Sookmyung Women’s University Professor Ki-beom Lee, Chairman of the Children’s Shoulder Companion and Chairman of the Council for Cooperation with North Korea, talks on the morning of the 15th at a laboratory in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the subject of “removing sanctions against North Korea that blocks humanitarian aid toward North Korea.” Senior Reporter Lee Jong-geun [email protected]
Joe Biden, who emphasizes human rights and democracy, is expected to emphasize’human rights’ in its North Korean policy. Lee Ki-beom, chairman of the Council for Cooperation with North Korea (North Korean People’s Association), composed of more than 60 humanitarian organizations supporting North Korea, said that the Biden administration’s use of human rights as a means of disgrace to North Korea or as a lever for denuclearization negotiations does not fit the purpose of human rights. He stressed that there is a need to promote three-dimensional together. He suggested that the United States be interested in resuming separated family reunions in line with the spirit of human rights and humanitarianism. Chairman Lee dreams of a world where North and South Korean children live together. From the late 1990s to the present, he traveled 49 times between North and South, building soy milk factories, pencil factories, and children’s hospitals for children in the north. Having been working with the North Koreans for over 20 years, I realized that trust is the result of cooperation and not the condition of cooperation. He teaches the philosophy of education at the Faculty of Education at Sookmyung Women’s University, and serves as the Chairman of the Children’s Shoulders, a children’s peace movement. Starting with the Haesong Children’s Concern Meeting (1978), he also took the lead in establishing the Joint Parenting Research Institute (1996, current joint parenting and community education). On the 15th, I met with Chairman Lee at the laboratory of Sookmyung Women’s University in Seoul to hear about the biden era and inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation.
―The US is reviewing its North Korean policy, but Secretary of State Tony Blincoln said,’humanitarian aid is possible.’ “When the Biden administration reviews its North Korea policy, it is expected that North Korea will considerably refrain from nuclear tests, which could be a threat to the outside, and that all countries are in emergency situations due to Corona 19. Humanitarianism can vary widely depending on its interpretation. What is the meaning of humanitarianism when the United States said,’We can consider humanitarian aid to North Korea’? Is humanitarianism just providing food enough to escape hunger as an emergency aid? At the time of the controversy over the North Korean leaflet spreading law last year, some people sent rice in plastic bottles along with leaflets to North Korea and said that this was the realization of humanitarianism. Is rice hanging on a balloon, dropping it in North Korea, and eating it by the North Koreans? I wonder if the humanitarianism that the United States applies to its own citizens in the coronavirus situation and the humanitarianism that it applies to North Koreans are the same standard.” ―What should be humanitarianism to apply to North Korea? “Under the premise of acknowledging human dignity, I think humanitarianism should be applied as a human responsibility to preserve that dignity. If North Koreans escape hunger or do not die of humanitarianism, it does not fit the premise of recognition of human dignity. In addition to negotiations on denuclearization, the U.S. government must understand their needs so that North Koreans can preserve human dignity during the corona emergency. I think this is worthy of the Biden government’s support for human rights and democracy.” ―Is there a need for denuclearization and humanitarian countermeasures in the US policy toward North Korea? “Isn’t the purpose of denuclearization to build peace and prosperity on the Korean peninsula, and to allow North Korea to enter the international community and live a more peaceful world? Denuclearization itself is seen as an intermediate goal towards that end. Before denuclearization is achieved, it is not a very limited humanitarianism that applies only to the North Korean people, but a process appropriate to the realization of the fundamental purpose of peace and prosperity for the global village and humanity must be taken along with denuclearization. I think this is an important part of the Biden government’s contribution to the international community.” -What does the Biden government need to do right now? “The US government should be interested in reunions of separated families. It is forgotten how much inhuman suffering the separated family is suffering from.” ―The reunion of separated families is a problem between the two Koreas. Is there room for the Biden government to intervene? “In the past, Korean Americans could visit North Korea, but now American Koreans cannot visit North Korea and meet their families in North Korea. Recently, 21 members of the US House of Representatives, including four Korean lawmakers, participated and proposed a bill for reunion of separated families in North America. The bill requires the Secretary of State or a person nominated by the Secretary of State to discuss plans for reunions of separated families in North Korea and the United States with South Korean officials. If the US government sets an agenda to actively promote separated family reunions and has an attitude of unconditionally supporting the humanitarian situation of separated families, it can be an important opportunity to open other channels in inter-Korean relations. In order for people to