Special Lecture by Human Rights Activist for North Korea, Kim Young-hwan On September 12th, Kim Young-hwan, 49, a human rights activist for North Korea, gave a special lecture at New Millennium Hall. He started the lecture by explaining his reason for fighting for human rights. “I participated in the communist movement in the 1980s as resistance against the military dictatorship. Now, I am a human rights activist for North Korea because of my anger at the authoritarian regime.” Some 2 hundred students attended the lecture. Kim, who entered North Korea illegally and had face-to-face talks with Kim Il-sung, gave an account of his transformation from a revolutionary thinker to a human rights activist. The talk lasted for over 2 hours. Kim is known to have spread communist ideology to fellow activists. He was accepted into Seoul National University’s law school in 1982 and entered the underground movement group. In May 1991, he was invited to North Korea and during the 2-week visit he had 2 meetings with the late founding leader of North Korea, Kim Il-sung. Kim said that during his visit to North Korea, he witnessed the repressed social ambiance as well as the political and social imbalance which raised doubts in him. He said that, “Communism seeks for a high level equality. Economical, political and social equality and fairness was the aim behind the communist movement. However, the inequality and disparity between ideology and reality disillusioned me.” When he saw the gap between the lives of officials and ordinary citizens, he realized that North Korean society was headed in the opposite direction of the communist ideal. Kim’s career took a dramatic turn since then. He said that, “I questioned myself as a revolutionist and thought that I cannot let the North Korean people continue to live under those miserable conditions. Accepting a new ideology was painful, but I decided to dedicate the rest of my life to working for freedom and liberation of North Koreans who are suffering.” He noted at the lecture that there are certain aspects of the National Security Law that need to be amended when asked about his thoughts on it. He said that, “Article 7 of the National Security Law condemning praise for or inspiring anti-government movement should be abolished in order to protect human rights and ensure freedom of expression in media.”