English Page: Call to Support North Korean Escapees

Call to Support Survivors of North Korea’s “Paradise on Earth” campaign

A Rare Attempt in the world to hold Kim Jong Un Accountable for Rights Abuse 

 

As five North Korean defectors who survived North Korea’s “Paradise on Earth　campaign”, we sued the North Korean government in 2018 while residing in Japan and have been awaiting a court hearing ever since. On the 14th of October, a momentous court hearing was held in Tokyo, where the five of us testified our ordeals and suffering in North Korea before the Tokyo District Court.  

 

We are seeking compensation for the human rights abuses we suffered in North Korea, after joining a resettlement program based on the false premise that North Korea was a “Paradise on Earth.” Between 1959 and 1984, approximately 93,000 ethnic Koreans (Zainichi) and Japanese migrated from Japan to North Korea under the so-called “repatriation program.” We were five of them.

 

 

The North Korean government, mostly through Chongryon, a pro-Pyongyang organization based in Japan, proclaimed that North Korea was a “Paradise on Earth,” and “anything needed for life including housing, food, clothes were fully guaranteed.” The North Korean government intended to attract ethnic Koreans to meet its labor shortage and support a campaign to demonstrate socialist North Korea’s political superiority to the world by encouraging Zainichi, most of whom originally had roots in South Korea, to relocate to North Korea. 

 

 

While participants of the program quickly realized the North Korean government’s promises were false, upon arrival, North Korean authorities prevented us from returning to Japan. We were completely shocked to see the poverty and the skinny people lining up to welcome us at the port of arrival. We realized that we were deceived, but we were not allowed to return. Those who demanded to go back to Japan were arrested and many never came back.

 

The 2014 United Nations Commission of Inquiry report on human rights in North Korea found that North Korean authorities committed crimes against humanity. The commission concluded that “[t]he gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a State that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world.” 

 

However, accountability has been an uphill battle, and this case is one of the few attempts made in the world to bring justice to survivors of North Korea’s human rights abuses. We were initially hesitant to sue the North Korean government, as like many other North Korean escapees, we were afraid for the potentiality of reprisals against our relatives who remain in North Korea.  

 

However, we decided that we needed to establish efforts to seek justice, as we were extremely lucky in our successful attempt to defect North Korea alive. As such, we fight today for the many others who continue to languish and suffer in North Korea. Atrocities and suffering will only continue without accountability.

 

By winning this case in the Japanese court, we want to urge Japan’s new prime minister, Fumio Kishida, to demand Kim Jong Un to allow those remaining in North Korea to return to Japan. Hundreds of thousands of victims of the “Paradise on Earth” program and their family members in North Korea await that opportunity as they continue to suffer in poverty. Moreover, we also want to use the legal victory to encourage the international community to recognize this decades-long atrocity and support our efforts.

 

As no legal aid systems in Japan have supported us thus far, we do not hold the financial capacity to pursue our endeavors for justice. We ask for your support to help us continue our journey in holding the North Korean government accountable for their abuses.

 

Sincerely,

 

Ms. Eiko Kawasaki, North Korean defector, survivor of the North Korea’s “Paradise on Earth” campaign, and a plaintiff of the “repatriation program” litigation

 

On behalf of the five plaintiffs of the North Korea’s “repatriation program” litigation

 

My story in 2016 at the Los Angeles Times is available here:

 

93,000 people voluntarily left Japan for North Korea after World War II. Or did they?
https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-japan-north-korea-return-20160729-snap-story.html

 

A reporting on the Oct 14 court hearing is here:

Defectors tell court they were promised ‘paradise on Earth’ in North Korea
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/14/defectors-tell-court-promised-paradise-on-earth-north-korea