Joanna Hosaniak studied Korean at Warsaw University while working with The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. She has already been to Korea and is now an activist with the Citizens Alliance for North Koreans Human Rights and the Polish Special Office for North Korean affairs.
What has changed since the last conference held concerning human rights in North Korea, held in Warsaw in February 2004?
Young people have started to organize associations that help refugees. They have been collecting petitions and writing letters in urgent campaigns to release those who have been arrested. I hope that their voices gain power, because in every country the public opinion has a great impact on the government.
Can a conference change the situation?
I suppose that the more people know about the situation in North Korea, the more they become engaged in efforts to help. Even if it‘s by giving small donations to non-governmental organizations active in China. The conferences are there to tell the world what is going on in North Korea and not to remain silent.
Why do people flee to China and not directly to South Korea?
After the war in Korea, which went on between 1950 and1953, there was established a militarized zone at the 38th parallel area. Nobody has access to it. Some military officers can, in fact, escape to South Korea – but ordinary people have no access to this zone. The only way to escape is to cross the river into China. And even though the people know that the situation in China is bad, they have no other options. China defines them not as refugees but only as economic immigrants – but such sub-group doesn’t exists in the refugee treaty. Therefore, they are illegal and China doesn‘t grant anyone access to them. Is it just that a person who is afraid of returning to his or her motherland not be granted refugee status? No, but China is afraid of the possible instability caused by an influx of North Korean refugees.
Do ordinary people in North Korea take into account that Kim Jong II may be responsible for their misery?
I think that they don‘t want to blame Kim Jong II. In North Korea, you are punished even if you say a single bad thing about the leader. If a child rips up a newspaper that contains a picture of Kim Jong II or Kim Ir Sen, the entire family gets severely punished. The leader and his father are treated like gods. That is why people may complain about the other officials involved in politics, but never about Kim Jong II. This point of view is also shared by some refugees who survived the tortures and are now living in South Korea. They might say that the situation in North Korea is bad, and that the people who tortured them were evil, but they will counter their testimony by saying that perhaps the great leader doesn‘t know about this.
Is it possible to make North Koreans more aware of what’s happening in their country?
It is not easy but possible. First of all, when they go to China they see a different world. When they return, they report to other people what they have seen. They meet foreigners while involved in smuggling mobile phones to North Korea, who are another influence. And thanks to the phones, some people get to speak with their relatives in South Korea, with whom they haven‘t had contact since the war. These exchanges improve the opportunities for North Koreans to understand their situation.
