mr. hall, how much do you weigh? [laughter] 280 pounds. the reason i ask that, i want to stress that again. if mr. hall was to pluck one hair, don't they get that much on his head but if he did have it on his head, one hair, that is the size of the 1002 area. that is the size of the 1002 area. that is how much time we are talking about. mr. jenkins have you been to anwr? >> several people on our staff and our members have. >> no, have you been there? secondly how can you say it is a sacred area when mr. fenton rexford lived there. that is his area. why is it sacred to you and he wants to drill?

this is two and a half hours. >> come to order. >> thank you for joining us for this very important hearing. human rights record in the entire world. the democratic peoples republic of korea is known to be the world's most isolateed country as the citizens are prevented from traveling either internally or internationally without express permission. communications with the outside world are also tightly regulated, and attempts by the dictatorship to filter all information accessible bill the north korean people therefore, the testimony to be provided today by our distinguished panel, and in particular our two defector witnesses, is particularly welcomed and

appreciated. mrs. kim young soon and mrs. kim hisuk, who survived the north core afternoon prison camps halve traveled from south corridor ya. -- korea. i want to thank suzanne scholte, i've chaired hearings, and she has played a critical part in every one of those hearings in helping us to get the witnesses to tell the true unvarnished story of what is actually happening in north korea. our witnesses will be speaking on behalf of an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 prisoners currently held in north korean labor camps. it's our hope their testimony will help to galvanize the

international community to take action to secure the freedom of those who are needlessly suffering and dying under truly horrific conditions. those living in the prison camps are not only -- are not the only ones suffering in north korea. as one of our witnesses, suzanne scholte, will testify in north korea, every single human right is enshined in the universal decoration of human rights is violated with absolute impunity. north korea is a tier three country, buying and selling women and others as a commodity. northerer to -- north korea was listed as a country of concern

for violation of religious freedom. we'll hear about the new potential for communication through and with north korean people, and explore possibilities for peaceful change, given upcoming political events in north korea and changes in other countries in the region. we look forward to discussing this potential to improve the lives of all people living in north core -- north korea. i want to thank you for your being here and thank c-span for taking this information and conveying it to the american people. north korea, because it is so closed, very often evades all scrutiny, so people know about it but don't know very much. your testimony, again, will help to shatter that lackadaisical sense of what americans know and think about north korea. so, thank you again. we'll begin with miss suzanne

scholte. and is a leader of several groups focused on protecting human rights in north korea. she was recognized with the walter judd freedom aired and with the seoul peace prize. she has helped rescue hundreds of refugees and facilitated the travel of defectors to speak in the united states. she has participated in numerous congressional hears on north korea, on topics including political prison camps, trafficking of north korean women, religious persecution and north korean refugees in china. i will note that when we held a hearing on trafficked women, some of what they thought were lucky women, who got out of north korea, into china, miss scholte actually brought to this committee, women who -- one woman who went after her daughter, who made her way into china, only to be sold into slavery, and then she and her

daughter who went looking to rescue the trafficked woman, were themselves sold into sexual slavery. we'll then hear from miss kim young soon, committee for the democratization of north korea. she was arrested in 1970 and sent to a political prison camp with members of her family. her parents and el test son died in the camp and her husband and youngest son later died trying to escape north korea. miss kim eventually escaped and has dedicated her life to exposing the truth about the hideous prison camps in north korea, by sharing her story around the globe. she is an outspoken defector, serving as the vice president of the committee for the democracyization of north korea and other human rights advocacy groups. we this will then hear from miss

kim hye sook who is a survivor of a political prison camp. she and her family were impresented by guilt by association because of the grandfather's defection to south korea. she was just 13 years old. miss kim regularly witnessed executions and abuse and endured manual labor, constant hunger, and death of several family members. once released, she fled to children's but was forced to return to north korea by her employer, where she was arrested again. when she escaped, she returned to china but was sold by human traffickers, like other witnesses we have had. she eventually escaped to south korea, and continues to tell her story around the world. earlier this year she published her memoirs in a book entitled "a concentration camp retold in tears." we'll then hear from mr. greg

scarlatoiu. the executive director of the committee for human rights in north korea. he was witnessed the fall of communism. he as authored articles on the applicability of the eastern european experience to the north korean context, and a broadcast into forthkorea by radio free korea. i now yield for opening comments. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman, for calling this very important hearing. and i'd like to certainly express our protection to the -- appreciation to the witnesses here who have agreed to testify.

