Interviews with Han Nam-su

I think the United States getting involved in North Korean matters is the right thing to do. North Korean society has reached a point where everything is out of control. Many North Koreans are living in political prison camps and suffering. Even the basic rights of ordinary North Koreans are not respected.

Kim Jong Un leads this dictatorship; creating nuclear weapons as tools for protecting his regime and threatening the international community. [Kim Jong Un (1983 – ) assumed power on his father’s death in 2011.]

Therefore, I think the United States needs to introduce steps that bring democracy to North Korea. Why does the United States have to do this? Because the United States is a genuine, liberal, and democratic country.

As a democratic nation, I am more than convinced that the United States will oppose dictatorships in this world, and that it will provide assistance so that North Korea can transition to a democratic state.

The [United Nations] COI [Commission of Inquiry] report is probably the most important document on North Korea because it symbolizes the UN and international community taking their first steps towards inducing change in North Korean society without using force. Through this report, the UN and international community have started to lay the groundwork for democracy. They have also started to talk about the rationale behind encouraging societal change in North Korea.

[The Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was established by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2013 to investigate human rights violations in North Korea. Chaired by Australian Judge Michael Kirby, the COI presented an authoritative report in 2014 that documented crimes against humanity and massive abuses of human rights in North Korea.]

Han Nam-su was destined for a life among North Korea’s elite. The son of a military officer, Han and his family were afforded privileges that ordinary North Koreans didn’t have.

Things changed after Han’s father commented on the country’s need for economic reform; he was instantly branded a traitor, tried in a military court, and executed. Han was subsequently expelled from his university and exiled to a remote corner of the country with his family.

On Christmas Eve, 1998, Han decided to leave North Korea and pursue a better life elsewhere. He crossed the frozen Tumen River into China and remained there for the next six years working various odd jobs. In 2004, Han escaped to South Korea where he started a new life in a free society.

Attending Sogang University, Han majored in Diplomacy and Political Science. While there, he decided to raise awareness of the human rights abuses happening in North Korea and founded the Young Defectors’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights. As the organization’s leader, Han works to empower North Korean defectors through trainings, seminars, forums, and various campaigns on democratic governance.