travel between North and South, various procedures must be established. Medical facilities must be equipped to prepare for corona prevention and emergency situations. Railroad or road traffic between North and South should be possible. Now that the inter-Korean traffic is completely cut off, starting with the desperate issue of family reunions could be an opportunity to spread to the entire inter-Korean relations. The reunion of separated families has a very good reason as the Biden government that emphasizes humanitarianism and human rights, so the first step toward North Korea policy can be evaluated as excellent.” ―The Biden government emphasizes human rights. How will it affect North Korea policy? “Since 2015, the international community has been actively discussing sustainable development, humanitarianism, and the triangle of peace (Triple Nexus). In the past, development, humanitarianism, and peace took place separately, so there was no synergy effect. Through decades of trial, the United Nations realized that it had to pursue three elements in parallel. The basis of human rights is to have the ability to live humanly on your own. When we are concerned about human rights on the North side, we mainly talk about political rights and citizenship rights, but there are also economic rights, social rights, and cultural rights. Sustainable development is based on the right to peace, development and solidarity. This is a recognition that peace, human rights, humanitarianism, and development cooperation must be in a virtuous cycle.When the Biden administration is concerned about human rights on the North side, it emphasizes only political rights and liberties, uses human rights as a means of disgrace to the North, and has an advantageous position in denuclearization negotiations. To use it as a leverage to occupy does not fit the purpose of human rights. While welcoming the Biden government’s emphasis on human rights, it is necessary to promote peace, humanitarianism, and development cooperation in three dimensions. For example, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) based in Pyongyang and the North Korean authorities jointly released a mid- to long-term strategic report, which also includes information on improving women’s status and improving human rights. This demonstrates the possibility that the North Korean authorities will recognize and adjust human rights improvement in productive relations with the international community. It is a very necessary time for the Biden administration to refer to this model of success and expand the universal standards of the international community.” -It is said that sanctions against North Korea are an obstacle to inter-Korean exchange and cooperation. “From the late 1990s to 2010, a group called Children’s Shoulders, which I am the chairman of, was actively working to save the lives of North Korean children and help them grow. In 2008, the two Koreas cooperated to build a pediatric ward at Pyongyang Medical University Hospital. North Korea paid for land, labor and building materials. Medical equipment, etc., was loaded by the South from Incheon Port to Nampo Port. I can’t even imagine such a business under sanctions against North Korea. Isn’t it that one of the greatest fears of man is that he can’t even imagine? UN sanctions against North Korea are a very cruel barrier that blocks not only actions, but also the imagination and possibility of doing something. There are many paths for cooperation to lead to peace on the Korean Peninsula, and blocking them all is the most decisive harm of sanctions against North Korea.” ―How does it work specifically as a barrier? “We have created a Maternal and Child Health Center in a rural village in North Korea, and to run it, we need to contact us and get supplies. For example, if medical equipment is sent to the North, but even one female screw (nut) is missing, the equipment cannot be operated. Now, in order to send a single female screw to North Korea, it is necessary to obtain approval for exemption from sanctions against North Korea, so the project itself is completely impossible. Not only female threads, but also medical cotton wool are subject to sanctions exemption approval.” ―Is Yaksom subject to sanctions against North Korea? “Because all goods sent to the North must be approved, they must first be reported. For example, in a full-body tomography (CT) machine, a detailed list of parts must be made and the country of origin of the parts must be indicated. In addition, the principle of operation of the city equipment must be submitted. Explain how the power of the equipment is used, the operating system is digitized, and what microchips were used if a computer was used. Among this information, there are trade secrets of the company, so it is difficult to grasp from outside. There are many cases where we buy goods from China to send to North Korea, but Chinese companies are more eager to keep such information. In the case of reagents and medicines, it is more complicated. Specifically, it is necessary to report which ingredient is contained in what percentage, but there is no reagent company or pharmaceutical company to disclose such trade secrets. When an exchange and cooperation organization with North Korea purchases goods from China to send to North Korea, it must remit money to a Chinese company. However, our commercial banks are conscious of the’secondary boycott’ of the U.S. (sanctions for companies and individuals from other countries that do business with sanctioned countries such as North Korea) do not send any remittances to China by exchange and cooperation organizations with North Korea. This situation overlapped, and now the aid to North Korea is blocked at the source.”
