 October 12th, Seoul Press Center, Hwang Jang Yop’s 5th anniversary memorial seminar ‘Hwang Jang Yop’s North Korea Democratization Strategy.’ Picture: Kim Hye Jin, Daily NK Intern Reporter |
Hwang Jang Yop, former secretary of the
North Korean Workers’ Party, fled to the South seeking asylum in 1997, where he
lived until his death in 2010. During his exile in Seoul, he worked tirelessly
to promote awareness of the human rights problem in the North and strategized
ways to weaken the regime in the hopes of inciting peaceful democratization.
Cho Gab-je, founder of chogabje.com,
together with the North Korean Democratization Forum and the Freedom and
Democracy Institute, hosted a seminar titled “Hwang Jang Yop’s Strategy to
Democratize North Korea” in honor of the 5th anniversary of Dr. Hwang’s
passing.
At the seminar, Lee Dong Buk from the North Korean Democratization
Forum, Yoo Dong Yeol, head of the Freedom and Democracy Institute, former
editor of the Chosun Monthly, Kim Yong Sam, and others spent two days
discussing and presenting on Former Secretary Hwang’s humanitarianism,
philosophy and strategies for reunification, the story behind his exile, and
other such topics.
Cho Gab Je elaborated on these points,
saying, “Dr. Hwang believed that the problem of North Korean human rights was a
political weapon, which could not coexist with peace. He thought it essential
for us to continue to work to promote ‘peaceful struggle.’”
According to Cho Gab Je, if we are to cause
the North Korean dictatorial regime to collapse, it will take enormous military
power, and if we are to cause the economic collapse of the North Korean
dictatorial regime, it will take enormous economic power. But what Dr. Hwang
believed was that by raising the awareness of the North Korean people regarding
human rights, it would open the minds of the people without requiring military
or economic force. Only then, he asserted, would the country be able to head in the direction of changing the regime.
If dictatorial countries register the
problem of human rights, this could nullify the dictator’s power. Cho emphasized this point, saying, “During the Cold War, we could not help
but raise the status of those who fought for democracy to improve human
rights.”
