[imText1]Carl Gershman is the president of National Endowment for Democracy(NED), the foundation that has been sponsoring the International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees since 1999. The DailyNK met Mr. Gershmen in person at the 6th International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and asked him about NED and North Korean human rights.
Q. How would you evaluate the previous International Conference on North Korean Human Rights and Refugees in terms of how much it contributed to North Korean human rights improvement?
A. The conference did much to increase awareness on North Korean human rights issue. When the conference fist started in 1999, the title of my speech was “Ending the Silence.” Nobody knew much about North Korean human rights situation. It is not only the conference but other activities for North Korean human rights and increase of North Korean defectors as well, that they have made a long way. They have resulted in the US Human Rights Act, the UN Human Rights Report and resolutions, and attention from media.
Q. Please tell us more about NED and its activities.
A. First of all, I would like to emphasize we are non-partisan. We are independent. We are funded by the Congress. We are not funded by the Bush administration or the Clinton administration. Secondly, there exist today, this kind of foundations in many countries. We have partner institutions, parallel institutions in Canada, France, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and there is a representative of this kind of foundation from Taiwan. In fact, when I leave on Wed I am going to Japan where I am having meetings with members of DIET, Japanese parliament, and with NGOs in Japan to discuss to create a similar foundation in Japan. This is what I meant when I said in the speech this morning, “before democracy and the active promotion of democracy became a norm of international behavior.” Everyone is doing this, this is not only NED, but many countries are involved in this kind of work. All of these foundations are independent of their governments.
Q. South Korean NGOs and other human rights organizations are actively working for North Korean human rights improvement and assistance of North Korean defectors. We are expecting their role to grow in China and South Korea. Do you plan to support those efforts?
A. Our work is basically to support human rights education and increase the understanding the human rights problem. We are not directly involved in supporting the defectors. Those are very complex issues and one of these conferences is that these people are helped by the UNHCR, but this is something the whole international community should support, not just the NED.
Q. North Korea is one of the totalitarian regimes left in the world. How much do you think North Korea’s democracy building would be symbolically significant for Asia and the World?
A.If we are thinking about democracy in North Korea, we have to start at one point. The first place to begin is raising the human rights issue. You have to think of the process of establishing democracy in North Korea as a long journey. The journey begins with trying to protect the human rights of the people in North Korea; to try to reduce the level of oppression from the state, to try to open up the system a little bit, and after that, it is one step at a time. Eventually, there will be voices inside North Korea who would demand human rights just as Vaclav Havel, was a voice in Czech Republic, but you only had Vaclav Havel when the totalitarian regime was a little weaker. At an earlier stage of totalitarian regime, they would have been killed immediately. But at the later stage, their voice can be heard. Even when the dictatorship is ended, that is only the beginning of another long journey of building democracy, which is very difficult. It’s a long process. People, who have lived for three generations totally cut of from the world, cannot be expected to establish a democratic institution immediately. They are going to need help from everybody, other Asian countries, but especially from South Korea. For this reason it is important to start helping them now.
Q. The government of South Korea argues that in order to induce change in North Korea, we must not give provocation against the North Korean government. It argues it must induce change through assistance and aid that it is to early to raise North Korean human rights issue. What do you think about the South Korea’s policy?
A. You cannot build democracy under a totalitarian regime. You can only begin the process of building democracy after the regime ended. Therefore the first step is raising awareness on human rights. People have to be free to build democracy. They have to be free to speak and to organize, and there have to be free media and elections. You cannot do that in dictatorship. That is why we are trying to create a little bit of political space where people are protected a little bit by the government. What I mean by the political space is that the government does not control everything. Maybe at home they can say something, maybe they can have a little bit of independent activity. I believe everyone should speak up about North Korean human rights. Ultimately, I think it is in the interest of this country and the South Korean people to raise this issue. I am afraid if the people don’t raise the issue here, then the consequences could be very bad. The South Korean government may not have as much freedom as NGOs, but they can do something.
Q. There are some who argue that the US Human Rights Act does not aim for practical improvement of North Korean human rights. They say it is to threat North Korea, create confusion within South Korean society, and they perceive all other activities for North Korean Human rights to threat North Korean regime. Do you believe the US Human Rights Act will bring practical improvement to North Korean human rights? Please tell South Korean people the correct meaning of the act.
A. I believe the act was a sincere effort by the Congress to do something to help the North Korean people. It was not a hostile or aggressive act. I think the proof of that was that it was bi-partisan and that it had no opposition. If it was trying to political, it would not have been adopted by everyone. At the practical level, it was trying to help North Korean defectors, sexual trafficking, and make sure that the food that we contribute get to the people. What we are worried is that people in this country who oppose the act or these kinds of human rights activities, they are not increasing trust between the North Korean people and the South Korean people. I believe the way to increase trust is by showing concerns for the well-being of the people there. There will come a time when the North Korean people will be liberated. They will remember. Who helped and who did not help. There are many countries where dictatorships have fallen. You have to reach out to the people of North Korea now. There is a difference between reaching out to the people and reaching out to the government that treats the people of North Korea very badly. This is something the South Korean people must debate and discuss.
