A reminder of the book launch events in Oxford and London this week. In Escaping North Korea, one of the few Americans granted entry into the secretive “Hermit Kingdom,” Mike Kim came to know the isolated country and its people intimately. His North Korean friends entrusted their secrets to him as they revealed the government’s … [Read More]
Category: Social Justice (page 8)
Carpe Diem – Lord Alton and Baroness Cox report from the DPRK
On 7 February Lord David Alton and Baroness Caroline Cox returned from a five day trip to North Korea. This week they published a report of their visit. This is reproduced in full below, with permission. CARPE DIEM Seizing the moment for change in North Korea A report by Lord Alton of Liverpool and Baroness … [Read More]
Lord Alton and Baroness Cox return from Pyongyang
Press release dated 7 February UK PARLIAMENTARIANS RETURN FROM NORTH KOREA CALLING FOR US TO END HOSTILITIES British Parliamentarians Lord David Alton and Baroness Caroline Cox have returned today from a five day visit to North Korea and are calling on the new Obama administration to bring about a formal cessation of hostilities and normalisation … [Read More]
The tears are not dried out yet: two “Comfort Women” events
An organisation called The World Conference on Japanese Military Sexual Slavery is holding two discussion sessions on the Korean Comfort Women. The conferences aim to recognise and understand the sexual enslavement of thousands of women by Japanese military forces throughout Asia during the Second World War. 3 November, 7:30 – 8:30pm, SOAS Room G2 & … [Read More]
Chosun Ilbo border-crosser documentary footage shown on BBC
Newsnight last night screened a 17 minute extract from the Chosun’s documentary on North Korean border crossers in Northern China. A very brief extract, together with the BBC reporter’s write-up, can be found on the BBC website here. The Chosun Ilbo website says that there will be more extended versions of the footage screening on … [Read More]
Ambassador Ja in the House of Lords
In the very same room where, nine months ago, two DPRK defectors told their stories, last night the DPRK ambassador addressed members of both Houses of Parliament and answered questions. It was disappointing that so few MPs were there1, but their absence made sure there was plenty of room for members of the public — … [Read More]
North Korea: new approaches – conference report
The panel and attendance list of the 8th International Conference on North Korean Human Rights & Refugees was a who’s who of North Korean experts and Koreanists in general1. As expected, there was no representation from the DPRK embassy. Given that more than one panellist characterised past conferences as “people getting together to bash North … [Read More]
Contemporary Korean class struggles: a marxist analysis
Those Koreanists who looked at the timing of the talk by Loren Goldner and decided to give it a miss were probably well advised. 6pm on a Saturday night is not the best time to pull in the punters. But inside the rather pokey Kings Cross bookshop it was standing room only. Those who turned … [Read More]
LKL 2007 Quiz of the Year – the answers
Question 1: Corporate crooks and corruption Match the alleged quote with the appropriate chaebol The conglomorate had run a vast network that bribed government officials, prosecutors, tax collectors, journalists and scholars I don’t want to take a gamble on causing a crisis in the country’s economy The sentence of one year and six months is … [Read More]
Amnesty International spotlights Comfort Women issue
Just received Comfort Women: Still waiting for justice after 62 Years 13 November 2007 at 7pm Amnesty International UK | Human Rights Action Centre | 17-25 New Inn Yard | London EC2A 3EA Entry Free but booking essential at www.amnesty.org.uk/events Please note doors will close at 7pm and no latecomers will be admitted Gil Won … [Read More]
Spotlight on Slavery: North Korea – Behind the Headlines
As often happens with events related to Korea, one has to make choices. On 20 September one has to choose between the Anglo-Korean Society Chuseok dinner and something more sombre. Earlier this year two reports were published on North Korean human rights by Anti-Slavery International and Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Meanwhile the BBC have been working … [Read More]
The fate of North Korean returnees
“The only way I’m going back to Korea is in a coffin” said a North Korean woman now living in China. Her story, recently told in the Daily Telegraph, is typical of the experience of a certain category of North Koreans in China. What that category is called depends on your orientation — economic migrants, … [Read More]
New report presents evidence of crimes against humanity
Christian Solidarity Worldwide yesterday launched a new report, seven years in the making, which concluded that there is a prima facie case that the DPRK regime is guilty of crimes against humanity. The report has had input from lawyers familiar with the international human rights regime and is based, inter alia, on interviews with 80 … [Read More]
British-North Korea Parliamentary Group meeting
The All-party British-North Korea Parliamentary Group is holding an evidence session at 11:00am on Tuesday 19 June in the Moses Room in the Houses of Parliament. The purpose of group, chaired by Lord Alton, is to engage in dialogue with the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; to develop links between parliamentarians in … [Read More]
Amnesty International on Human Rights in North and South Korea
Rajiv Narayan’s talk at Chatham House last week about Amnesty International’s activities and concerns on the Korean peninsula was timely but yet somehow seemed to miss the point. I was reminded about the story of a drunk who was found grovelling on the pavement underneath a streetlamp at 3am. A concerned passer-by asked him what … [Read More]
DPRK responds to UN “anti-DPRK” resolution
Received from the DPRK embassy on 21 November 2006 A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry on 20th Nov. 2006 gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA Monday as regards the adoption of a “human rights resolution” against the DPRK at the third committee of the UN General Assembly: The anti-DPRK “human … [Read More]