Group of some 130 activists demands probe into alleged Chinese torture of South Korean


Lawmakers and activists said Friday they plan to appeal to international bodies over alleged physical abuses, including electrical torture, by Chinese investigators of an activist for North Korean human rights.

They sharply criticized the South Korean government for its tardy and tepid response to the claims by Kim Young-hwan. He was deported to Seoul last week after 114 days of detention in China alongside three other activists for human rights in the communist North.

During the period, they were tortured, deprived of sleep and coerced into 13 hours of daily labor by Chinese investigators, Kim said. The authorities also forced them to promise to keep mum about the abuses as a precondition of their freedom, which he rejected. Beijing has denied the claim.

“If we were to be more aggressive (in raising the issue), there is no better way than to utilize U.N. agencies,” said Choi Hong-jae, a spokesperson for the Committee for the Release of North Korean Human Rights Activist Kim Young Hwan.

Choi said the committee has filed requests since late May for an investigation into the activists’ confinement with the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, and the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in Geneva. 

The Seoul-based group consists of some 130 activists, politicians and other social figures.

“The investigation requests initially targeted a quicker release and return of Kim. We are committed to making complaints but currently discussing where we go from here through consultation with him,” Choi told The Korea Herald.

Kim was arrested March 29 in the southeastern border city of Dalian while helping North Korean refugees. He was charged with “endangering national security.”

The other three are Yoo Jae-gil, 43, Kang Shin-sam, 41, and Lee Sang-yong, 31.

The increasing public and political pressure has placed the Seoul government on a sticky wicket, derailing its pursuit of a tranquil diplomatic settlement with a powerful neighbor.

Ha Tae-keung, a former anti-North Korea activist and now a lawmaker of the ruling Saenuri Party, lambasted the Foreign Ministry for failing to take proper steps even after it learned about the abuses.

“I’ve confirmed with Kim that he was given electric shocks and Yoo was not allowed to lie asleep. Kim said he was subjected to other torture practices but I couldn’t ask further,” Ha told journalists on Friday.

“More shockingly, the ministry and intelligence officials knew all this but had attempted to handle it quietly because it felt burdened about diplomatic friction with China.”

Later in the day, four civic groups including the North Korean Refugee Rescue Network held a news conference in front of the Chinese Embassy in downtown Seoul to demand an apology.

“Electrical torture constitutes a breach of the U.N. Convention Against Torture that China signed in 1988 and a serious human rights violation targeting foreign nationals,” they said.

“The Chinese government should apologize for abuses against Kim and cease oppressing North Korea rights activists. We also urge Seoul to scrap its low-key stance toward China and look strictly into this case.”

Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan reiterated Friday that he will “urge a through, stringent reinvestigation” by China into the activist’s claims, saying his “priority is to protect the people.”

The ministry said it summoned Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Zhang Xinsen to lodge a complaint after Kim Young-hwan told Korean consuls on June 11 about the abuses.

It called in Zhang’s proxy Chen Hai on Monday to ask for a reinvestigation, deputy Foreign Ministry spokesperson Han Hye-jin said at a media briefing Wednesday.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)