Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights

NKnet was founded in Seoul in 1998. Its founders are veterans of South Korea’s democracy movement and most at one time formerly supported North Korea’s Juche ideology. By the mid-1990s, however, those who would go on to found the group, including prominent activist Kim Young Hwaan, publicly renounced their support for the North Korean regime in response to increasing evidence of human rights violations in the country.{{cite web|title=History of NKnet|url=http://en.nknet.org/about/history/|work=NKnet|accessdate=July 5, 2013}}{{cite news|last=Yang|first=Jung A|title=Who Is Kim Young Hwan, a.k.a. "Steel"?|url=http://en.nknet.org/writings/nk-vision/no36/who-is-kim-young-hwan-aka-steel/|accessdate=July 5, 2013|newspaper=NK Vision|date=June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808052155/http://en.nknet.org/writings/nk-vision/no36/who-is-kim-young-hwan-aka-steel/|archive-date=August 8, 2012|url-status=dead}}

Past activities have included training programs, seminars, photo exhibitions,{{cite news|script-title=ko:통영의딸 전시회 찾은 시민 "믿기지가 않아요": 27일 인사동 서호 갤러리서 사진 전시회…"사람들 北현실 잘 몰라"|url=http://www.dailynk.com/korean/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=92793|accessdate=July 5, 2013|newspaper=Daily NK|date=October 27, 2011|author=김윤실|language=Korean}} a speaker series,{{cite web|title=Speaker Series|url=http://en.nknet.org/category/events-programs/speaker-series/|work=NKnet|accessdate=August 4, 2013}}{{cite news|title=Seoul series on North Korean rights|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20120418001271|accessdate=July 5, 2013|newspaper=The Korea Herald|date=April 18, 2012}} and an international conference on human rights in North Korea co-sponsored with the National Endowment for Democracy in 2010.{{cite web|title=North Korea's Shifting Political Landscape: Will Succession Provide Opportunities for Expanded Human Rights and Democracy in the Hermit Kingdom? (joint conference) |url=http://www.ned.org/events/north-koreas-shifting-political-landscape |work=National Endowment for Democracy |accessdate=July 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607071329/http://www.ned.org/events/north-koreas-shifting-political-landscape |archivedate=June 7, 2013 }} In 2004, NKnet also launched and later spun off the Daily NK, an online newspaper that has a network of sources within North Korea.{{cite news|title=North Korea denies punishing citizens for not mourning enough|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/16/world/asia/north-korea-mourners|access-date=August 4, 2013|newspaper=CNN|date=January 16, 2012|author=Jiyeon Lee|author2=Jethro Mullen}} The organization also started Radio Free Chosun, which broadcasts to North Korea over shortwave radio.{{cite web|title=The Media and North Korea -- Old Styles, Evolving Strategy in the Kim Jong-eun Era|url=http://www.donaldkirk.com/_b_the_media_and_north_korea_under_kim_jong_eun___b__105114.htm|work=DonaldKirk.com|accessdate=August 5, 2013|author=Donald Kirk}}

In 2011, NKnet hosted the world’s first annual North Korean Human Rights International Film Festival.{{cite news|last=Lee|first=Hyo-won|title=Films probe experimentalism, human rights|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2011/11/141_97936.html|access-date=July 5, 2013|newspaper=Korea Times|date=November 3, 2011}} In September 2012, it hosted its second annual film festival.{{cite news|title=Film Fest Raises Awareness of Human Rights in N.Korea|url=http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2012/09/21/2012092100770.html|accessdate=July 5, 2013|newspaper=The Chosun Ilbo|date=Sep 21, 2012}}

NKnet is a member of The International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK).{{cite web|title=Member Organizations|url=http://stopnkcrimes.org/bbs/board.php?bo_table=member&page=3|work=International Coalition to Stop Crimes against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK)|accessdate=July 5, 2013}} The organization has also participated in various forums and campaigns including the “Daughter of Tongyeong Rescue Campaign" on behalf of Shin Suk-ja.

NKnet published the magazine Locks quarterly from 2001 to 2005.{{cite web|title=Keys|url=http://dailynk.com/english/keys/2005/lastkeys.php|work=Daily NK|accessdate=July 5, 2013|archive-date=June 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614053922/http://www.dailynk.com/english/keys/2005/lastkeys.php|url-status=dead}} NKnet currently publishes NK Vision each month, a Korean magazine of North Korean news for scholars, reporters and others. Each month NK Vision carries round-table discussions, expert analysis, book reviews, and interviews with scholars, government officials, North Korean refugees, and activists. Past issues have examined in depth the succession of Kim Jung Un, marketization, the Korean Wave (Hallyu)’s reach into North Korea, missile tests and nuclear programs, and the US and ROK elections.{{cite web|title=NK Vision Magazine (English)|url=http://en.nknet.org/category/writings/nk-vision/|work=NK Vision|accessdate=July 28, 2013}}{{cite web|title=NK Vision Magazine (Korean)|url=http://www.nkvision.com|work=NK Vision|accessdate=July 28, 2013}}

In 2011, NKnet published a Defector Survey on International Food Aid Distribution, based on interviews with 500 people who had left North Korea. Among other findings, 79% of respondents said they never received international food aid, while 27% of international food aid recipients reported they had to return some or all of the aid to authorities after international monitors left.{{cite web|title=Defector Survey on International Food Aid Distribution|url=http://en.nknet.org/writings/reports/north-korean-defector-survey-international-food-aid-distribution/|work=NKnet|accessdate=July 28, 2013}}{{cite news|title=Recent NK Defectors Confirm Grim Food Situation|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2011/04/08/recent-nk-defectors-confirm-grim-food-situation/|accessdate=August 4, 2013|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal's Korea Realtime Blog|date=April 8, 2011|author=Alastair Gale}}{{cite news|title=North Korea 'executes three people found guilty of cannibalism'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9259043/North-Korea-executes-three-people-found-guilty-of-cannibalism.html|accessdate=August 4, 2013|newspaper=Telegraph|date=May 11, 2012|author=Julian Ryall}}

