By UN Journal Lee Kap-soo

First Lady Kim Keon-hee met with North Korean detention victims and their families, North Korean defectors working to improve human rights in North Korea, and North Korean experts at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) conference room in Washington D.C. on July 11. 

During her state visit to the United States in April last year, Mrs. Kim also met with North Korean experts and North Korean defectors to discuss North Korean human rights issues.

"It is of great significance that we are meeting for the second time since last year, and recent reports that North Korea publicly executed more than 30 middle school students for watching a South Korean drama show the brutal reality of North Korea," Kim said in her greeting. "I look forward to hearing from each of you here today about the worsening human rights situation in North Korea."

First, Kim heard from North Korean defectors and American detainees who have experienced human rights abuses in North Korea, as well as from attendees on the current status of their work and policy recommendations to improve human rights in North Korea.

Otto Warmbier's mother, Cindy Warmbier, who met with Kim for the second time in over a year, explained that she always wears a necklace with her son's name on it, which was designed by Otto's high school crafts teacher, and presented it to Kim, saying, "I am so grateful that Mrs. Kim always remembers Otto, and without him, I would not be the person I am today."

North Korean human rights activist Susan Scholty said that "the thing the North Korean regime fears most is the Bible," and North Korean defector Ji Hanna shared her experience of being sent to a political prison camp for studying the Bible.

"The difference between South Korea and North Korea is that we have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and most importantly, South Korea is a place where I have dreams that I can fulfill," said Kim Yi-hyuk, who escaped with his family on a wooden boat last year.

Participants praised the sincerity of the South Korean government in its consistent policy actions to improve human rights in North Korea, saying that it serves as a "beacon of hope for the North Korean people," and expressed their gratitude for the First Lady's genuine and consistent interest in and encouragement of human rights in North Korea.

"Your very existence is a testimony to the poor human rights situation in North Korea and a beacon of hope for freedom," Kim said as she listened to the North Korean defectors' vivid testimonies, "and I and my government will continue to stand with you so that your courageous actions can change North Korea in the future."

"Our government has a stronger will to improve human rights in North Korea than any other government in history, and we will never turn our backs on the suffering people of North Korea," Kim said, adding, "Let's work together to make the voice for human rights in North Korea louder and stronger through solidarity and cooperation with civil society organizations and activists in the international community."