North Korean People’s Association Chairman Lee Ki-beom (left in the front row) speaks at the’Joint Press Conference of Religious and Private Organizations for Food Assistance to North Korea’ held at the Seoul Social Welfare Community Chest of Korea on May 14, 2019. Children’s Shoulder Companion Website
―The children’s shoulder companion built a pediatric ward at Pyongyang Medical University Hospital in 2008, and there were sanctions against North Korea after the 2006 nuclear test. “At that time, it wasn’t that much. Sanctions have been intensified and almost all supplies are now strictly managed. I think this is the harshest sanction in history. However, after 2018, North Korea has been quite refraining from actions such as nuclear tests and Marsile launches, whether the cause of the sanctions, and now it is a special situation called the corona pandemic. The UN Sanctions Commission also believes that special judgment of sanctions waiver is consistent with universal standards of the international community. If North Korea does something again that the international community is worried about, it can go back to sanctions.” ―How should the approval of sanctions exemption from North Korea change? “It is necessary to classify and publicize items that do not require approval and items that need to go through procedures. If there is a precedent among the items that need to go through the procedure, the procedure should not be repeated again. Fundamentally, I think that the UN Sanctions Commission’s entrustment of this procedure to our government is a measure of respect for accountability among these UN member states. It is correct to entrust the procedure to the Korean government to receive regular reports of results and to urge the government to take responsibility when there is a problem. Several private organizations supporting North Korea, including Children’s Shoulder Companions, have been recognized for the’consultative status’ of the UN Economic and Social Council. In the case of these organizations qualified to consult with the United Nations, it is also possible to approve the project comprehensively. For example, soy milk production facilities for North Korean children must go through the exemption approval process. There is a method of submitting a project plan so that, if the plan is reasonable, the organization in the consultative position can comprehensively execute the relevant supplies. I hope that the digital science and technology era is free from the unusual method of holding a paper list and counting even a single female screw like in the Middle Ages.” ―We emphasize health cooperation and individual tourism to break through the inter-Korean relations, but North Korea cut it off as non-essential at the 8th Labor Party Congress earlier this year. “I think there is a background in which the North came out like that. Among civic groups that have been working in inter-Korean relations for a long time, there is a saying,’Do not do what you want to do, do what you can and do what you need to do now’. There is also an order of work. It is important to start with things that are easy for the two Koreas to agree on and gain good experience. However, the Korean government hasn’t even resumed dialogue with the North Koreans, so we start with the project we want to talk about. Relations are restored first, but since we start with business talk, it can be considered quite unsuitable for the North Korean side. The most important of the 2018 inter-Korean summit agreements is easing military tensions, and our defense budget has increased to a large sum every year, and we continue to import advanced weapons. For the North, I wonder if the feelings of anxiety, deprivation, and betrayal have grown. Since last year, the government has to make conditions for inter-Korean dialogue by private organizations to the government. The agreements between the leaders of the two Koreas must be observed.’ Second, the National Assembly must also take on some responsibilities. The National Assembly should be able to stably manage inter-Korean relations even if the regime changes through such things as legislation or adoption of resolutions. From the standpoint of the North, I think the Korean government was talking’non-essential stories’ out of disappointment about how to trust the business promise in a situation where the most important promises between leaders are not kept. We need to understand these things in three dimensions. If we talk to restore our fundamental trust, then the North will take it as a serious proposal.” ―The North Korean authorities say there is no one confirmed coronavirus. “In the early days of the coronavirus, I believe that the North Koreans made efforts to rehabilitate themselves, putting quarantine first and achieving results. Based on these achievements, I think the North may be able to partially enter the international quarantine system, treatment system, and economic cooperation system. In the era of global infectious disease spread, couldn’t the North Korean authorities rethink the security implications? The importance of human security that people must survive healthy has grown. In the era of global infectious disease spread, the powerful countries are also vulnerable without exception. Cooperation with the outside world can be an imposing option, not because the North is vulnerable.”
