Voices from the Silenced: The PSCORE and BASIS North Korea Event at Wijnhaven
On March 22nd at precisely 16.45h, we excitedly opened the doors of Wijnhaven’s biggest lecture hall and watched more than 400 students and staff members stream into the many increasingly cramped rows of our long-awaited ‘North Korea Event’. At the grand desk below between the busy-looking organizers from BASIS, four calm and concentrated people in suits were checking their speeches and presentations one last time. Dressed in modest black, two representatives of the South Korean NGO PSCORE and one translator, seemed to direct the audience’s attention to the woman dressed in bright red. A peculiar prominence for all of us in International Studies knowing of the unprecedented enigma of the country of her childhood, family, and home – The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
After a short and concise introduction by Professor Casper Wits to contextualize the role of PSCORE – People for Successful Corean Reunification – at this event and South Korea itself, Louise Cartmill, a former intern at the NGO, gave an overview of the work she had done during her months behind the curtains of the organization. Spreading awareness for human rights, educating North Korean refugees, and campaigning for reunification were the three main pillars of her tasks, very much paralleling the foundations of the mission itself.
Afterwards, Kim Tae-Hoon and Nam Bada, President and Secretary General of PSCORE, dove into the depths of their work and advocacy, reflecting on their impressive career ranging from the Seoul District Court and national human rights work, up to the yearly UN Convention in Geneva, from which they have made their way this March to meet with BASIS and speak to the hundreds of students who have joined.
An introductory video explaining the atrocities of the daily workings of the Kim Dynasty on the Northern part of the Korean peninsula, pathed the way to the absolute silence that quickly absorbed the entire room when defector Myeonghui Ji started talking.
With stoic temperance, the translator typed away on what Mrs. Ji had to share. Not only for us organizers this was the long-awaited crescendo, but it seemed that everyone was absolutely captivated, intently listening to every word she said. A most unique vacuum we found ourselves locked in, as her testament of tears and blood swept through the rows of the lecture hall, leaving all in pure awe. She had crossed the North Korean border several times, trying her best to balance the urge of personal freedom with her obligations to her family and children, and having to suffer imprisonment, torture, and inhumane labour. Silent tears were seen here and there, and at some point, our two photographers put down their cameras, sat down, and also surrendered to the emotional Korean words echoing through the hall.
Being followed by another North Korean defector who joined through a video call and wants his identity to be kept private, another perspective on the terrible happenings of the peculiar regime-state was recounted. In the end, dozens of questions had accumulated through a shared QR-Code, and the two defectors generously took their time to selectively answer as many as they could.
In conflicted wonder, the event ended in admiring applause, and a small group of us organizers plus some lecturers and the representatives of PSCORE reflected on the event in the cafeteria at Wijnhaven, concluding the evening with Mr. Kim, who, thrilled by the huge success of the day, proposed to make this event an annual tradition before they make their way back to South Korea.
- Yamal van Oordt, BASIS