Refugee Crisis: Human Rights and International Response Edited by Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland
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The North Korean Refugee Crisis: Human Rights and International Response edited by Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland Contributors: Yoonok Chang Joshua Kurlantzick Andrei Lankov Jana Mason U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea The North Korean Refugee Crisis: Human Rights and International Response edited by Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland Contributors: Yoonok Chang Joshua Kurlantzick Andrei Lankov Jana Mason U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea Copyright © 2006 by the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. All illustrations copyright © by Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights. Reprinted with permission. ISBN 0-9771-1111-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2006934326 The North Korean Refugee Crisis: Human Rights and International Response U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea 1025 F Street, NW Suite 800 Washington, DC 20004 USA Designed by Stewart Andrews, Noodlebox Design, LLC The North Korean Refugee Crisis 2 Human Rights and International Response The U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea is an independent, nongovernmental orga- nization based in Washington, D.C. Created in 2001, the Committee was established to conduct independent research on human rights abuses in North Korea, and to disseminate its findings. It is not affiliated with the U.S. government. Board of Directors Morton Abramowitz, The Century Foundation Jaehoon Ahn, Radio Free Asia Richard V. Allen, The Richard V. Allen Company Lisa Colacurcio, UBS Rabbi Abraham Cooper, The Simon Wiesenthal Center John Despres, Aristotle International Chuck Downs, author of Over the Line: North Korea’s Negotiating Strategy Nicholas Eberstadt, American Enterprise Institute Phil Fishman, consultant Gordon Flake, The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation Carl Gershman, National Endowment for Democracy Helen-Louise Hunter, author of Kim Il-song’s North Korea Fred Iklé, Center for Strategic and International Studies Steve Kahng, 4C Ventures Thai Lee, Software House International James Lilley, American Enterprise Institute Andrew Natsios, Georgetown University Jack Rendler, Human rights advocate Suzanne Scholte, North Korea Freedom Coalition Stephen J. Solarz, APCO Worldwide Advisory Council Gary Ackerman, U.S. House of Representatives Mark Kirk, U.S. House of Representatives Helie Lee, author of In the Absence of Sun: A Korean American Woman’s Promise to Reunite Three Lost Generations of Her Family Joseph Pitts, U.S. House of Representatives Samantha Power, Harvard University John Shattuck, John F. Kennedy Library Foundation Debra Liang-Fenton, Executive Director U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea 1025 F Street, NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20004 USA Tel: (202) 378-9579 Fax: (202) 378-9407 Web: WWW.HRNK.ORG The North Korean Refugee Crisis 3 Human Rights and International Response Editors Stephan Haggard is Lawrence and Sallye Krause Professor at the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California, San Diego, where he serves as Director of the Korea-Pacific Program. Marcus Noland is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for International Economics. Contributors Yoonok Chang is a human rights researcher and a professor at Hansei University, South Korea. Joshua Kurlantzick is a Visiting Scholar in the China Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Andrei Lankov is a Lecturer on the faculty of Asian Studies at the China and Korea Center at Australian National University. He is on-leave teaching at Kookmin University, Seoul, South Korea. Jana Mason is a lawyer who has worked on refugee issues for more than 20 years. She is currently with a humanitarian relief organization, and has a particular focus on the Asia region. The North Korean Refugee Crisis 4 Human Rights and International Response Acknowledgments This report is the culmination of the prodigious efforts of a group of dedicated individuals. The U.S. Commit- tee for Human Rights in North Korea is indebted to researchers Yoonok Chang, Joshua Kurlantzick, Andrei Lankov, and Jana Mason for their hard work and thoughtful analyses. The Committee is particularly grate- ful to the report’s editors, Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, whose innumerable contributions to this project have been truly invaluable. The Committee thanks the anonymous reader and the reader who chose to relinquish anonymity, Courtland Robinson, for their insightful comments. Daniel Pinkston, Erik Weeks, Eric Kramon, Baya Harrison, and Ashley Kang provided important assistance. There are many others who in- formed content and gave assistance to the Committee and to the report’s researchers. For their contributions, the Committee is extremely grateful. Regarding the Illustrations The illustrations in this report were produced by Hyok Kang. Born in 1986 in North Hamgyong province in North Korea, he escaped from North Korea by crossing the Tumen River with his parents in March 1998. He made the drawings in 2003. His book recounting his experiences in North Korea is called, “Ici, C’est le paradis!” Une enfance en Coree du Nord [“Here, It Is Paradise!” A Childhood in North Korea] with Philippe Grangereau (Michel Lafon, 2004). Mr. Kang’s testimony may be found at http://www.nkhumanrights.or.kr/NKHR_ new/inter_conf/Hyok_Kang.html. The Committee is grateful to Mr. Kang and to the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights for their contributions to this project. The North Korean Refugee Crisis 5 Human Rights and International Response Table of Contents Preface .................................................................................................................................................................................................7 Richard V. Allen and Stephen J. Solarz Introduction: The North Korean Refugees as a Human Rights Issue ....................................................................9 Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland North Korean Refugees in China: Evidence from a Survey ..................................................................................... 14 Yoonok Chang, with Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland Table 1. Occupation of Sample .....................................................................................................................................16 Table 2. Education of Sample ........................................................................................................................................16 Table 3. Original Residence in North Korea ..............................................................................................................17 Figure 1. Map of North Korea ........................................................................................................................................17 Table 4. Sources of Information on China .................................................................................................................20 Table 5. Sources of Help in Leaving North Korea ...................................................................................................20 Table 6. Length of Time in China ..................................................................................................................................21 Table 7. Current Residence .............................................................................................................................................21 Table 8. Reasons for Returning to North Korea.......................................................................................................22 Table 9. Country of Preference ......................................................................................................................................22 Table 10. Reported Price of North Korean Brides in China .................................................................................23 Table 11. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Indicators .............................................................................................25 Table 12. Mean of Psychological Distress .................................................................................................................25 Table 13. Reasons for Anxiety .......................................................................................................................................25 Table 14. Sentiments about the Government .........................................................................................................27 Table 15. Primary Food Sources in North Korea .....................................................................................................28 Table 16. Improvement of Food Shortage in the Last Two Years .....................................................................28 Table 17. North Koreans Are Voicing Their Concerns about Chronic Food Shortages .............................29 References ............................................................................................................................................................................31 Appendix Table 1. Occupational Status of Respondents and Parents ................................................................................33 North Korean Refugees: The Chinese Dimension ....................................................................................................... 34 Joshua Kurlantzick and Jana Mason Bitter Taste of Paradise: North Korean Refugees in South Korea .......................................................................