This event is co-hosted by the Governments of the United States, Republic of Korea, and Luxembourg. This event is co-organized by a global coalition of 25 civil society partners. Coalition members include the Centro para la Apertura y el Desarrollo de America Latina, Center for Justice and Accountability, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, Global Rights Compliance, HanVoice, Human Rights Watch, International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea, International Federation for Human Rights, Korean War POW Family Association, Liberty in North Korea, Mulmangcho, Network for North Korean Democracy and Human Rights, Now Action and Unity for Human Rights, People for Successful Corean Reunification, Stepping Stones, Sunny Pictures, THINK, Tongilmom, Transitional Justice Working Group, Unification Academy, Unification Media Group, and UNISEED.
In-Person attendance is invitation only.
All are invited to view via live stream.
About the Speakers:
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Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel is a Luxembourgish lawyer and politician who currently serves as the 14th deputy prime minister of Luxembourg and as the minister for Foreign Affairs since 2023. He served as the 24th prime minister of Luxembourg from 2013 to 2023. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies (1999–2013) and Mayor of Luxembourg City (2011–2013). He pursued higher education studies at the University of Nancy, where he was awarded a master’s degree in public and European law from the Faculty of Law. |
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Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul currently serves as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea since January 2024. He most recently served as the ROK Ambassador to the United Nations (2016-2019). His other major appointments include Ambassador to Spain (2008-2011), and Ambassador to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva (2005-2006). Cho has held several trade-related positions, including chairman of the World Trade Organization dispute panel and Government Procurement Committee in Geneva, Ambassador for Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2011-2012), Deputy Minister of Trade (2006-2008), Director General for Bilateral Trade (2003-2005), and Deputy Director General for Trade Policy Planning and North American and European Trade (2002-2003). Cho received a bachelor’s degree in law from Seoul National University (1979) and continued his studies in public international law at the Graduate School of Seoul National University (1979-1981) and international relations at Oxford University (1982-1983).
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| Dr. Dafna H. Rand is the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL). Previously, she served in numerous roles across the State Department, including: Director, Office of Foreign Assistance (F); Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, DRL; Policy Planning Staff (S/P) member. From 2017-2021, she served as the Vice President of Policy and Research at Mercy Corps, a non-governmental organization working in 40 countries to support communities in need. She also served at the National Security Council during the Obama administration. Dr. Rand is the former Deputy Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and a former professional staff member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI). She started her career in government as the foreign policy and defense legislative assistant to Senator Frank R. Lautenberg. Dr. Rand’s research has focused on international security and democratic reform in the Middle East and North Africa, including two books on the subject. She earned a PhD in political science at Columbia University and an AB at Harvard University. Originally from Massachusetts, Dr. Rand now lives with her husband and three children in Maryland. |
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Ambassador Julie Turner was sworn in as the U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues on October 13, 2023. Ambassador Turner is globally recognized as an expert in the area of human rights and democracy and has worked over the past 20 years to strengthen democratic institutions and promote human rights throughout the East Asia and Pacific Region. Most recently, she served as the Office Director in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) Office of East Asia and the Pacific at the U.S. Department of State and previously was the Director for Southeast Asia at the National Security Council. During her time at the State Department, she served as the special assistant to the first U.S. Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights and worked as a program analyst in the Bureau of Information Resource Management Office of eDiplomacy. As a career civil service employee and former Presidential Management Fellow, Ambassador Turner has dedicated her career to advancing human rights around the world. Ambassador Turner is a graduate of Pepperdine University and the University of Maryland.
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Mr. Teruaki Masumoto is the brother of Rumiko Masumoto, a Japanese citizen who was abducted by North Korea. He served as the Secretary General of the Japanese Association of the Families of Victims Kidnapped by North Korea, an organization that works toward a comprehensive resolution of the issue of the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea, from 2003 to 2014. |
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Ms. Son Myung-hwa is a North Korean escapee and the daughter of Son Dong-sik, a South Korean POW who was forced to work in North Korean coal mines and a logging factory for decades before he died of cancer. She currently serves as the Chair of the Korean War POW Family Association, an organization that advocates for the 110 families of South Korean POWs who were never returned to South Korea. |
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Ms. Chahee Lee Stanfield was separated from her father and brother following the start of the Korean War. She serves as the Executive Director of the National Coalition on Divided Families, an organization dedicated to reuniting Korean American families who were divided by the Korean War. Her organization’s advocacy has led to the passage of three bills designed to help Korean Americans reconnect with their family in North Korea. |
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Ms. Kim Kyu Li is a North Korean escapee who left the country in the 1990s and currently lives in the United Kingdom. Last year, her sister, Cheol-ok, a fellow North Korean escapee who was living in China, was one of 500 North Korean escapees who were repatriated to North Korea following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
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Mr. Kim Jeong Sam is the brother of Kim Jong Uk, a South Korean missionary who was arrested after he entered North Korea with religious materials in October 2013. He was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment in a North Korean labour camp. |