Have you ever been concerned about human rights problems of North Korean defectors? Because university students are busy building their resume for getting jobs, they don't pay attention to human rights problems these days. Chungbuk Times(CBT) reporters interviewed Byun Joo-na, a professor of Chonbuk National University, to inform students how serious the human rights problems of North Korean defectors are and to ask students to have an interest in the human rights conditions of North Korea. Byun Joo-na has studied deep into human rights problems since 1992. Recently, she has paid attention to human rights conditions of North Korea and is studying their human rights problems.
 

Byun Joo-na has been interested in North Koreans' Human rights
As a professor of the College of Nursing, I think that health is a basic human right. Although everyone has a right to enjoy their good health, there are many people who are injured by political authority.
When I studied the victims of the LA riots and the 5.18 Gwangju democratic movement, I realized that there were many victims whose basic rights like health were infringed. Soon after, I started to promote human rights activities. 
I think that the victims who have recently suffered the most from government are North Korean defectors. They couldn't be guaranteed basic health rights because of severe torture. According to my research, the number of torture incidents that were done to citizens who attempted to escape from North Korea or political prisoners in the Agency for National Security Planning(ANSP) and Moosan Prison Camp in North Korea is about 200 to 300.
The number of North Korean defectors tortured by their government has reached about 20,000. However, an important thing is that the level of North Korean defectors' satisfaction is not so high. Although they are given job training after they escape from North Korea they can't do their work properly because of post-traumatic stress disorder, and they can't live normal lives because of physical pain.
 

Shocking North Korean defectors' actual conditions and her effort
While I did many activities to protect North Korean defectors' rights, I met many of them. Most of them managed to escape from death or being tortured by their government because they were suspected as political prisoners. They only had a choice between dying of famine or dying of defection. 
I knew that many North Korean defectors' basic rights were being violated much more than the examples which were being reported to the UN. The most shocking story was a mother and a daughter's story. After they earned money in China, they went back to North Korea. During this process, they were caught by government agents. To prepare for the agents' crackdown, they hid money in their vaginas and went back to North Korea. However, an officer who already knew about this method gave them a choice of doing over 600 'sit ups' or taking out the money from their vaginas by themselves.
This story made me panic. I was shocked that this kind of torture's purpose was not sex but money. I have met many victims of abuse, and I have heard about many kinds of torture. If public officers in North Korea were human, they couldn't do these torture.
To help them, I have visited Gyeonggi-do where North Korean defectors are densely living in and provided medical service, psychotherapy session and U.N support funds for them. In addition, I plan to write a book named "Incurable Escape" to let people know about miserable North Koreans' lives. I hope that many people read my book and become interested in North Korean defectors who suffered human rights abuse from political authority.

Professor Byun Joo-Na`s activity to protect human rights
I have reported the case of human abuse in North Korea to the UN Commission on Human Rights and International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims since 2009 and received funds for North Korean defectors. I organized Jeonbuk Human Rights Civic Group with Park Won-Soon(the current Mayor of Seoul) by using these funds and provided mental and medical services to North Korean defectors. However, while I have helped them for 2 years, I realized that providing enough food and comfortable houses are much more important things to them than providing medical services only. After learning that, I have tried to provide actual help for them like making breads and cookies. 
 

To university students
Now, I give a lecture every semester at Chonbuk National University and give a special lecture named "Incurable Escape" once or twice a year at the university's School of Medicine. I show a video about North Korean`s real lives and interviews with North Korean defectors.
Many students are confounded and amazed when I give a lecture. While I have given students many lectures, I felt that many Korean university students knew nothing and were not interested in North Korea or North Korean defectors.
Also, students who have negative perceptions toward North Korea from watching media coverage of North Korea take a gloomy view of helping them to solve the serious human rights problem in North Korea. I would like to advise students on two things.
First, I hope Korean students will become interested in North Korean and their human rights. In addition, I hope they will spread the knowledge about North Korea by using the Internet to inform citizens of the world how serious North Korea's human right problems are!
Second, there is no need to have a negative view about improving North Koreans' human rights. I want to help North Korean people who are not assured their fundamental human rights, not the North Korea political regime. I hope students who have pessimistic perceptions toward North Korea will not be offended by North Koreans and North Korean defectors and have a more objective perspective.