Freedom House Reax 1: The North Korean View

Our focus group has submitted its first entry. Unedited, as promised.

먼저 북한, 한국, 중국에 있는 북한사람들의 복지에 관심을 가져주셔서 감사합니다. 제가 선생님의 웹페이지를 알고 있어서 몇번 방문했는데, 조금 밖에 이해를 못했지만, 여러번 반복해서보았습니다. 지난 화요일 밤에 저와 친구는 “FREEDOM HOUSE”의 “RFA”방송을 들었습니다.

참석자 1000명 중에 인권활동가와 정부입안관계자들이 참석한 것은 매우 인상적이었습니다. 그런분들이 참석한 것은 그 회의에 명예로운 것이었습니다. 그러나 한편으로 미 콘돌리자 라이스 국무장관이 참석하지 않은것은 실망스러운 일이었습니다. 물론 바쁜 일정 때문이었겠지요. 힘이 되는 것은 재미교포로 구성된 비정부단체들이 회의에 참석했다는 것입니다. 재미교포들은 대부분 한국사람들보다 북한문제에 대해 관심을 더 가지고 있습니다.

유태인 대표자들이 참석한 것 또한 큰 힘이 되었습니다. 유태인들은 박해를 받았던 경험이 있기 때문에 북한 사람들의 고통을 이해하기가 수월할 것입니다. 언론의 주목은 북한 주민의 고통과 북한 정부의 범죄를 알리는데 도움이 되고, 어떤 토론자들은 열정적으로 변화의 필요성을 주장했지만 결국 어떤 조치나 변화는 없었습니다. 그러나 회의 조직위원회, 미의회, RFA방송, 그밖에 회의에 참석해 주신 모든 분들께 감사드립니다.

다음회의는 유럽에서 열렸으면 하는 것이 제 바램입니다. 왜냐하면 북한정부는 남한 정부가 서울에서 열리는 그와 같은 회의를 무산시키기 위해 최선을 다할것이라는 것을 알고, 미국과 유럽의 압력을 두려워하기 때문입니다.

Update: So is this history’s first North Korean blog post? I hope it will be just the first of many. For reasons I hope you understand, it will have to remain anonymous.

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First of all, thank you so much for your interest in the welfare of North Koreans who live in North Korea, South Korea, and China. I know of your web site and have visited several times. I couldn’t fully understand it, but I have visited repeatedly. Last Tuesday night, my friend and I listened to RFA’s broadcast of the “FREEDOM HOUSE” [conference].

It was very impressive that human rights activists and government policymakers were there, among the 1,000 who attended. The participation of these people was a great honor for this conference. On the other hand, I was disappointed that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did not attend. Of course, that must have been because of her busy schedule. One aspect that encouraged me was that non-governmental organizations consisting of Koreans who live in the U.S. attended that conference. Korean-Americans have more interest in North Korean issues than most [South] Koreans.

It was a great strength to have Jewish representatives there also. The Jewish people must have no difficulty understanding the North Koreans’ suffering because of their own experience of persecution. The media’s interest helped to reveal the North Koreans’ suffering and the North Korean government’s crimes. Some of panelists argued passionately about the necessity of change, but there was no action or change [I take this to mean that some speakers did not suggest concrete measures for change, but the meaning is a bit unclear]. But still, I am thankful to the organizing committee of the conference, the U.S. Congress, RFA, and all of the other attendees.

I hope that the next conference will be held in Europe. This is because I know that if the South Korean government hosts a conference, the North Korean government will do its best to disrupt it. The North Korean government is afraid of the combined pressure of the U.S. and Europe.

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Special thanks to our courageous correspondent, and to Brendan Brown for arranging for this feedback. All North Koreans whose former or current nationality I can somehow authenticate are strongly invited to comment.

Update 2: Many thanks also to Aaron for his translation assistance.