Thank you, Madam President.
I am honored to be here and to speak about my family, who have been detained in a North Korean political prison camp in Yoduk.
This Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that my wife, Shin Sook Ja, and our two daughters Hae Won and Kyu Won have been arbitrarily detained since my two daughters were only 11 and 9 years old.
The only reason for their detention is that their father refused an order to kidnap two South Korean students and left North Korea.
Because of that, my family has spent three decades in a political prison camp; where unimaginable human rights violations are committed.
Now, 25 years later, I have come here as a 70 year old man to thank the UN for its concern, and also to tell you of my last wish; to embrace my wife and daughters, if only once more.
Finally, we need to save the two hundred thousand innocent lives being wasted inside these camps. These political prisoners are nameless and faceless.
They are victims of arbitrary detention, torture, enslavement, sexual violence, and many other crimes against humanity.
The campaign to rescue my family is the first step to saving these two hundred thousand lives. With your help we can save all the unknown daughters and sons from those dark places. Thank you.