material photo” alt=”On November 11, 1998, when visiting North Korea, Kwon Geun-sol, president of the Hankyoreh Newspaper and Chairman of the Children’s Shoulder (second from left), and then Secretary-General Lee Ki-beom (far right), at the meeting room at the Pyongyang Korea Hotel It is unfolding 500 paintings before handing them over to North Koreans. On November 11, 1998, when visiting North Korea, Kwon Geun-sol, president of the Hankyoreh Newspaper and Chairman of the Children’s Shoulder (second from left), and then Secretary-General Lee Ki-beom (far right), at the meeting room at the Pyongyang Korea Hotel It is unfolding 500 paintings before handing them over to North Koreans. <한겨레> Material photo
―What I want to say to our government. “I have concerns about cooperation in governance within the government and public-private governance regarding inter-Korean relations. Since 2018, the South Korean government has made a suggestion that the South government will solve the North’s most needs, such as energy, railroads, roads, and food issues. In the end, even if the Korean government did not intend, the North recognized that all business between government and government should be done. As a result, there is no space for civil society to intervene in inter-Korean relations. If the Korean government had delivered the public-private governance initiative undertaken by private organizations and local governments to the North, the two wheels of inter-Korean cooperation between the government and the private sector would have worked together. There should be daily communication, consultation, and role-sharing between the government and private organizations. There is no one in the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Committee who can represent the voices of private organizations. There is no law on the basis of inter-Korean humanitarian cooperation yet, and the inter-Korean exchange and cooperation law is out of date.” ―What can the two Koreas do this year? “The first is the community of life that President Moon Jae-in also emphasized. For example, the establishment of an infectious disease management center could be proposed to the North as a facility expressing the sincerity of concern for the health of the compatriots. Health and medical cooperation is not just a simple material support, but is necessary in order to jointly build the foundation for a life community. The second is in the field of agricultural cooperation, and international organizations are saying that the food situation in North Korea is difficult. Currently, only the central government can provide rice support to North Korea, but local governments and private organizations should also make it possible. This will open up the possibility of private organizations seeking to provide rice to the North before the government reviews rice aid to North Korea, thereby reducing the government burden.” ―What is the role of the North Korean people’s cooperation in inter-Korean relations? “In order for public-private governance to function properly, the government must also have the will, but it must be representative and sound from the private sector. The government’s actions do not regulate private activities, but must self-verify and raise the ethical level at the private level. This year, the North Korean People’s Association is trying to secure representation and soundness of the private sector. In the field of international development cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and the International Development Cooperation Private Council (KCOC) are looking at the cooperation relationship. The International Development Cooperation Private Council evaluates international development cooperation projects and manages the ethics of their promotion. Second, since the economic conditions of the young people are difficult, they make North Korea different and hate it beyond indifference. This is a worrisome reality. There seems to be some responsibilities of the government authorities and North Korea project organizations. Until now, discussions related to North Korea have been so solemnism that they do not match the sentiment of the younger generation. The story of inter-Korean cooperation, which private organizations have been doing, will be unfolded in a storytelling method in line with their perspective, and will try to inform them through YouTube.” Editorial Writer Kwon Hyuk-cheol [email protected]