HUMAN ASIA

The 8th Global Human Rights School - The Jangmadang Generation: Young People & Human Rights in North Korea'

On Saturday 15 August, Human Asia hosted the 8th Global Human Rights School under the theme of ‘The Jangmadang Generation: Young People & Human Rights in North Korea’. The guest speaker for this year’s event was Sokeel Park, South Korea Country Director at  Liberty in North Korea (LiNK). Due to the spread of COVID-19, this year the school was held online via Zoom.  

After a brief introduction of Human Asia, the session kicked off with Sokeel Park’s lecture on the jangmadang generation. The presentation explored what life is like today for young people growing up in North Korea; the state of human rights violations in North Korea together with the international community’s response and the 2014 COI, and ongoing evolving changes within North Korea, particularly regarding the dissemination of foreign information, marketisation, the importance of the jangmadang generation, and cross border networks. Mr. Park also provided more details on his organisation LiNK, and how ordinary students across the world can act to support change in North Korea.

The participating students then gave their own presentations on posters that they had made before the human rights school, based on LiNK’s documentary ‘The Jangmadang Generation’. Each student introduced themselves and described their interpretation of the documentary and the meanings behind their posters. Mr. Park then briefly gave his thoughts on the students’ work.

Thank you again to all of our participants who joined us for this year’s Global Human Rights School. We hope to see you again next year!