During the 21st North Korea Freedom Week in Washington, D.C., the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Indo-Pacific Subcommittee hosted a ‘Roundtable with North Korean Defectors’ on July 9th at 10:30 a.m. local time.

The subcommittee’s chair, Representative Young Kim, invited North Korean defectors to share their experiences and promised to continue to provide platforms for their testimonies.

“It would be impossible for me to fully imagine the pain and struggles they faced in North Korea, during their escape, and after resettlement. Still, I will continue to do my best doing everything to support them,” she stated.

The defectors who testified emphasized that introducing information into North Korea is crucial for effecting change.

Eui-hyuk Kim, who escaped with his family of nine on a small fishing boat, and Ji-young Kim, who is now working as a broadcaster in South Korea, emphasized that it was the inflow of information from the outside that enlightened them.

Eui-hyuk reflected, “Had I not learned about the world outside North Korea, my family and I would still be trapped there. Continuous information inflow is necessary so that the next generation, who are still being brainwashed in North Korea, can learn the truth.”

Ji-young recalled her time at Kim Il-sung University, where the popularity of South Korean dramas was already evident. She testified that external information changed her perspective, despite growing up in a North Korean elite family that was loyal to Kim Il-sung.

During her testimony, she also criticized the selfishness and vanity of the North Korean elite, who, while indifferent to the hardships of ordinary people, aspired to emulate the affluent lifestyles of South Koreans. “I thought Kim Il-sung University students were all loyalists, but their enthusiasm for South Korean culture and indifference to the people’s real lives also worked as one of the causes that changed my perspective,” she noted.

“North Koreans already know how well South Korea is doing. Sometimes I get contacted by relatives asking for money, and the amounts they request are enormous,” she said. Ji-young also briefly recounted her escape, during which she prepared poison as a precaution against the possibility of forced repatriation. She shared, “Forced repatriation to North Korea is not merely a matter of paying a fine and receiving punishment; it is so dreadful that it would be better to die than to be caught.”

Se-yul Jang, head of the Gyeoreool Unification Association, who has been actively involved in introducing external information into North Korea through various channels, also spoke at the event. He emphasized the need for continued and diversified information inflow. “I am still in contact with many friends in North Korea. We are united in our desire to establish a free and democratic society, and they are fighting hard in their own ways in North Korea,” he stated.