August 2012 Action Item

This month, join the Jubilee Campaign as they call for the release of Shin Sook Ja and her two daughters Oh Hae Won and Oh Kyu Won. Shin Sook Ja was a South Korean national working in Germany as a nurse in the 1970s when she met her husband Dr. Oh Kil-nam. Because of his work in Marxist economics, the North Korean government persuaded Dr. Oh Kil-nam to emigrate to North Korea. Though Shin was reluctant to go, her husband was convinced by promises of an important position as an economist and with medical treatment for Shin's hepatitis. So in the mid-1980s, the couple and their two young daughters arrived in North Korea to be confronted with brutality, poverty, and an extreme indoctrination program, rather than the life they had been promised. Eventually Shin and her husband were used as radio broadcasters in the propaganda war between North and South Korea. Tired of perpetuating the lies which had deceived them, Shin encouraged her husband to escape when he was sent by the North Korean government back to Europe in an effort to entice other South Koreans to defect to the North. In November 1986, Dr. Oh was able to escape but unable to free his wife and two daughters. Shortly thereafter, the three were sent to the infamous Yodok prison, otherwise known as Camp 15, a camp specially designed for “enemies of the regime.” Shin and her daughters were reported as being seen in Yodok by other prisoners who had defected to South Korea, until they were moved to the “total control zones, a level of the camp where prisoners are never released, and from which only one prisoner has ever escaped.

Act!

After decades under these brutally harsh conditions, the only hope for Shin and her daughters is international pressure, so send your letter today!


WRITE TO:

Ambassador Sin Son Ho
Permanent Mission of Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the United Nations
820 2nd Street, 13th Floor
New York, NY 10017

Salutation:
Your Excellency

Suggested points:

  • Indicate you are writing on behalf Shin Sook Ja and her two daughters Oh Hae Won and Oh Kyu Won, imprisoned in Yodok prison camp in November 1987.
  • Indicate that you understand that Shin Sook Ja has not committed any criminal activity, but that she and her daughters were imprisoned solely based in retribution for the defection of Dr. Oh Kil-nam.
  • State that the imprisonment of Shin and her daughters for the actions of their husband and father is a violation of international law, as well as being cruel and inhumane.
  • Strongly urge that these three women be released and allowed to seek asylum in a neutral country, especially as they pose no threat to the DPRK.
  • Finally, state that you are aware that Shin Sook Ja has been reported dead, which is understandable given the length and harsh conditions of her imprisonment. If this is the case, request the return of her body or at least permit an independent examination of her body, so that it can be positively identified.