American, Defector's 30-year bond for North Korean freedom (2)CHOSUN Daily:
American, defector's 30-year bond for North Korean freedom
30-year collaboration influenced U.S. laws, UN inquiry on North Korean rights
By Kim Eun-joong (9-15-25)
‘In distant lands / the winds of freedom blew / when the world stayed silent / before Korea’s pain / you sowed the seeds of hope… / to all defectors / seeking life / you became the light.’
Kim Seong-Min, former President of Free North Korea Radio, who led anti-North Korea radio broadcasts for over 20 years as a North Korean defector and was dubbed the “Elder Brother of North Korean Democratization,” passed away on the 12th of last month. In his autobiographical poetry collection published last June, there is a poem titled “Suzanne Scholte.” It honors Suzanne Scholte, President of the Defense Forum Foundation, the “Doyenne of the North Korean human rights movement,” who has been devoted to the cause since the 1990s, including facilitating former North Korean Workers’ Party Secretary Hwang Jang-Yop’s congressional testimony. Though an unexpected pairing—a North Korean defector from Jagang Province’s Huichon and an American woman from Connecticut—their shared passion for human rights in North Korea bound them for three decades.
In the North Korean human rights community, Kim and Scholte’s relationship transcended siblinghood. Since 2004, they co-hosted the “North Korea Freedom Week” events annually, traveling between South Korea and the U.S., and raised global awareness of North Korean people’s realities through U.S. congressional hea
rings, forums, and human rights events. Their efforts laid the groundwork for multiple countries, starting with the U.S., to enact the North Korean Human Rights Act, and in 2014, the U.N. Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Human Rights in North Korea was established. Thanks to Scholte’s mediation, Kim became the first North Korean defector to meet former U.S. President George W. Bush. Even after receiving a terminal diagnosis for lung and brain cancer, Kim continued his twice-daily radio broadcasts until his final moments. Scholte reportedly visited Congress tirelessly to secure statements from Republican and Democratic lawmakers for these broadcasts.
Scholte told this newspaper on the 15th, “Kim was my beloved younger brother and colleague for nearly 30 years. Though not blood-related, we shared the passion for North Korea’s liberation from the Kim regime. Despite our different nationalities and backgrounds, we always reached the same conclusion: “North Korean people come first, and they too deserve freedom from oppression.’” She added, “Kim always called me his beloved older sister, and I always called him my beloved younger brother. Whenever I visited South Korea, he would greet me at the airport, and I would salute him, wearing his military-style cap.” Scholte was born in 1959, and Kim in 1962.
Scholte, who primarily resides in the U.S., recently visited South Korea after being selected as the recipient of this newspaper’s annual Manhae Peace Award. She planned to entrust the prize money to her foundation to support Kim’s radio broadcasts and bring Kim and his colleagues to the award ceremony at Baekdamsa Temple, but these wishes remained unfulfilled.
Paradoxically, this schedule allowed her to say her final farewell. Scholte visited Kim Seong-Min at Ewha Seoul Hospital in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, on the 11th stating, “For the past seven years since his terminal diagnosis, Kim grew weaker day by day but never lost his passion for North Korea’s freedom and the struggle. He was the bravest and most dedicated freedom fighter I have ever known.”
Link to Eng Article: https://www.chosun.com/english/world-en/2025/09/15/UVZN2MRWPJE37PP7CA4XMSZE3U/
Link to Korean Article: https://www.chosun.com/international/us/2025/09/15/5K7MQB4OXJBKXBDAPMYBS6BHJ4/