U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday expressed renewed concern about the grave human rights situation in North Korea. "We believe it is every person's basic right to live in freedom and dignity," he said on the occasion of North Korea Freedom Week, an event organized by several human rights and political organizations. "The United States stands with the North Korean people in their call for freedom.¡± Bush said. He vowed to ¡°continue to support the North Korean people as they strive to achieve the rights and freedoms to which they are entitled as human beings. We look forward to the moment when we can celebrate the blessings of liberty with the North Korean people."
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The title screen of ¡®On The Border,¡¯ Korea's first global cross-media program on North Korean refugees produced by the Chosun Ilbo in cooperation with leading international broadcasters.
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Meanwhile, "On the Border", an eye-opening Chosun Ilbo documentary about the plight of North Korean refugees, was screened for the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs at the Cannon Building in Washington the same day. In a speech at the event, Republican Representative Ed Royce called rights violations against North Korean refugees in China ¡°indescribable.¡± He urged the Chinese government to improve conditions for the refugees, a task he said would take only a little more consideration for the refugees with the approach of the Beijing Olympics.
A 50-strong audience including committee staffers dealing with human rights were devastated by the miserable reality facing the refugees at the border, where they are often sold into modern-day slavery and forced to traffic drugs to escape their impoverished nation.
Committee members asked how they could help find solutions to the issue and what the South Korean government¡¯s position is. The screening was also attended by seven former North Korean refugees visiting Washington for the event.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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