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New Report on North Korean Refugees

The report, from the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, mainly deals with the problem of absorbing refugees into South Korean society.  There are five authors; Andrei Lankov wrote one chapter, and Marcus Noland and Stephen Haggard edited the paper itself.  It’s a long read, so in a few days’ time, I may bump this post up, and those of us who’ve read it can discuss further.  Really, from what I’ve read, it sounds like an open letter to the next Korean administration’s Unification Ministry.

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  1. Thank you. This looks like a very well-thought-out report on a subject that is very important to the ultimate resolution to this problem. I’ve always thought that it was far more solvable than some would have us believe. We just have to have a will to do that, instead of perpetuating through our willfull ignorance and inflexibility a situation in which most probably, thousands of people are dying – or being killed – each year – needlessly.

    (When I say that I am in no way attempting to absolve the North Korean or Chinese governments in this nightmare situation, but simply saying that the Western countries also share some not insignificant obligation to find a workable long term solution to house and feed the refugees and put that forward aggressively as a viable alternative, wholeheartedly.)

    I know that was a mouthful, but I tend to revert into that kind of speech when talking about this convoluted sociopolitical matrix.. 😉

    On another note, has anyone seen this? (videotape of robotic South Korean sentry machine)

    http://www.newlaunches.com/archives/samsung_develops_machine_gun_sentry_robot_costs_200k.php

  2. Interesting report. Thanks for the link.

    I kinda skimmed through most of it except for Dr. Lankov’s section. I don’t think it’s really honest to write about regime collapse or implosion without mentioning the very obvious prospect of war. But his last paragraph, the case for allowing defections is really powerful. ROK leaders have to recognize the wisdom of having more DPRK defectors who are acclimatized to ROK life to prepare for the day when DPRK do collapse. To not take up on Dr. Lankov’s suggestion seem to be a form of denial of the possibility of regime implosion/explosion.