Recently, at the high-level meeting on North Korean human rights issues held for the first time at the United Nations General Assembly, two female defectors accused North Korea of human rights violations and shared their personal experiences. This action has sparked fury from North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations, Jin Song, who claimed it was a political conspiracy and referred to the two women as “scum”.
According to Radio Free Asia, on May 20th, the United Nations General Assembly held an unprecedented high-level meeting on North Korean human rights issues at its headquarters in New York. Participants included foreign diplomats from various countries, international human rights experts, as well as two female defectors currently residing in South Korea, Gyuri Kang and Eunjoo Kim.
United Nations special investigator Elizabeth Salmón stated during the meeting that since the outbreak of the CCP virus (COVID-19) pandemic, the human rights situation in North Korea has drastically deteriorated. For over five years, the people of North Korea have been living in almost complete isolation.
She mentioned that this isolation has exacerbated the impact of various human rights violations, including forced labor, infringement on freedom of speech and movement, torture, and the “disappearance” of hundreds of thousands of civilians.
At the meeting, Gyuri Kang and Eunjoo Kim also shared their personal experiences. 24-year-old Gyuri Kang recounted how she escaped from North Korea in 2023 on a 10-meter wooden boat with her mother and aunt. She described the public executions carried out by the regime against those caught watching or spreading South Korean dramas, including teenagers.
She said, “Three of my friends were publicly executed. Two were killed for spreading South Korean dramas. One of them was only 19 years old.”
She mentioned that the North Korean authorities are determined to keep the people in darkness, preventing them from realizing their dreams of freedom. With the collapse of trade with China leading to rampant hyperinflation, economic hardship, and famine, the pandemic lockdown provided the regime with a perfect excuse to intensify repression.
Meanwhile, Eunjoo Kim, who escaped from North Korea at the age of 12 in 1999, recounted how her father died of starvation when she was 11. She, along with her mother and sister, crossed the Tumen River to flee to China but ended up being trafficked upon arrival.
Kim also described how North Korean soldiers were deployed to Russia to participate in the Russo-Ukrainian War without knowing their location or the reasons for the combat.
She said, “They didn’t even know where they were or why they were fighting. Meanwhile, their parents back home lived in agony, not knowing if their sons would return.”
Previously reported by Epoch Times, a video released by Ukrainian President Zelensky on January 20 showed a captured North Korean soldier aiding Russia confessing that he was unaware he was sent to Russia for combat, let alone against Ukraine. His mother didn’t even know his whereabouts.
During the meeting, Eunjoo Kim earnestly implored the delegates and United Nations officials to take action. She said, “Please do not turn a blind eye to the innocent lives lost in North Korea and elsewhere. Silence is complicity.”
Having been out of North Korea for over 25 years, Eunjoo Kim expressed her hope to one day return to North Korea hand in hand with her daughters, showing them a North Korea free from control and fear, but filled with freedom and hope.
Salmón emphasized in her speech that long-term accountability for North Korea must go hand in hand with peace. “Peace is the foundation of human rights. Without peace, human rights cannot thrive. In the current rapidly evolving political environment, we must act together to prevent geopolitical tensions from destabilizing the Korean Peninsula.”