Asan Transitional Justice Conference 2013The Asan Institute for Policy Studies

The Asan Institute for Policy Studies held a conference titled “Transitional Justice in Post-Unification Korea: Peace-Building & Reconciliation” from May 24-25, 2013 in Washington, DC.

The conference began with brief opening remarks given by Ambassador Robert King, the U.S. State Department’s Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, and a keynote address delivered by Ruti Teitel, professor of law at New York University. Presentations were also given by other international law and human rights experts including David Cohen, professor at UC Berkeley and University of Hawaii, Rajiv Narayan, East Asia analyst at Amnesty International, Frank Jannuzi, former Policy Director for East Asian and Pacific Affairs for the Democratic staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Roberta Cohen, co-chair of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK).

Along with other government officials and academic scholars in attendance, the speakers discussed the issue of transitional justice in post-unification Korea. The speakers analyzed various scenarios for Korean unification and the complex conditions that would be encountered post-unification. They also debated how Korea could achieve peace and reconciliation in the post-unification period, with a special focus on dealing with the issue of North Korean human rights violations, and
made specific suggestions on how to create a roadmap for peace.

Finally, in a special session, Shin Dong-hyuk, the only known person to be born in a North Korean political camp and escape to the West, told his life story to an
attentive audience with the help of Andrew Natsios, professor at Texas A&M and former Administrator at USAID. Mr. Shin recounted his experiences, as described in the book “Escape from Camp 14”, about growing up in the North Korean political prison camp system and his subsequent escape to South Korea through China.