WASHINGTON, D.C. – The atrocious human rights record of the North Korean dictatorship—among the very worst in the world— was described in grisly detail by prison survivors and human rights workers who detailed inhumane gulag-style prison camps, human trafficking, torture, political repression and religious persecution at a congressional hearing Tuesday held by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House panel that oversees human rights.

    North Korea’s dictatorship, now headed by Kim Jung-il, was the topic of a hearing entitled “Human Rights in North Korea: Challenges and Opportunities.” 

    Smith, a longtime human rights advocate in Congress and chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s human rights subcommittee, called North Korea “a country with one of the worst human rights records today.” Two witnesses who testified are defectors from the regime after spending years in prison.

    “Mrs. Kim Young Soon and Mrs. Kim Hye Sook, who both have survived the extreme deprivations of the North Korean prison camps, have travelled all the way from South Korea to share their experiences with us,” Smith said. “They will be speaking on behalf of the estimated 150,000 to 200,000 prisoners currently held in North Korea’s penal-labor camps. It is our hope that their testimony will help to galvanize the international community to take action to secure the freedom of those who are needlessly suffering and dying under truly horrific conditions.” Click here to read Chairman Smith’s opening statement.

    Click here to watch CSPAN's coverage of the hearing.

    Kim Hye Sook, believed to be longest-serving survivor of North Korean prison camps, told the House panel many people suffered and died because of starvation in the prison camp, and many people were killed and executed without reason. She lost her husband, grandmother, father, mother and brother, all of whom were sent to camp number 18 with her.

    “There was a time when I saw the bodies of people who were killed by firing squad who were rolled up in straw mats and carried away in carts, and said to myself, ‘even dogs will not die so pitifully,’ “ Kim said. “I am encouraged that through my presence here today, by exposing the inhumane atrocities happening in the North Korean political prison camps, the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the North Korean regime can be condemned.  I believe that one of the reasons and purposes for my survival from the prison camp was for me to live and be able to be a witness in the U.S. Congress—where order and principles, and human rights are cherished—to what I experienced and saw regarding the lives of the North Koreans who live without any rights. The fact that I am sitting before you is the sole reason why I had to survive the political prison camp of North Korea.” Click here to read Kim’s testimony.

    Other witnesses included (click on name to read testimony):

• Kim Young Soon, ex-prisoner and Vice President, Committee for the Democratization of North Korea;
• Greg Scarlatoiu, Executive Director, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, and;
• Suzanne Scholte, President of Defense Forum Foundation.