each year, each of your stories help us to better understand the extent and magnitude of the human rights abuses of north korea, and your guidance will help to us target our efforts in alleviating some of these terrible injustices. the human rights vibration north korea are among the worst in the world. under kim jong-il regime, citizens face killings and detention for basic political expression, seemingly organized market activities, unauthorized travel. north korea seems to vie violate the regime's rules themselves bass they can be penalized for the actions not of themselves

but of the actions of their families, which are certainly unjust. according to some observers the conditions are worsening, due to the presentation for lee myung-bak to take over. there was a human rights act in improving the flow of information to north korea. currently this amounts to $2 million annually for human rights and democracy, 2 million for freedom of information programs, and 20 million to assist north korean refugees. i am interested in hearing from the panelists, if you have expertise in that area, about the views on how proposed cuts to our international affairs budget would impact on our ability to adequately continue

to fund these programs that have been successful in getting information to date. although it's not in the realm of your testimony necessarily, i was very disturbed at the behavior of the north korean leadership in november of 2010 when it attacked south koreas a island of pyongyang with artillery shells, killing several people. this irresponsible behavior of a government really is unwarranted and really needs to have continued watching and scrutinizing as to their behavior. also, their continued adventurism into ballistic missiles and other weapons of

war. certainly disturb us. so i certainly look forward to your testimonies and thank you again for your willingness to share them, and i yield back the balance of my time. >> thank you very much. would either of my other colleagues -- i'd like to now then yield the floor for such time as you may consume to ms. scholte. >> just before you start, make a point. we also invited ambassador at large king, who could not be here because he is out of the country. he has -- he wanted to be here. said very clearly he would gladly come and testify at a later date and wanted to provide the subcommittee with a closed briefing as well on recent events, including the human rights situation in north korea. bob king, as my colleagues know so well, was the chief of staff for the foreign affairs committee, and very good choice for ambassador, so, we look forward to hearing from him as

well. so, miss scholte. >> first of all i just want to thank congressman smith for your many years of devotion on the north korean human rights. and it's been a honor to work with your staff for the people of the sahara. another country trying to get freedom through self-determination. i want to give two main points at this hearing today. first of all, north korea continues to be one hover the darkest places on earth, yet we fail to focus on the main issue, which is the human rights issues, because we have instead focused on the nuclear issue and that hays had tragic results. second, despite the tragedy, there's hope because of changes in the country, but if we fail to enact the policies that dress human rights conditions and empower those who can bring about cheng, we'll certainly end up just prolonging this regime.

while we witnessed people rising up in north africa and the middle east, we wonder why the north koreans, who, arguably the most persecuted people in the world, not rise up. it is precisely because they are the most persecuted in the world. north koreans are the only people in the world that do not enjoy one single human right that is enshrined in the universal declaration of human rights, a document ironically that was adopted in 1948, the same year that kim kim il-sung e to power. when nazi death camps were librated, the international commute vowed never again, never again, would we allow these kinds of atrocities to occur. but the political prison camps in north korea have existed longer than the soviet gulag, longer than the chinese prisons and longer than the nazi death

camps. your two detector witnesses today are living proof of the horrors of the camp and the length of their experience, one was in prison in the 1970s, and another was in prisoned for 28 years. we have seen millions of north koreans starved to death, despite billions in economic assistance, and north koreans are not the only ones who surveil from kim jong-il's dictator south. south korean p.o.w.s are still being held and at least 108,308 captives are being held in north korea, including 80,000 abductees from south korea, and hubs of others from 13 countries a recently documented by the committee for humidity rights in north korea. former presidents bill clinton and president bush made human rights a secondary issue in the hope of getting them to give up nuclear amibitions. we see