North Korea defectors call to improve rights

The Association of Free North Korean Soldiers made the pledge at a press conference a day before South Korean, U.S. and other officials and activists open a high-profile international conference on human rights abuses in the North.

The three-day conference was organized by South Korean human rights groups and Freedom House, a U.S.-based pro democracy organization that held a similar meeting in Washington in July and plans another in Belgium next March.

Lim Chun Young, who served 14 years in one of the North Korean military’s special warfare units before defecting to the South in 2000, said that former soldiers are best suited to end leader Kim Jong Il’s regime and improve human rights conditions.

“We will try to bring about regime change unless North Korea abolishes its slaughterhouse-like political prison camps and unleashes the freedom of its people who are chained to the country’s system,” Lim said at the news conference.

“This is not word play, but a last warning ahead of action,” Lim said.

In a press release, the group said it plans to forge links with the North Korean military. Lim said the group planned to carry out “direct activities” in relation to North Korean border guards, though he provided no details.

Wednesday’s news conference was attended by eight other former soldiers. Lim said his group includes some 53 ex-soldiers from the special units.

North Korea bristles at outside criticism of its political system and human rights conditions, calling it part of a U.S. plot to overthrow the regime.

North Korea says it doesn’t abuse human rights, despite widespread accusations of torture, public executions and other violations. Between 150,000 and 200,000 people are believed to be held in its prison camps for political reasons, the U.S. State Department said in a report earlier this year.

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