 By Hayley Noah, HRNK Research Intern
Edited by Rosa Park, HRNK Director of Programs and Editor and Benjamin Fu, HRNK Research Intern September 18, 2020 North Korean refugees are not always thought of as refugees, with terminology like ‘defector’ or ‘escapee’ often used instead. In South Korea as well, by virtue of the constitution that states any Korean on the peninsula is considered a citizen of the Republic of Korea, they are not labeled refugees. However, North Koreans who escape from their country are fundamentally refugees, and, as such, they deserve the international protections that the United Nations affords to refugees pursuant to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol outline. The 1951 Convention states that a refugee is someone who has a:
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 By Youngwoo Jung and Jessup Jong
September 16, 2020 Economic Impacts of the Pandemic in North Korea The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world’s largest economies including the U.S. and China. The U.S unemployment rate reached its highest rate since the Great Recession in 2008: 14.7% in April 2020.[1] The US GDP declined by 4.8% during the first quarter of 2020.[2] Similarly, China’s GDP shrank by 6.8% in the same quarter.[3] In response, economists are scrambling to evaluate the exact economic impact of COVID-19 and ways countries can recover from the pandemic.  By Benjamin Fu, HRNK Research Intern
Edited by Rosa Park, HRNK Director of Programs and Editor September 10, 2020 As North Korea begins to ease its protective measures against the coronavirus pandemic, the country faces the massive challenge of rebounding from not only economic standstill in many parts of the country, but also economic sanctions that continue to weigh on the Kim regime. As internal sources indicate, the economic situation has become increasingly dire, and fast.[1] Equivalently, the regime’s introduction of economic reform relevant to juche, North Korea’s principal ideology of self-reliance, is increasingly relevant in the near future.  By Theresa Nguyen, HRNK Research Intern
Edited by Rosa Park, HRNK Director of Programs and Editor and Benjamin Fu, HRNK Research Intern September 4, 2020 The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn covers the history behind the Soviet gulags. The term “gulag” is a Russian abbreviation for Главное Управление Лагерей (ГУЛаг/GULag), the Soviet agency that overlooked the network of labor camps. In Solzhenitsyn’s account, “archipelago” is a metaphor for the scattered prison camps across the USSR. When it came out, it was a very influential piece in the field of international relations. The piece remains important because the memoir of the Soviet gulags strongly resonates with that of the North Korean prison camps, which are active today. Suffering in Silence: Exposing the Cruel Reality of North Korea’s Prison Camps through Art8/27/2020  By Hala Anderson, HRNK Research Intern
Edited by Rosa Park, HRNK Director of Programs and Editor and Benjamin Fu, HRNK Research Intern August 27, 2020 In North Korea, a system of prison camps rivaling those of 20th-century totalitarian regimes in size, duration, and scope of human rights violations, subjects prisoners to daily torture, sexual and physical violence, poor sanitation, and starvation.[1] Yet, it has become clear that North Korean human rights, especially in prison camps, are not a priority for major players in the international community. South Korea, in an effort to maintain relations with the North, has launched investigations into human rights organizations focused on North Korea.[2] Meanwhile, the United States continues to leave human rights out of its negotiations with North Korea and China has yet to stop forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees.[3] If states won’t push a human rights agenda for fear of retribution from North Korea, perhaps their people will. Art has the power to draw attention to human rights atrocities and needs to be harnessed to inspire action in the name of North Korea’s prisoners. |
DedicationHRNK staff members and interns wish to dedicate this program to our colleague Katty Chi. A native of Chile and graduate of the London School of Economics, Katty became a North Korean human rights defender in her early 20s. Katty was chief of international affairs with the North Korea Strategy Center (NKSC) in Seoul from 2010 to 2014 and worked with the Seoul Office of Liberty in North Korea (LinK) from 2019 to 2020. A remarkable member of our small North Korean human rights community, Katty brought inspiration and good humor to all. Katty passed away in Seoul this past May, at the young age of 32. She is survived by her parents and brother living in Chile. With the YPWP series, we endeavor to honor Katty’s life and work. Archives
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