the UN General Assembly voted to adopt the resolution on human rights in North Korea passed last month by the Third Committee. The resolution adopts the report of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) released last February. The resolution also refers the matter to the Security Council, recommending sanctions… Read more →
Today the UN Third Committee adopted a resolution recognizing widespread human rights violations and referring the matter to the Security Council. The resolution will likely go before the General Assembly next month. Still, many countries voted against the resolution and tried to amend it earlier in the day. The amendment would have stripped the resolution of language referring the… Read more →