U.S. Lawmakers Emphasize Importance of Outside Information for North Korean Change

At a 'North Korea Freedom Week' event held in the U.S. Congress, lawmakers emphasized that the inflow of external information is the key driving force behind internal change in North Korea.

During a hearing on the 28th, Representative Chris Smith stated that while the North Korean regime oppresses its citizens, the influx of outside information cannot be stopped, and information is the power that leads to change. Smith recalled how North Korean human rights issues had disappeared from past negotiations with North Korea and argued that human rights must be a core agenda item in any negotiation. Republican Congressman James Moylan also stressed that North Korean residents suffer from lies and are executed if they speak out, emphasizing that external information, such as radio programs, creates change.

Chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation Young Kim, speaking at a roundtable with North Korean defectors on the 29th, said that change in North Korea must come from within and will emerge from those who share their voices. Kim pledged to do her best to reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act.

Republican Congressman Tom Barrett showed a piece of barbed wire from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), brought from South Korea for the 50th anniversary of the Korean War, to North Korean defectors, emphasizing the importance of freedom and human rights.

Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation Ami Bera diagnosed that North Korea does not seem interested in dialogue and appears focused internally. He added that with a new patron in Russia, it looks like a different country compared to three to four years ago.

The North Korea Freedom Week event began in 2004 with the goal of supporting the passage of the North Korean Human Rights Act and raising awareness of human rights violations in North Korea. This year marks the 23rd event and is scheduled to conclude on the 2nd with a visit to Washington by a delegation of North Korean defectors.