NPK Statement on South Korean Police Arresting North Korean Defector Hu Kwang-il

2019-10-8, New Paradigm of Korea (NPK)

To Foreign Correspondents Concerned about North Korean Human Rights:

This is an urgent call for action to stand for the persecuted North Korean defector leader Hu Kwang-il. He has been imprisoned due to unreasonable breach of law claimed by the South Korean police authority. 

Unfortunately, South Korean media are not reporting his case, except for this brief news clip. Thus we urgently translated it. We seek support from you–foreign correspondents–to be interested in this cruel political persecution.

From NPK Office of General Secretary

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Translated News, 2019-10-7, PennMike

http://www.pennmike.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=23041

(Exclusive by Pennmike, October 7, 2019) Arrest of the CDNK Representative Mr. Hu Kwang-il…”We Protested against President Moon and his Regime for the Death of the North Korean Defector Mother Han Sung-ok and Her Young Son–There was No Violence”

(CDNK: Committee for Democratization of North Korea)

Testimony of Mr. Hu Kwang-il, the Representative of CDNK : “The North Korean defector mother found dead with her 7-year old boy from starvation had survived the mass starvation of North Korea in the late 1990s that killed 3.5 million.  

This unacceptable death brought all North Korean defectors in South Korea together.  We had no physical conflict with the police. Some people crossed the police line during the rally and were dragged out by the police.”

NPK Statement “The police arrested Mr. Hu for crossing the police line while no arrest warrant is yet issued for the fraud charges against Chung Kyung-sim, the wife of the criminal suspect Justice Minister Cho Kuk.  Due process of law has collapsed in Korea”

(NPK : New Paradigm of Korea; a policy thinktank led by Attorney Doe Tae-woo)

On October 3, 2019, a mass rally of an unprecedented scale took place at the center of Seoul, Korea, against President Moon Jae-in and his radical socialist measures. The demonstration was sparked by the appointment of the criminal suspect Cho Kuk as the Justice Minister.

The police arrested Mr. Hu Kwang-il, the leader of the Committee of the Democratization of North Korea (CDNK) under the charge of “interference with a government official in the execution of official duties,” claiming that he led the protest by the North Korean defectors participating in the rally in front of the Blue House (the Presidential Residence) to violence.  However, Hu persistently denies any charges of violence as “there were no physical conflict with the police.”
 
The New Paradigm of Korea (NPK), a policy think tank led by attorney Doe Taewoo, publicized the issue while the Director of the NPK, Mr. Jung June paid a visit to Mr. Hu, who is detained at the Yongsan Police Station as of October 7, 2019. Attorney Doe Taewoo volunteered to defend Mr. Hu’s case.  According to Jung June, “Mr. Hu was steadfast and greeted me with a warm smile as always.”

Mr. Hu also pleaded that “It was a peaceful rally from the beginning. We didn’t have any physical conflict with the police.  However, the issue was crossing the police line.  The press reported that our rally demanding an investigation of the recent death of the North Korean defector mother Han Song-ok and her 7-year old from starvation was conspired with multiple groups, which is a false allegation.”

He further appealed that “Our rally was a cry out against Moon and his government that led the mother and her son to starve to death! This is a horrific death. The defector mother had even survived the mass starvation of North Korea in the late 1990s when more than 3.5 million people died from starvation. Such dreadful death should never have happened here!”

A ceremony was held at the center of Seoul in memory of the North Korean defector mother Ms. Han Song-ok and her 7-year old son, who were found dead from starvation at their government supported apartment for the low income.  
 
The late North Korean defector mother (Han) sought help from the government. She is known to have visited the welfare authorities of the Resident Service center twice, where the government officials demanded proper documentation.  “How can she prepare the right documents when she didn’t have enough money even to buy a pack of instant noodles!” Hu lamented. “The mother is suspected to have passed away first, and then the 7-year old son was also found dead a few meters away from his mother, where he was desperate to search for some food.”

“How could this happen in the Republic of Korea? Moreover, not a single person from the government paid a visit to this memorial ceremony.” Mr. Hu denounced that it is the President Moon himself and his government that led the mother and her son to starve to death. “This death motivated the North Korean defector community to come together and express a unified voice.”

The attitude of the Ministry of Unification handling the aftermath of the deaths of the mother and the son aroused anti-government sentiment among the North Korean defectors, which naturally brought them to join the mass anti-government rally.  Other defectors who were arrested with me, for example, Mr. Choi Junghoon, who leads the NK People’s Liberation Front was released, as they didn’t have sufficient charges to further detain him. However, the police issued an arrest warrant towards me claiming that I may flee.  

However, this is absurd when compared to the Cho Kuk case–neither the Justice Minister Cho Kuk nor anyone from his entire family charged with fraud was arrested.” He also added “I want to convey special thanks to the patriots of this country. I will remember your support and will soon join you again.”
 
A minimum requirement for justice demands that Chung Kyung-sim, who made numerous attempts to destroy evidence, be jailed while Mr. Hu Kwang-il, a defector from North Korea, who has no place to flee, be released. Moon Jae-in’s government knows no shame when they show limitless generosity towards the illegal violence conducted by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), but show merciless harshness towards citizens trying to guard the political liberty and economic freedom of this nation.

“The NKP solemnly condemns President Moon and his regime for destruction of the due process of law through arbitrary detention…The NPK strongly urges the restoration of the rule of law based on equity and justice by enforcing the principle of investigating without jailing [for those with no flight risk or risk of tampering/destroying evidence] and arresting and confining criminal suspects who attempt to destroy evidence.”