northkorea_board > Activities > Over 40 Organizations from 15 Countries Established ICNK

On September 7th, 200 individuals from over 40 international human rights organizations across 15 countries gathered in Tokyo to establish ICNK to uproot crimes against humanity in Korea.

International human rights organizations and activists, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, International Federation for Human Rights, Open North Korea, and David Hawk emphasized the seriousness of crimes against humanity in North Korea and came together to resolve this issue as an international coalition.

An individual involved in the establishment of ICNK stated “there are limits to individual investigation of the UN Speical Rapporteur for North Korean Human Rights and adoption of security council resolution in order to uproot the crimes against humanity in North Korea” and urged that a UN commission of inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity in North Korea needs to be established with a consensus of individual government.

For this purpose, ICNK plans on various campaigns urging the establishment of UN commission of inquiry in the next security council resolution, and raising awareness on the prison camps in North Korea among the politicians of UN member countries.

Ha Tae Keung, an organizing member of ICNK, emphasized that human rights activists around the world need to form one voice, stating that “uprooting crimes against humanity in North Korea is an utmost priority for the people of North Korea living under the oppression of Kim Jong-Il regime.”

Korean former president Kim Young Sam sent a video message stating that the crimes of Kim Jong-Il regime needs to be halted for the betterment of the humanity in the 21st century, stating that “Kim Jong-Il dictatorship has made the northern half of the Korean peninsula into a large prison and (he) is reigning over it.”

Participants for The Inaugural Conference of International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK) gathered together in front of CHOSEN-SOREN (General Association of Korean residents in Japan) on September 8th for a protest against crimes against humanity in North Korea. The participants also delivered a letter to Kim Jong Il, and requested the cessation of crimes against humanity in North Korea, shouting “Stop Crimes Against Humanity”, and “Take down political prison camps”.

The letter to Kim Jong-Il includes issues of abduction, famine, and international human rights agreements, and requested to allow visits from neutral human rights monitoring organizations.

ICNK plans on moving forward to uprooting crimes against humanity in North Korea along with international human rights organizations and human rights activists from around the world, including Asia, North America and Europe.