On Thursday, the Washington-based bipartisan Committee for Human Rights in North Korea will release an extraordinary report, "TAKEN! North Korea's Criminal Abduction of Citizens of Other Countries."
The report, three years in the making, is based on numerous sources never before published in English, detailing how people of at least twelve nationalities have been abducted from fourteen countries around the world. It features satellite imagery of where many of these abductees have lived (and may still live) and where they have been forced to work for the North Korean regime.
This report, unlike others that presume little is known about the abductions, sets out the massive amount of information that can be compiled by comparing testimony from former abductees, former operatives of the North Korean regime, and former agents who collaborated with the regime.
In light of these details, the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea explains how the abductions were carried out, how the victims were treated in North Korea, how the regime used the abductees to carry out its espionage objectives, and how the regime organized itself bureaucratically to implement Kim Jong-il's directives to abduct foreign nationals and exploit their knowledge and abilities.
As with all Committee reports, this report provides policy recommendations on how to implement an international strategy to raise the issue of abductions with North Korea both bilaterally and multilaterally, and pursue legal recourse.
The report is the result of extensive coordination with organizations that focus on North Korean abductions in Tokyo and Seoul, as well as US, Japanese, and South Korean officials. Family members of the abductees will participate in Thursday's release of the HRNK report.
The presentation of this report will be held Thursday May 12 at 9:30 am at the National Press Club, 529 14th Street, NW, 13th floor, "First Amendment Room."
