Luckily, the radios and a vibrant set of other non-governmental organizations have been able to survive by drawing on small amounts of support from individual Koreans around the world, as well as the US Congress. On Capitol Hill in Washington, a senator from Kansas, Sam Brownback, has been a leading advocate of the cause, working quietly to get modest funds channelled to the radios and also pressuring bureaucracies to do a better job of resettling North Korean refugees. US support is expected to continue after Brownback’s departure from Washington after this Congress. Meanwhile, a human rights bill currently moving through South Korea’s national assembly could provide the first support from an Asian government–an important step to expanding the effort.
The North Korean regime hates the radios–and for good reason. Pyongyang tries to block the signals and reportedly sought to assassinate Kim Seong-min, who runs Free North Korea Radio, because they give North Koreans the means to learn the truth about the regime and its misconduct, and catch a glimpse of the outside world. This is highly threatening to a government that tries to tell its starving, abused citizens that they live in a ‘socialist paradise.’
Two assumptions in starting the radios were that they would encourage more North Koreans to obtain the means to listen–freely tuneable radios in North Korea are banned–and that they would promote the flow of information out of North Korea too. Both of these are coming true. Facts about developments on the ground in the North turn up in Seoul with increasing speed and accuracy, and this information is then sent back inside the North to a growing number of listeners. North Korean authorities seem unable to halt this trend.
While none of this indicates an imminent change in North Korea, these faint signs of regime decay do offer a better approach to policy to the Pacific’s democracies. While it is fine to keep open a diplomatic path to Pyongyang, inter-governmental discussions alone have accomplished little during the years Kim has ruled North Korea. These should be supplemented with measures that will expedite the regime decay taking place in the North–aiding the change that must come from within.
First among these should be greater support for the independent media organizations focused on North Korea. Cultural exchanges that bring more North Koreans out of their country will help open more eyes still. Pacific democracies including Japan and the United States should open missions in Pyongyang–but only on the condition that any North Korean may access them, and that anyone issued a visa will be given permission to exit the country. Existing foreign missions in Pyongyang should make this demand or depart.
Ultimately, this is not just sound human rights policy, but a key element of sound security policy. The free societies of the Pacific will be made much safer by the collapse from within of the North Korean government. This is the goal toward which we should all work.
Christian Whiton was the US deputy special envoy for North Korean human rights during the George W. Bush administration. He is a principal at DC Asia Advisory and the president of the Hamilton Foundation.
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Michael
One way to weaken them; work out an agreement amongst the Pacific powers to take in NK refugees, now and in the future. That would remove China’s biggest fear, North Korea-wise, and remove an obstacle to defections.
H. Margolit
Wake up and smell the coffee – New Zealand is CRAWLING with North Korean students, scions of the elites there are THOUSANDS of them here, they are learning English and learning how normal people live in a normal society.
Jens W
“Pacific democracies including Japan and the United States should open missions in Pyongyang–but only on the condition that any North Korean may access them, and that anyone issued a visa will be given permission to exit the country. Existing foreign missions in Pyongyang should make this demand or depart.”
So, if Pyongyang refuses to accept such a scheme (which they will), the solution is to withdraw all foreign contact from the country (perhaps apart from aid agencies)? This would only benefit Kim and his cronies, for whom total isolation is the means to stay in power. Foreign embassies and agencies are in fact very important. They provide exchange opportunities for North Koreans to go abroad. They help attract development funding to the UN agencies/NGOs in the country, whose projects are vital for helping the human rights of North Koreans. Of course, embassies also gather intelligence. Our loss of these functions would be a victory for Pyongyang.
Additionally, accelerating the state’s collapse through broadcasts etc. is a risky policy that would likely exacerbate the humanitarian disaster that already exists. Additionally, the unpredictability of such a collapse would pose a huge strategic challenge to South Korea and the US. There is a high likelihood that China would move in to take de facto control of the North, which would be highly undesirable for both Washington, Seoul and Tokyo. And as PBAR said, they do not want to deal with the economic implications. Whiton’s proposals are neither sound human rights policy nor sound security policy.
PBAR
The problem with all this is that the dirty little secret is that South Korea doesn’t want reunification-at least until North Korea has brought its economy out of the dumps. They would rather see the North Korea adopt Chinese-style reforms, fix its economy, and the reunify after that. So, we can’t do anything like releasing balloons or have 24/7 radio broadcasts but they just might work.
Danram
In my opinion, there are two relatively inexpensive things that the U.S. could do to accelerate the demise of the odious North Korean system: 1) regularly launch high altitude balloons over North Korea filled with hundreds of freely-tunable transistor radios (with batteries) which are timed to drop those radios in groups of three or four every two or three minutes. Even if the North Korean government succeeded in confiscating 90% of them, over time a great many would make their way into the hands of ordinary North Koreans 2) Station a communications satellite in geo-synchronous orbit directly over North Korea broadcasting Korean language radio programming 24/7, perhaps even offering internet connectivity as well.
Glans
A satellite can’t remain stationary over Korea. However, it can remain stationary at Korea’s longitude over the equator. That might work pretty well.
a Duoist
Eminently reasonable suggestions. Additionally, the growing spread of the Philosophy of Human Rights into South Korean universities (www.philohr.org) could be accelerated, especially if the philosophy if made available in Korean in all the libraries of the numerous embassies in North Korea.