As the world’s attention has been focused on efforts of the U.S., South Korea, and China to engage North Korea and its leader Kim Jong Un in nuclear negotiations, little attention has been paid to the potential benefits of direct engagement with the people of North Korea.
For nearly 20 years, the National Endowment for Democracy has witnessed and supported the tremendous growth of outstanding and innovative groups who are working to end the isolation and suffering of the North Korean people. These efforts have led to dramatic change both inside and outside North Korea. Through their work to empower defectors, document and advocate for human rights, and ensure the free flow of information in and out of North Korea, the North Korean civil society movement has greatly increased international understanding of life inside the Hermit Kingdom and opened a window to the outside world for those who remain inside. NED is proud to recognize this work with its 2018 Democracy Award.
NED will host a timely discussion of recent developments featuring the insights of key policy makers and experts in U.S. – DPRK relations, as well as the recipients of NED’s 2018 Democracy Award. These activists will discuss how exposure to and engagement with the outside world is changing North Korea from the inside, and what that change means for the future of North Korea and its people.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-pyongyang-connecting-with-the-peopl…
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Agenda
Remarks
Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), Ranking Member, Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy
Ambassador Sam Brownback, U.S Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom
Panel I – Assessing the Current Situation in North Korea
- Amb. Mark Lippert, Boeing, former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea
- Jung Pak, Brookings Institutuion
- Roberta Cohen, U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
- Michael J. Green, CSIS; Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Panel II – Information, Advocacy, and Defectors: The Role of Civil Society
Moderator: Josh Rogin, The Washington Post
Featuring the recipients of NED’s 2018 Democracy Award
- Sungju Lee, Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights
- Shi-woo Choi, Now, Action & Unity for Human Rights (NAUH)
- Kwang Baek Lee, Unification Media Group
- Hubert Younghwan Lee, Transitioal Justice Working Group (TJWG)