The ‘Committee for the Release of North Korea Human Rights Activist Kim Young Hwan’ plans to take the issue of Kim and another three men who have now been in Chinese Ministry of State Security detention for more than 50 days to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

In a statement yesterday, the Committee declared, “China’s unjustifiable position of detaining four people including Kim on the unacceptable charge of violating national security will be raised with the UN.”

The Committee explained, “We are planning to submit a petition on this to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and Special Rapporteur on Torture, if possible within this week.”

Thus far, the Chinese government has only allowed Kim one 30-minute interview with a South Korean consul on April 26th, and has rejected all his requests to meet a lawyer.

The Committee will cooperate on the submissions with the International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK) Secretariat. The Secretariat recently made a significant leap forward, receiving a response from North Korea to a petition to the same UN working group on the fate of ‘Daughter of Tongyeong’ Shin Suk Ja, marking the first time that North Korea’s mission to the UN has ever responded to such a request.