N. Korean defector to file lawsuits in S. Korea against Kim Jong-un over human rights crimes
The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB) said it would file the civil suit to the Seoul Central District Court and a criminal complaint to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office on Friday on behalf of Choi Min-kyung.
Choi, who fled North Korea to China in 1997, was forcibly repatriated back in 2008.
After her repatriation, she said she suffered human rights violations, including sexual abuse, physical violence and torture, at a North Korean detention facility in the northeastern county of Onsong.
Choi plans to file the complaint against Kim and four others, including officials at the ministry of state security, on charges of international criminal law violations.
"I hope this legal action serves as an opportunity to bring about attention in South Korea and overseas to North Korean human rights problems," she said.
The NKDB said the move would mark the first lawsuit by a North Korea-born human rights victim, adding that it plans to take further steps at the U.N. human rights body and the International Criminal Court.
Choi ultimately fled to South Korea and currently heads a group of family members of victims of detention in North Korea.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
3 hours ago
- Korea Herald
N. Korean leader visits fish farm under construction, urges regional economic development
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected the construction site of an offshore fish farm in South Hamgyong Province, stressing the importance of regional economic development, state media reported Monday. Kim visited the construction site of the Ragwon County Offshore Farm the previous day, accompanied by key party officials, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The North's leader attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ragwon fish farm in February. It marks the North's second offshore fish farm after the one built in December last year in the eastern coastal city of Sinpho. Kim called the construction of offshore farms a "strategic creation work" to fundamentally strengthen and develop the regional economy, according to the KCNA. "The construction of modern offshore farm ... is an innovative creation field to reliably guarantee the efficient rejuvenation and long-term development of more than 60 coastal cities and counties across the country," Kim was quoted as saying by the KCNA. He called for accelerating the construction in an apparent bid to tout the completion of a new fish farm as one of the key achievements ahead of the 80th founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea in October. Kim has focused on developing the regional economy in a bid to enhance people's livelihoods amid worsening public sentiment caused by deepening economic difficulties. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
3 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Russia's FM leaves N. Korea after 3-day visit
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has left North Korea after wrapping up his three-day visit to the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, the North's state media reported Monday. Lavrov departed the country via Wonsan Kalma Airport on Sunday after being seen off by North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui and Russia's top envoy in Pyongyang, according to the Korean Central News Agency. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met Lavrov on his yacht in Wonsan on Saturday. During the talks, Kim reaffirmed his "unconditional" support for Russia's war against Ukraine. Lavrov also held the second round of strategic dialogue with his North Korean counterpart Saturday. They vowed efforts to advance the bilateral relations between the two nations into long-term strategic ties by faithfully implementing a mutual defense treaty. Experts said North Korea appears to have invited Lavrov to Wonsan in an effort to promote a newly opened tourist zone and attract Russian tourists. After visiting the North, Lavrov flew to China to attend a foreign ministerial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states, according to Russian media reports. (Yonhap)
![[Lee Kyong-hee] Dr. Oh's surgical tool bags in Pyongyang](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwimg.heraldcorp.com%2Fnews%2Fcms%2F2025%2F07%2F13%2Fnews-p.v1.20250713.aee1cf38ab284a1aa9616ebb70565675_T1.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Korea Herald
6 hours ago
- Korea Herald
[Lee Kyong-hee] Dr. Oh's surgical tool bags in Pyongyang
