Amid Berlin Wall commemorations, activists rally for liberation of North Korea

November 9^th marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. And activists in South Korea will hold a series of events to highlight calls for similarly momentous developments leading to the liberation of North Korea.

Planned events this weekend include a mass human rights and democracy demonstration led by North Korean refugee leaders in Seoul on Saturday; an all-day national day of prayer, fasting and repentance on Sunday; and another demonstration on Monday at the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas, calling for the North’s liberation.

Largely eclipsed by the Kim Jong-il regime’s pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, the oppression suffered by ordinary North Koreans draws relatively little international attention.

The organizers of the weekend events in South Korea note that an estimated four million North Koreans – of a total of some 22 million – have died since 1995 as a result of starvation resulting directly or indirectly from government policies, despite the provision of enough food aid by the international community to feed to entire population.

A further one million people are believed to have died since the 1970s in Pyongyang’s notorious prison camp system, where abuses reported by surviving inmates include systematic torture, rape, medical experimentation, and forced abortions and infanticide.

Fleeing oppression and starvation, an estimated half a million North Koreans have in recent years crossed into neighboring China, from where some have managed to make their way to third countries, usually ending up eventually in South Korea.

CNSnews

North Korean refugee documentary wins another award

A documentary about North Korean refugees produced by the Chosun Ilbo has won the award for best investigative television documentary by the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) in London.

The film "Korea: Out of the North" is a 52-minute edited English version of "On The Border" and was aired in BBC in May last year.

"On The Border" was first broadcast in March last year, and has since been aired on 16 channels around the world including the BBC, PBS in the U.S., CANAL+ in France, TBS in Japan, and ARD in Germany. The documentary has drawn worldwide acclaim, winning 14 awards both in South Korea and abroad.

North Korea's "abysmal" human rights record

The appearance of two North Korean defectors before MPs and European officials in Britain was timed to bring maximum public pressure on the North Korean government before its human rights record is scrutinized for the first time by the UN human rights council in Geneva.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), which organized the European visit, says that there is a prima facie case that Kim Jong-il's regime has committed crimes against humanity and possibly acts of genocide against religious groups, specifically Christians.

"[North Korean refugees] have experienced suffering and deprivation on a scale that we cannot begin to imagine," said Tina Lambert, CSW's advocacy director. "Their testimony comes at a crucial time, prior to the UN scrutiny of North Korea."

The CSW is calling for a commission of inquiry by the UN to investigate crimes against humanity in North Korea. The UN rapporteur for North Korea, Vitit Muntarbhorn, last month issued a scathing report of North Korea's human rights record, declaring that the "exploitation of the ordinary people" had become "the pernicious prerogative of the ruling elite".

[Excerpt of a Guardian article]

Stats on North Korea, Land of the Dear Leader

-- North Korea is about half the size of Britain.

-- The population is about 23.9 million

-- In 2008 per capita income was $1,800

-- Life expectancy is 63 years

-- 37 per cent of children under 7 have growth problems

-- The armed forces include 1.17 million military personnel, 3,700 tanks, 420 warships and 60 submarines

-- There are three newspapers, one television station and one radio station to which all radios are automatically set.

Kim Jong-Il backed into his own corner

A promise by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to improve the state's broken economy is forcing him to ask for massive aid and may even bring him back to nuclear talks that Pyongyang once declared dead.

Plenty of obstacles remain to reviving the disarmament-for-aid talks, not least the fact that Washington wants Pyongyang to recommit to giving up its nuclear activities before negotiations.

Kim, it appears, has backed himself into a corner after having pledged to turn North Korea into a "strong and prosperous nation" by 2012 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of his father and the state's founder, Kim Il-sung. The year 2012 may also be the year when Kim Jong-il, 67, announces to his countrymen that he is handing over power to the youngest of his three sons.

Meeting that promise explain why he abruptly stopped raising tensions with the international community after numerous missile launches this year and a nuclear test in May.

"This puts pressure on the regime to get as much aid as it can, as fast as it can," said B.R. Myers, an expert on the North's state ideology at Dongseo University in South Korea. "To say that it will be a strong and prosperous country and to say that will be achieved by 2012, and to raise expectations, is actually a very risky thing."

Reuters

Kim Jong-il the strategist

It would be irrational for Kim Jong-Il to ever to launch a major attack -- the inevitable result would be the end of his regime. The United States and its allies know this.

The only way Kim can leverage his weaker military power is by making his opponents believe he may be crazy enough to launch a war anyway. This strategy not only allows Kim to deter foreign attacks, but also gets him the maximum concessions in talks to give up the nuclear bomb.

Because the other negotiating nations believe the threat Kim would use nuclear weapons cannot be ruled out, they are prepared to offer much more to remove this risk. By signaling that he is irrational and unpredictable, Kim can turn a weak set of cards into a winning hand.

Washington and its allies face the opposite problem -- they are unable to make Kim believe their threats are credible.

So while Kim remains leader of North Korea, the country will remain a constant source of regional scares. Kim's strategy has repeatedly won him concessions, and also helps him maintain his internal grip on power. There is no reason for him to throw away his best cards.

Reuters

North Korean Defector face-to-face with NK Ambassador

Ma Young-ae, a North Korean defector who now resides in the U.S., was picketing in front of North Korea's Mission at the U.N, urging the International Criminal Court to indict Kim Jong-il.

Who should come on the scene but North Korea’s Ambassador to the UN, Shin Sun-ho. When she confronted him, he and his assistant gave her a brief glance and headed directly into the U.N. Headquarters.

Ma Young-ae followed after them, with her sign board reading, "Kim Jong-il, bring back my husband who you publicly executed."