외교부

Welcoming Remarks by H.E. Cho Tae-yul

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea

Forget-Me-Not: Impacts of North Korean Human Rights Abuses on Families Worldwide 

New York, September 25, 2024

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to begin by thanking the like-minded partners and the NGOs for organizing this meaningful event on North Korean human rights situation during the high-level week of UN General Assembly, a fitting backdrop to an issue that urgently demands the attention of the international community. 

For the phrase “Forget-Me-Not” is a desperate plea from the victims of human rights abuses by North Korean regime. This human voice reminds us of the person, the “me,” behind the faceless numbers and statistics, and their experiences of harrowing pain and suffering. That they ask for so little but to be remembered is a gut-wrenching charge on the international community’s oblivion and should serve as a rallying cry to act, and bring swift remedy.  

Tonight, we reaffirm our commitment to heed their call. 

We remember the abductees, detainees, unrepatriated prisoners of war, North Korean defectors forcibly repatriated as well as separated families on both sides of the Peninsula, who long for reunions that never come.

Further, we acknowledge the sacrifice and the courage of the families who are advocating for their loved ones detained in North Korea while being constantly kept in the dark about the victims’ fate and whereabouts. 

In this regard, I would like to recognize the presence of the family members of Kim Jung Wook(김정욱), Son Dong-sik(손동식), Kim Cheol Ok(김철옥), Lee Sang Moon(이상문) and Lee Oong Hee(이웅희), as well as Rumiko Masumoto(루미코 마스모토), all the names that we should not forget. I also recognize the plight of Kim Kook Kie(김국기) and Choi Chun Gil (최춘길), whose forced detention in North Korea will soon be marking a decade. 

My government reaffirms its unwavering commitment to cooperating with other countries and civil societies to do everything we can to address their suffering. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

“Forget-Me-Not” is also the silent cry from our compatriots in North Korea who have no voice. 

As we mark the 10th anniversary of the landmark COI report on Human Rights in North Korea this year, which had found the gravity, scale and nature of human rights violations by North Korea to be unparalleled in the contemporary world, it is much to our dismay that the human rights situation in North Korea has taken a turn for the worse. 

Recently, Pyongyang has even introduced new laws to enforce draconian measures against the influx of information and culture from the outside world. The regime, in a truly Orwellian fashion, is doing everything it can to avoid the worst nightmare: its people opening their eyes to the outside world. However, as I stated almost a decade ago at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva to discuss the COI report, “one cannot veil the sky with the palm of a hand.”

Meanwhile, North Koreans who make the life-or-death decision to flee these oppressive conditions often face the risk of exploitation, human trafficking and abuse during their transit as well as the risk of forcible repatriation and harsh punishments, leaving them trapped between the dangers of remaining and the perils of escaping.  

My government reiterates its call for the States to respect the principle of non-refoulement in their treatment of North Korean defectors. Most importantly, my government strongly urges North Korea to take prompt actions to bring about fundamental changes in its dire human rights situation. As the designation of July 14th as North Korean Defectors’ Day this year shows, my government will also seek to fully embrace the defectors, whom we call the “prelude to reunification.” 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For over 70 years, it is as if Koreans have been subjected to a cruel and amoral social experiment to see what the presence or absence of freedom, human rights and democracy can do to people. One nation, divided in two, one taking the path of freedom and democracy, whereas the other, the path of stifling dictatorship. This experiment must stop. 

Placing universal values at the heart of our agenda, North Korean human rights situation is among the issues of the highest priority for my government. Recently, President Yoon Suk Yeol unveiled the “August 15 Unification Doctrine,” a vision and strategy to achieve a unified Korean Peninsula that is free, peaceful and prosperous. In pursuit of the doctrine, we will take a multifaceted approach to substantially improve the human rights situation in North Korea and spare no efforts in promoting freedom and human rights of each and every Korean. 

On the multilateral stage, as the President of the UN Security Council last June, the Korean government presided over a briefing on the human rights situation in North Korea. It provided the much needed opportunity to highlight the linkage between North Korea’s human rights abuses and its nuclear and missile capabilities, which are the two sides of the same coin. We know that the North Korean regime is only able to develop its weapons of mass destruction with impunity at home by repressing the rights of its people and diverting scarce resources from its starving populace. 

In the upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of North Korea in November, my government will strongly voice its concern not only over the human rights situation in North Korea, but also for the issues of abductees, detainees, unrepatriated prisoners of war, North Korean defectors forcibly repatriated as well as separated families whose suffering represents a matter of pressing human rights and humanitarian concern. 

For the separated families, the lack of closure over the last seven decades and the agony of not knowing whether their beloved ones are even alive, are compounded by an advancing age, turning their plight into a race against the time that requires the urgent attention of the international community. 

Last year, remembering the ardent wish of the separated families to be reunited, the Korean government introduced the Separated Families Day, two days prior to Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving Day. On this year’s Separated Families Day just a week ago, President Yoon Suk Yeol reiterated that “the issue of separated families is one of the most urgent issues that we must tackle.” 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Let us not forget the anguish and sorrow of the families who lost their own flesh and blood to the unprecedented brutality of North Korean regime. This is not just their story; it is the story of our fathers and mothers, our brothers and sisters and our neighbors. 

As you can see behind me, there is an exhibit showcasing the houses of the North and the South.  While the wall between the two sets represents our cold reality of division, the exhibit will offer an opportunity to get a glimpse of the lives of our kins who are sorely missed. 

I hope that today’s event will serve to shed light on the indescribable pain of the victims of human rights violations in North Korea and their families, and to demonstrate our unwavering support for the innocent people in the northern half of the Korean Peninsula groaning under the yoke of tyranny. 

Thank you.   /END/