[Plulpangepler]

On Christmas day, a Korean-American missionary, Robert Park, who has been active in aiding North Korean refugees resettle in South Korea and other countries, crossed the Chinese-Korean border at its northeast extreme by walking across the frozen Tumen River. He carried with him a Bible and a letter of protest detailing his reasons for taking this extreme measure. By all accounts he was arrested as soon as he reached the North Korean side of the river.

I have been following the atrocious human rights catastrophe in NK since the mid-1990s. The actions of most human rights groups, such as Amnesty International (AI), have little impact on the human rights policies of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). For one thing, AI's major sunshine tool -- "Urgent Action" letter-writing campaigns on behalf of specific political prisoners -- is ineffective in DPRK cases. Any political prisoner identified by name (assuming verifiable information could be obtained in the first place) would be marked for harsher punishment, and possibly for summary execution.

For another, the entire country is a humanitarian nightmare -- famines have carried away at least one million people (in all cases I am quoting the modest end of estimates) since the mid-90s. An entire generation of North Koreans is now irrevocably stunted in mind and body. In essence, the situation facing the populace (with the exception of elite cadre) is one massive human rights issue. Koreans in the DPRK are a foot shorter on average than in South Korea.

There also exists a gulag of concentration camps in which three generations of political prisoners -- i.e. the political prisoners and their family members including children, parents, and siblings -- are held in appalling conditions. A comparison to the conditions (though not the scale -- the Nazi's set that bar very very high) of WWII camps in Germany, Poland and elsewhere is not hyperbole. At least 200,000 people are believed to be held in these camps. The figure could be as high as 250,000 or more.

For an eye-witness account by Shin Dong-hyuk, an escapee (the only one I know of) who was born in one of these camps, watch the one-hour Google Talk, "Born and Raised in a Concentration Camp."

In the past fifteen years perhaps 300,000 North Korean refugees have fled into China, most to escape famine, but also to escape torture, or political or religious persecution. A trickle -- the most recent figure I have seen is approximately 13,000 -- have managed to get to South Korea. Six (6) have been allowed to resettle in the United States. Many are captured in China and repatriated to the DPRK (in violation of the 1951 International Declaration of Human Rights, to which China is a signatory) where they are tortured, imprisoned and occasionally executed.

I believe the humanitarian crisis in North Korea to be the worst human rights disaster of our generation. Yes, Darfur is horrific. The Palestinian diaspora and occupation is and has been horrific, and it appears that it will continue to be so for some time to come. I am not denying the plight of the people trapped in these or similar environments, but at least journalists, aid agencies, and the UN etc, have some access to these populations. There is a feeling, in these cases, that an end to the suffering might come one day. Not so, North Korea.

The exasperating thing about the NK situation is that it gets so totally lost in the Realpolitik of "Six-Party Talks" and the nuclear arms issue, along with related military and strategic concerns. While the twenty-four news channels fixate on Kim Jung-Il's latest missile launches, the suffering of 24 million people is almost wholly ignored.

Many people are calling Robert Park "crazy," "self-serving," "deluded" etc., etc. I don't know if by bearing witness to this crisis he will effect change, be ignored, or (it is possible) worsen the situation, at least in the short term, as he almost certainly has for the activists working with Korean refugees and for political prisoners in the DPRK today. But I understand his desperation. He has explicitly stated he does not wish to be ransomed by State Department officials, or be rescued by the likes of Bill Clinton.

Recent news updates:

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-...t-to-Pyongyang

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/...123000283.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...123100340.html