One of the leading American figures in the fight against the North Korean regime, Republican Senator Sam Brownback was conferred with a medal by the South Korean government yesterday for his service to North Korean human rights and the U.S.-South Korea relationship.
Brownback, who was elected to the Kansas governor’s post at the U.S. midterms earlier this month after three terms in the Senate, received the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit Gwanghwa Medal from Ambassador Han Duck Soo in a ceremony held at the South Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Brownback is a leading conservative thinker on North Korea who has consistently advocated tough financial sanctions against the regime and the re-listing of North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism following its attack on the Cheonan in March, 2010.
As a senator, Brownback has been closely linked to many pieces of legislation on the subject, including sponsoring the 2004 North Korean Human Rights Act. The act, which was reauthorized in 2008, focuses on aiding North Korean defectors, for example by calling on the United Nations to pursue unfettered access to North Korean refugees in China and demanding that Beijing stop repatriating those defectors it apprehends.
