 Yvonne Bormann (left), a staff member of Saram, sat down with Eun Kyoung Kwon (right) of ICNK Secretariat at Unification Media Group’s office in Seoul. Image: Unification Media Group |
Yvonne Bormann , who was born in South
Korea but adopted by a German family soon thereafter, is currently an actress and at the forefront of activism for human rights in North Korea with
the Berlin-based organization, “Saram,” which strives to improve the
human rights of North Korean residents. Unification Media Group sat down with
Bormann to discover how someone who grew up some 8,000km from the Korean
Peninsula– in a starkly different culture–ended up devoting her life to the
betterment of human rights in North Korea.
“A few
friends introduced me to the issue one day and I was completely appalled. After
realizing horrors of the situation, I felt an overwhelmingly responsibility to
do something to improve the human rights situation in North Korea. This is how
a group of friends and I resolved to build an organization dedicated to this
cause,” she explained.
And so the organization was born. The group carefully selected the organization’s title, “Saram,” literally “person,” to convey the reason behind the its every effort: the North Korean
people. Despite its nascent status as an organization, having only been in
operation for approximately three years, “Saram” has already emerged as a major force in the field, driving leading
research on the North Korean human rights crisis and collaborating with a
multitude of political entities to raise awareness for the cause.
The group prides itself on integrating
members from a wide variety of backgrounds and sectors. “Although we all come from different backgrounds and fields of work,
we are all gathered together with the goal of improving the North Korean human
rights situation,” Bormann said.
While “Saram” only recently gained
recognition from the German government as an official organization, its work
among the broader community has been respected for far longer, particularly for
its unwavering dedication to its clearly defined goal of helping the North
Korean people. Bormann added that they are increasing their efforts to promulgate this message as far as possible, casting a wide and deep net to foster more awareness for the cause. The group is constantly brainstorming new initiatives, which recently include educating defectors in China and other countries–with special focus on those in Europe–on the systematic human rights infringements rife within the North.
“Saram” hopes to use these
advocacy activities will continue to see its network expand to encompass as many groups
and activists as possible. To this end, the group teamed up earlier this week
with the European Alliance for Human Rights in North Korea (EAHRNK) to shed more light on these pressing matters at a North
Korean human rights event in Berlin.
“I hope that many more people in European
countries will become more aware of the current North Korean human rights
situation. I am dedicated to obtaining the most direct information possible to
enlighten people across Europe about the reality of the human rights situation
in North Korea,” Bormann stated, explaining the trajectory she
envisions for the organization’s future.
On her impressions of Korea, her recent trip being her first since leaving shortly after her birth, she said, “I was so
overwhelmed by the large number of people in Seoul, but it was wonderful to
meet so many kind souls and discover how much I love Korean cuisine!”
She asserted that this shared ancestry with
the North Korean people further fuels her desire to help them; Bormann, like all in
the field, anxiously awaits the era of unification, wherein she dreams of “a North Korea where the residents are able to live freely and
fearlessly without political prison camps.”
