(LEAD) Unification minister says inflow of outside information important for N.K. residents

▲ Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho delivers a speech at "The Sages Group and Digital Freedom Symposium" in Seoul on Nov. 29, 2023. (Yonhap)

▲ This photo, provided by the unification ministry, shows participants of the Sages Group Dialogue that took place Nov. 29, 2023. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) S Korea-NK human rights

(LEAD) Unification minister says inflow of outside information important for N.K. residents

(ATTN: ADDS details in last four paras, photo)

SEOUL, Nov. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's point man on North Korea stressed Wednesday the importance of providing outside information to North Korean people as a means to improve dire human rights conditions in the North.

Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho made the remarks at a forum in Seoul featuring the Sages Group -- an association of prominent experts on North Korean human rights -- as the reclusive regime has been tightening its grip on residents to block the inflow of outside information.

In 2020, North Korea adopted a new law on "rejecting the reactionary ideology and culture" that bans people from distributing or watching media originating from South Korea, the United States and other countries.

"But the desire for freedom tends to become stronger the more it is suppressed," Kim said.

"The impact of outside information will be especially stronger among the so-called jangmadang generation, or the North's millenials and Gen Zers, who are familiar with the culture of the Korean Wave," Kim said, referring to private marketplaces in the North that have emerged amid a lack of state benefits, such as food rationing.

Kim said that North Korean residents will be able to find the "path to freedom" despite tight state control only when the government, civil society groups and the international community work together to explore "creative" alternatives.

Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo also stressed the importance of human rights, saying the issue is the "essence" of the government's policy on North Korea.

Kim called for the North's human rights record to be included as a "key agenda" in South Korea's diplomacy and inter-Korean ties.

Wednesday's symposium, organized by the Yonsei Human Liberty Center and Center for International Affairs, was held under the theme "The Sages Group and Digital Freedom Symposium."

During the event, the group announced eight recommendations regarding the North's human rights issue, including calling on the United Nations Security Council to hold Pyongyang accountable for human rights violations and providing a U.N. refugee camp for North Korean defectors in China.

The unification ministry said the group resumed its activities for the first time in seven years, with three members of the group who also took part in the U.N. Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Human Rights in North Korea holding discussions with the minister ahead of the symposium.

The COI's landmark report published in 2014, the first official documentation by the U.N. addressing the grim issue, accused the North Korean leadership of systemically violating North Koreans' human rights and recommended the North be referred to the International Criminal Court.

During their meeting Tuesday, members of the Sages Group called for efforts to raise awareness about the North's human rights issue among young South Koreans, the ministry said.

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