The ‘1st North Korean PhD’, Ahn Chan Il has joined the supreme council of the newly formed K-Party, making him the first defector to enter the world of South Korean politics.
Ahn, who directs the World North Korea Research Center, says his goal is to pass the North Korea Human Rights Act and educate defectors in order to forge the North Korean defector community into a real alternative to the current North Korean regime. He told Daily NK today, “As a defector myself, I will do everything I can to make the North Korea Human Rights Act a real issue in the National Assembly.”
He added, “As a member of the supreme council of the K-Party, my work is to establish unification policy and strategy towards North Korea. I want join hand with various defector organizations to turn defectors into ‘unification talent’.”
Facing such a task, Ahn feels a heavy weight of responsibility on his shoulders. He pointed out, “Representing the views of 23,000 defectors is not really a happy thing; it’s more of a burden.”
Ahn will be attending a seminar in Washington D.C. this coming 4th as part of his plans to turn the North Korean Human Rights Act into a significant issue and gain international support to pass it through the National Assembly in Seoul.
