Human Rights and North Korean Defector Support Standing Committee Promotes Special Activities 

Seeks 'ways to embrace and revitalize mentoring of North Korean defectors'

The PUAC Human Rights · North Korean Defectors Support Standing Committee (Chief Lee Jung-hoon) visited the North Korean Human Rights Museum and the Western Gyeonggi Hana Center on February 19 as part of special activities to embrace North Korean defectors and revitalize mentoring for them. About 60 people, including members of the Human Rights · North Korean Defector Support Standing Committee and North Korean defectors in Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, participated in the programs, which were designed to highlight the practical role of the PUAC in embracing North Korean defectors.

Visiting the North Korean Human Rights Museum, the participants heard about the importance of close collaboration between the public and private sectors to resolve human rights issues in North Korea and the need for government support for projects that have been promoted by the private sector for a long time, such as the 'North Korean Defector Human Rights Survey.' The visitors also looked at North Korea's human rights records and the footsteps of North Korean defectors who sought freedom through the exhibited works.  

▶ Tour of the North Korean Human Rights Museum

The group made the next stop at the Western Gyeonggi Hana Center, where they held a meeting with about 50 North Korean defectors. Various issues were dealt with in the meeting, including training North Korean defectors as unification lecturers, supporting defectors for employment and business start, increasing successful resettlement cases, increasing the practicality of the contents of Hana Center's education, and strengthening child care support for defectors. After the opinion gathering meeting, the participants had a dinner meeting with local North Korean defectors at a restaurant run by a North Korean defector. 

▶ View of the meeting at the Gyeonggi Western Hana Center 

Meanwhile, the Human Rights and North Korean Defector Support Standing Committee plans to propose more realistic policies based on the opinions on North Korean human rights and North Korean defector resettlement conditions gathered through special program to actively support the successful resettlement of North Korean defectors.