As the Lee Jae Myung administration's North Korea policy stirred expectations of detente and potential geopolitical tremors, an obituary in a newspaper caught my eye last month. Dr. Oh Indong, a well-known Korean American orthopedic surgeon and unification activist, passed away on June 19 at his Pasadena, California, home at age 86. Oh enjoyed international acclaim for his expertise in artificial hip joint replacement. A former Harvard Medical School faculty member, he invented major improvements in joint replacement devices and prosthesis systems, obtaining 11 patents and winning prestigious research awards. Back in his homeland, though, his name is more often associated with the pro-unification movement. He was noted for his outspoken views about the division of the Korean Peninsula, including the role of the South Korea-US alliance as an impediment to unity, and possible solutions. How did Oh connect his successful medical career in America and his activism for Korean reunification? The long journey began in 1992, when Dr. Kwon Young-sei, then-president of the Korean American Medical Association, phoned with an audacious suggestion: 'Dr. Oh, let's go to Pyongyang!' Oh agreed immediately. 'Oh, yes! Of course, I'll go.' Oh soon was on his way to the North Korean capital with the KAMA delegation. Its goal was to lay the groundwork for academic exchange and medical support. The trip was before the so-called 'first North Korea nuclear crisis' led to the travel ban on American citizens to the North. 'Some of my colleague doctors who had privately visited North Korea to meet their relatives lamented the poor health care conditions there. I wanted to confirm the North's medical environment with my own eyes so I could do whatever was possible to be of some help,' Oh recalled in his 2010 book, 'My Surgical Tool Bags Left in Pyongyang.' Thus, as part of a five-member delegation, Oh arrived in Pyongyang on Oct. 10, 1992. That night, he could hardly sleep with curiosity and expectations. Though the sights in the city were unfamiliar, he found that people were not the 'red-faced demons to be defeated.' Contrary to the rhetoric heard in South Korea, the people north of the Demilitarized Zone displayed the same warmth. The realization came with a layer of sadness. That first sleepless night in Pyongyang, Oh did not think about returning many times in the years to come. But he realized that he needed to have a correct understanding of the causes of division and the state of confrontation. Upon returning from the trip, he began studying modern and contemporary Korean history, rediscovering national history and gaining a renewed awareness of division and animosity. In 1997, Oh launched Korea-2000, a non-governmental research council, along with like-minded Korean Americans. The group wrote recommendations on unification policy for the governments of both Koreas. In January 1998, Oh visited Seoul and Pyongyang to deliver the recommendations when hopes for reconciliation surged with the election of President Kim Dae-jung in the South and the ascension of Chairman Kim Jong-il in the North. Two years later, the leaders held a historic summit and signed the South-North Joint Declaration, also known as the June 15 Declaration. As co-chair of the US committee tasked with fulfilling the declaration, Oh strongly advocated the Korean initiative in cross-border exchanges and economic cooperation. He called for an 'economic community under a confederacy of two states,' pending peaceful reunification, and suggested joint management of the North's nuclear arsenal under the principles of nonproliferation and eventual denuclearization when reunification is achieved. 'Combine the South's mighty capital and technology and the North's abundant natural resources and human labor, drastically reducing the defense spending and military troops of both sides, then the confederacy will emerge as the world's fifth economic power with a population of 80 million within 10 years,' Oh reiterated. 'Unification will not mean the South's losses. It will be hugely profitable business for both Koreas.' For a genuine Korean initiative, Oh emphasized direct inter-Korean dialogue, rather than bilateral negotiations between the US and North Korea. In his article, 'Make South Korea the Real Party to North Korea,' published by the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability in 2000, Oh argued that the US wartime operational control over the South Korean forces under the Combined Forces Command hinders North-South dialogue. Oh began his medical assistance in the North in 2009, with joint operations with orthopedists at Pyongyang Medical University. On each of his nearly annual visits thereafter, he brought a load of artificial joints and surgical instruments. He also helped the North produce expensive artificial joints and prosthesis systems to promote self-sufficiency. 'Each time, I left my bags behind in Pyongyang. It was my promise to return,' Oh wrote in his book. 'I believe that in every human affair, communication and trust are the keys to solution. Through my visits, I experienced building trust and camaraderie with North Koreans.' Oh believed that he was tasked with healing the ailing legs of the North and the South to enable the two halves to stand firmly together. His mission remains unfulfilled. His surgical tool bags in Pyongyang must be awaiting another visionary.
