IS 422Human Rights in North Korea

IS 422Human Rights in North Korea

HUFS-ISS Summer 2013
Period 1

Monday–Thursday
9:00 am–10:40 am
Instructor:
Greg Scarlatoiu

Executive Director, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK)

Washington, D.C., USA

The course will address the history, current state and future prospects of the North Korean human rights situation, and will help the students understand the oppressive apparatus employed to maintain the status quo in North Korea. The students will learn about the applicable international legal framework, and the available remedies embedded in relevant provisions. The students will become familiar with the methodology employed by human rights organizations dealing with North Korea, including the execution, processing and analysis of interviews with North Korean defectors and other witnesses, and their corroboration with satellite imagery and other available relevant data. The instructor will invite former North Koreans to meet with the class as featured guest speakers, in particular while discussing North Korea’s political prison camps and social classification system. Former high-ranking officials who defected to South Korea will also be invited to meet with the students and discuss topics including North Korea’s internal security agencies and its repression apparatus. The class will also conduct one or two field visits, to locations such as the ROK Ministry of Unification, the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), or the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights (NKDB), so that the students may have an opportunity to discuss with human rights practitioners.

Classroom Presentation (40%)

Different portions of the assigned reading material will be assigned to several students per session. The students will take turns presenting the assigned segments of the reading material. This will be an ongoing team activity, whose purpose is to cover a lot of material within a one-month period, and to help build the camaraderie and team spirit essential to the successful operation of human rights NGOs.

Attendance and Participation (20%)

Presence in the classroom is essential to having a good grasp of the materials presented and the issues discussed. Unexcused and/or repeated absence will impact the final grade. Participation in field visits is compulsory, if such arrangements are made.

Final Exam (40%)

The final exam will assess the students’ command of the material covered in the classroom, and their ability to conduct research and/or advocacy based on that knowledge. Make-up exams may be administered, but only in case of emergency or if a very reasonable justification is given.

Grading Guidelines

Final Exam40%

Presentation40%

Attendance and Participation20%

Week 1

Orientation and Introduction

Introduction to the International Human Rights Movement: Understanding Human Rights Standard Setting Processes; Applicable Human Rights Instruments; Various Mechanisms Overseeing the Implementation of Standards
Classroom Readings:

Charter of the United Nations-

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights-

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights-

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights-

North Korea’s Human Rights Record
Classroom Readings:

Constitution of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea-

Situation of Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, report by Marzuki Darusman, UN Special Rapporteur, September 13, 2012-

2011 Human Rights Reports: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, U.S. Department of State, May 24, 2012-

Dynastic Dictatorship and Human Rights

Classroom Readings:

The Kims’ Three Bodies: Dynastic Succession and Its Antecedents in North Korea,” Bruce Cummings, The Montreal Review, February 2012

It’s Still ‘My Way’ or the Highway under North Korea’s Kim, LA Times, July 13, 2012

The Magnanimous Comrade: Kim Jong-un’s Amnesty (by Greg Scarlatoiu, The Peninsula, Korea Economic Institute, January 16, 2012-

Week 2

U.S. and ROK Policy towards North Korea; The UN System and North Korea
Classroom Readings:

North Korea: U.S. Relations, Nuclear Diplomacy, and Internal Situation (by Emma Chanlett-Avery and Ian E. Rinehart, Congressional Research Service, June 29, 2012-

Report of the Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues Pursuant to Provisions of the North Korean Human Rights Act (PL 108-333 as amended by PL 110-346; 22 USC & 7817 (d) March 2011-March 2012-

Songbun, North Korea’s Social Discrimination System (Part I)
Classroom Reading:

Marked for Life: Songbun, North Korea’s Social Classification System (by Robert Collins, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2012)-hard copies of the report will be provided by the instructor

Songbun, North Korea’s Social Discrimination System (Part II)

Classroom Reading:

Marked for Life: Songbun, North Korea’s Social Classification System (by Robert Collins, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2012)

North Korea’s Vast System of Unlawful Imprisonment (Part I)
Classroom Reading:

Hidden Gulag Second Edition: The Lives and Voices of “Those Who Are Sent to the Mountains (by David Hawk, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2012)-hard copies of the report will be provided by the instructor

Week 3

North Korea’s Vast System of Unlawful Imprisonment (Part II)

Classroom Reading:

Hidden Gulag Second Edition: The Lives and Voices of “Those Who Are Sent to the Mountains (by David Hawk, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2012)

The Politics of Famine and the North Korean Humanitarian Crisis
Classroom Reading:

Hunger and Human Rights: The Politics of Famine in North Korea (by Stephan Haggard and Marcus Noland, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2005)-

The North Korean Humanitarian Crisis and International Response
Classroom Readings:

Obama’s Sweet Deal for North Korea (by John Bolton, The Wall Street Journal, March 7, 2012-
An American NGO…in North Korea (by Jeff Baron, 38 North, December 27, 2012-

Statement of Nancy Lindborg, President, Mercy Corps before U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing, June 11, 2009-

The Plight of North Korean Women and Orphans in China
Classroom Reading:

Lives for Sale: Personal Accounts of Women Fleeing North Korea to China (by Lee Hae-young, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2009)-hard copies will be provided by the instructor

Week 4

International Responses to the Refugee Crisis; the Underground Railroad
Classroom Reading:

North Koreans in China in Need of International Protection (by Roberta Cohen, Forced Migration Review, December 2012, page 42-43-

The Abduction of South Korean and Foreign Nationals

Classroom Reading:

Taken! North Korea’s Criminal Abduction of Citizens of Other Countries (by Yoshi Yamamoto, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2011)

North Korea’s Internal Security Agencies
Classroom Reading:

Coercion, Control, Surveillance, and Punishment: An Examination of the North Korean Police State, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, 2012)

Markets, Radios and USBs: Is North Korea’s “Information Firewall” Crumbling?
Classroom Readings:

A Quiet Opening: North Koreans in a Changing Media Environment (by Nat Kretchun and Jane Kim, InterMedia, April 2012-

Torches in the Darkness: Information Breakdown in North Korea (by Kim Kwang-jin, upcoming report, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, spring 2013)

Week 5

How to Work with the UN Human Rights Mechanisms for North Korean Human Rights Advocacy; Practical Guide on How to Document and Report Human Rights Violations in North Korea

Human Rights under Kim Jong-un: Is There a Way Forward?

Classroom Readings:

Ten Practical and Specific Measures for Advancing Human Rights in United States Policy toward North Korea (Committee for Human Rights in North Korea,

North Korean Human Rights and Korea’s “Global Destiny” (by Greg Scarlatoiu, The Peninsula, Korea Economic Institute, December 18, 2012-

Human Rights Progress in North Korea: Is It Possible? (by Roberta Cohen, 38 North-