What country would suffer a devastating disaster, killing 150 people and injuring over 1,300, and turn down relief from neighboring nations? Many experts thought North Korea would prove to be such a country following the mysterious train crash/explosion of April 22, in Ryongchon. The totalitarian regime headed by dictator Kim Jong Il has a long history of preventing the flow of information in or out of his communist state.
The Asia Times reports:
North Korea... has by no means embraced all aid, and appears to prefer televisions, diesel oil and cement to medical supplies. It rejected South Korea's offer to send aid overland by truck and it rebuffed Seoul's offer to send engineers to aid in reconstruction ...
While his government appears to be allowing some "aid" to trickle in, time will tell if the "Dear Leader," as Kim's people are forced to refer to him, will allow any of this international relief to be effective. Historically such relief does not make it to those in North Korea who need it most.
Many, however, are skeptical of such an incident being an indication of any future openness on the part of North Korea's government. Some feel that the North Korean dictator is using the accident to generate sympathy, and cash. "Whatever happens, Kim Jong Il will try to get money for it" according to North Korean defector Kim Yong Sung. Kim Yong Sung, an architect and former North Korean government official was one of several North Korean defectors who spoke to reporters through a translator April 28.
The group visited Washington D.C. to raise awareness of North Korea's prison camps and human rights violations. The defectors, part of the Democracy Network against North Korean Gulag (NK Gulag), joined with the North Korean Freedom Coalition (NKFC) last Wednesday to promote North Korea Freedom Day.
"The defectors who are coming to participate in this day are men and women brave enough to share their own tragic stories so the world can hear the truth about North Korea," said Sandy Rios, chair of the North Korea Freedom Coalition. "They will not let Americans commit the same crimes of ignorance that allowed the Holocaust to occur. If Americans continue to neglect the people of North Korea, then blame for these atrocities will one day rest in our hands."
The events of North Korean Freedom Day were designed to show support for the 23 million people trapped under Kim Jong Il's murderous regime according to NK Gulag co-founder An Hyuk, who led the defector's delegation. The defectors joined with protestors from U.S. human rights groups to participate in a rally on the lawn of the U.S. capitol building and lobby the U.S. Congress. "Kim Jong Il is one of the cruelest and [most] ruthless dictators in the World," says An Hyuk. "We hope together to see the day of democracy and freedom in North Korea."
And the plight of the North Korean people is now becoming better known now than in the past. In his 2002 State of the Union Address, often referred to as the Axis of Evil speech, U.S. President George Bush included North Korea in a list with Iraq and Iran of countries "arming to threaten the peace of the world."
President Bush drew great criticism for this statement. Many foreign policy experts claimed that such "rhetoric" will not improve diplomatic relations with the communist country. Yet, in the weeks and months since January 2002, more and more evidence testifies to the utter depravity of Kim Jong Il's administration.
