Page 21 - NKHR Hawaii Conference 2023

in UN reports including the COI and through thousands of refugee testimonies.

Beyond halting the forced repatriation of North Korean asylum seekers, this line of ef ort
also includes strengthening support for North Korean refugees and asylees around the
world. T ey are a testament to what is possible for North Koreans to achieve in free and
open societies. It’s particularly symbolic that we’re gathered here in Hawaii, where the
f rst wave of Korean immigrants arrived in America in the early 1900s. Korean Americans
in particular can play an important role in helping to share their own experiences in
support of this new wave of refugees.

Our f fth line of ef ort is increasingly urgent. We are focused on seeking a humanitarian
solution to allow for divided family members in the United States to reunite with their
loved ones. Having met with many of these individuals in the last few weeks, I can see the
longing that they hold in their hearts for peace. T ere are also prisoners of war (POWs),
abductee, and detainee families seeking answers and reunif cation with their loved ones;
sons separated from their mothers; sisters separated from their brothers; siblings who
have never met but who instead only know each other by name. Some of these individuals
suf er in private, too afraid of the emotions that come with muttering their loved ones’
names.

I’m encouraged to see so many young people here today and hope that the next
generation will continue to carry these stories in their hearts and remember the very real
human impact that the DPRK’s controls have had.

T ese family separations continue to occur, even today, as North Koreans seeking freedom
often must leave in waves – parents going ahead of their children; husbands traveling
ahead of their wives; or siblings who are separated by human trafficking networks or
forced repatriations. With no legal means to communicate, those who go ahead are
left with the uncertainty of the safety of those they left behind, while those left behind
wonder if they’ve been abandoned or forgotten. The regime’s human rights abuses,
including enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, and transnational repression, keep
these families separated.

As we work together, I urge us to remember that North Korean human rights are not a
zero-sum game. We can and must multitask because the DPRK human rights abuses are
inextricably linked to international peace and security. Pursuing our human rights goals
and our security goals are mutually supportive, as are our human rights and humanitarian
goals. At the end of the day, this is about supporting the welfare and dignity of the North

NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS HAWAII CONFERENCE 2023 21