This month marks 20 years since President George W. Bush signed the North Korean Human Rights Act into law. Between 2006 and May 2024, 224 North Korean escapees have been admitted to the United States, according to the Refugee Processing Center. But we must not forget about the 26 million North Koreans who still suffer under the brutal dictatorship of Kim Jong Un.
Learn more about the North Korean regime and what can be done to support the North Korean people and those who have managed to escape.
Q&A with Dr. Victor Cha: 20 years of the North Korean Human Rights Act
Twenty years ago, President George W. Bush signed the North Korean Human Rights Act into law. The act aims to improve the condition of the people in North Korea and help those who have had the courage to escape. Dr. Victor Cha, leading North Korea expert and Senior Fellow at the George W. Bush Institute, explains the importance of the law two decades after its passage.
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How to support freedom in North Korea and advocate for escapees
On this episode of The Strategerist podcast, three experts discuss what they are doing to support freedom in North Korea and help those who have escaped.
Listen as Ambassador Julie Turner, U.S. Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues; Hannah Song, CEO of nonprofit Liberty in North Korea; and Joseph Kim, North Korean escapee and Research Fellow at the Bush Institute, share their unique perspectives on the Hermit Kingdom and what Americans can do to support escapees.
How China and Russia facilitate North Korea’s human rights abuses
North Korea is one of the most heinous places on earth when it comes to human rights abuses. The North Korean regime focuses its resources on maintaining its power and survival while North Korean citizens are subject to starvation, arbitrary detention, torture, executions, and prison camps, among other horrific abuses.
This report by Dr. Victor Cha and the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Dr. Katrin Fraser Katz details how China and Russia enable North Korea’s abuse of its own people and provides recommendations to the U.S. on how they can hinder this axis of evil.
Escapees develop leadership skills at the Bush Institute’s North Korea Human Rights Workshop
The Bush Institute’s work to support freedom in North Korea includes an annual leadership workshop for those who have escaped the country. Learn about this year’s workshop, which included a session with Ambassador Julie Turner, who shared her wisdom on how escapees can use their own courageous stories to advocate for North Koreans still in the country.