In 2012, Intermedia published A Quiet Opening: North Koreans in a Changing Media Environment, a report which featured data gathered by NKnet.{{cite web|title=A Quiet Opening: North Koreans in a Changing Media Environment|url=http://www.intermedia.org/a-quiet-opening-in-north-korea/|work=Intermedia|accessdate=July 28, 2013}}

On December 11, 2009, NKnet received the Human Rights Award of Korea from the National Human Rights Commission of Korea for its role in raising awareness of human rights violations in North Korea.{{cite news|title=NKnet Collects ROK Human Rights Award|url=http://dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk03100&num=5768|accessdate=August 4, 2013|newspaper=Daily NK|date=December 10, 2009|author=Kim So Yeol}}{{cite news|script-title=ko:한국인권상 수상 유세희 이사장|url=http://www.rfa.org/korean/weekly_program/rfa_interview/rfa_invitation-11232009134510.html|accessdate=July 28, 2013|newspaper=Radio Free Asia|date=November 23, 2009|language=Korean}}

On December 10, 2012, the South Korean government awarded NKnet head researcher Kim Young Hwan the Order of Civil Merit "for his contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights in commemoration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Earlier that year Kim and three other activists had been arrested in China and held for 114 days. Kim said he was arrested for assisting North Korean refugees in China and that the authorities tortured him during his detention. The Chinese government denied torturing him.{{cite news|title=Korean gov't to award medal to prominent activist|url=https://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/12/113_126125.html|access-date=August 5, 2013|newspaper=Korea Times|date=December 4, 2012|agency=Yonhap}}{{cite news|title=South Korea Repeats Call to Investigate Torture Claim|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/01/world/asia/seoul-demands-that-china-respond-to-torture-allegation.html|accessdate=August 5, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 31, 2012|author=Choe Sang-hun}}

The organization's funding has come from the National Endowment for Democracy{{cite web|title=NED 2011 Annual Report - North Korea |url=http://www.ned.org/publications/annual-reports/2011-annual-report/asia/north-korea |work=National Endowment for Democracy |accessdate=July 28, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806152233/http://www.ned.org/publications/annual-reports/2011-annual-report/asia/north-korea |archivedate=August 6, 2013 }} and through partnering on a project-to-project basis with other organizations and the South Korean Ministry of Unification{{cite web|title=First-Ever North Korean Human Rights International Film Festival|url=http://en.nknet.org/events-programs/film-festival/2011/north-korean-human-rights-intl-filmfest/|work=NKnet|accessdate=July 5, 2013}} and Ministry of Public Administration and Security.{{cite web|title=2nd North Korean Human Rights International Film Festival|url=http://en.nknet.org/events-programs/film-festival/2012/2nd-north-korean-human-rights-iff/|work=NKnet|accessdate=August 4, 2013}}

NKnet’s work has been quoted or mentioned by Korean and international news media including the Chosun Ilbo, Wall Street Journal,{{cite news|title=North Korea Razes Unofficial Market|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125325642051922309|accessdate=August 4, 2013|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=September 21, 2009|author=Evan Ramstad}} National Public Radio,{{cite news|title=North Korea Ups Police Presence After Kim's Death|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/12/21/144056075/pyongyang-ups-police-presence-ahead-of-kims-funeral|accessdate=August 4, 2013|newspaper=National Public Radio|date=December 21, 2011|author=Anthony Kuhn}} New York Times,{{cite news|title=A little light shines through North Korea's blackout|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/15/technology/15iht-korea.html?pagewanted=all|accessdate=August 4, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 16, 2005|author=James Brooke}}{{cite news|title=North Korea Said to Shut Market in Bid for Control|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/world/asia/20korea.html|accessdate=August 4, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 19, 2009|author=Choe Sang-hun}} Time,{{cite news|title=Why the North Korean Crisis Demands a New Diplomatic Approach|url=https://world.time.com/2013/04/12/why-the-north-korean-crisis-demands-a-new-diplomatic-approach/|access-date=August 4, 2013|newspaper=Time|date=April 12, 2013|author=Emily Rauhala}} Telegraph, il Post,{{cite news|title=L'opposizione in Corea del Nord|url=http://www.ilpost.it/2013/04/12/lopposizione-in-corea-del-nord/|accessdate=August 4, 2013|newspaper=il Post|date=April 12, 2013|author=Elena Zacchetti|language=Italian}} Le Monde,{{cite news|title=La Corée du Nord intensifie ses menaces|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2013/04/01/la-coree-du-nord-intensifie-ses-menaces_3151269_3210.html|accessdate=August 4, 2013|newspaper=Le Monde|date=April 1, 2013|author=Philippe Mesmer|language=French}} and Dagens Nyheter.{{cite news|title=Ilska och svält bland nordkoreaner|url=https://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/ilska-och-svalt-bland-nordkoreaner/|access-date=August 4, 2013|newspaper=Dagens Nyheter (DN)|date=April 14, 2013|author=Johan Nylander|language=Swedish}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Official Website|http://en.nknet.org}}
• {{Official Website|http://nknet.org}} {{in lang|ko}}

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Category:North Korean democracy movements

Category:Human rights in North Korea

Category:Human rights organizations based in South Korea

Category:Organizations based in Seoul

Category:Organizations established in 1999

Category:1999 establishments in South Korea

Category:Organizations specializing in North Korean issues

Category:Democracy promotion