Video: N. Korea human rights conference at SAIS, with keynote by Hon. Michael Kirby
On Tuesday, I took a day off from the day job to attend an outstanding conference, organized by the International Bar Association, the Defense Forum Foundation, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, the North Korean Freedom Coalition, and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Rather than describe it, I’ll just give you a little weekend viewing and post the whole thing.
The first video starts with introductions by Jae Ku of SAIS, and speeches by Sen. Cory Gardner, Amb. Ahn Ho-Young, and Amb. Lee Jong-Hoon. After this, there were five panels:
9:45am-11:15am Panel I: Human Rights in North Korea Today
- Moderator: Greg Scarlatoiu: Exec. Director, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK);
- Robert Herman: VP for Regional Programs, Freedom House
- Amb. Lee Jung-Hoon: Ambassador for Human Rights, Republic of Korea
- Amb. Robert King: Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, State Department
- John Sifton: Asia Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch
11:30am-1:00pm Panel II: Sanctions
- Moderator: Sung-Yoon Lee: Professor, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
- Frank Jannuzi: President & CEO, The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation
- Bruce Klingner: Senior Research Fellow, The Heritage Foundation, Asian Studies Center
- William Newcomb: Former Member, UN Security Council Panel of Experts on DPRK Sanctions
- Joshua Stanton: One Free Korea
1:00pm-2:00pm LUNCHEON AND KEYNOTE SPEECH: Hon. Michael D. Kirby, Chair, U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of North Korea.
Special thanks to Shaquille for taking this photo:
2:00pm-3:30pm Panel III: Accountability for Human Rights Violations
- Moderator: Roberta Cohen: Non Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK)
- Param-Preet Singh: Senior Counsel, Human Rights Watch, International Justice Program
- Morse Tan: Associate Professor of Law, Northern Illinois University College of Law
- David Tolbert: President, International Center for Transitional Justice
3:45pm-5:15pm Panel IV: Indigenous and Cross-Border Activities Aimed at Advancing Human Rights in North Korea
- Moderator: Suzanne Scholte: President, Defense Forum Foundation
- Jieun Baek: Fellow, Harvard University, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
- Scott Busby: Deputy Asst. Secretary, State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
- Kang Cheol-Hwan: President, North Korea Strategy Center
- John Fox: Founder, I-Media
- Kim Seong Min: Founder, Free North Korea Radio
The unsung heroine of the conference was a young woman named Sosseh, who works for the International Bar Association. Sosseh handled the organization, scheduling, and logistics of all of the events, and made it all run like clockwork.