i want to introduce melanie kirkpatrick. [applause] [applause] >> thank you jay, for the warm introduction and thank you for your help over the years as i have researched this topic. also .. say thank you to hudson institute, ken, and my husband, jack who was my first editor for welcoming me here today. and i'd like to give a special thanks to the guys here with me today to help us talk about my book and talk about the serious issues that jay just jot lined. they have been -- they are both heroes of mine rescuers and rescued. it's wonderful they were able to join us. i would like to thank since this is of one of the first events i have been doing since the book came out. i would like to thank my agents. who are here today and were marvelous in finding the book a terrific home with counter books. i thank encounter books for publishing the book and let me give my special thanks to my editor molly powell. inch the exact moment when i became aware of the suffering north korea people. the near was 1981 or 1992 and i was living in

melanie kirkpatrick, as many of you know, is a senior fellow along with her husband at the hudson institute, jack, at the hudson institute. before that melanie was for many years a leading editorial page writer at the "the wall street journal" editorial board. she wrote editorial and articles ranging on all subject from domestic do foreign policy. but in her role in deputy editor of the "the wall street journal," editorial page, she had keen focus on foreign policy and in particular really took to the issue of north korea human rights. like really no one else in the american media has taken to it. earlier in her career, she spent about ten years in asia working for the "the wall street journal" asia, in how hong kong and before that she had actually had a another gig she lived and working in tokyo, i believe. melanie received her bachelors degree from princeton university and the master's degree from the university of toronto. the book that melanie kirkpatrick has written is absolutely rivetting. it really reads more like a nelson or tom clan sei thriller than it does the work of non-fictio

by senior fellow, melanie kirkpatrick. i am ken weinstein, president and ceo of hudson institute and i also like to welcome our audience watching at home on booktv and i also want to especially thank our friends at c-span for covering today's event. there are a couple of guests present today whom i would like to acknowledge. the council general of south korea in new york, ambassador song at who is here. [applause] and i'd also like to knowledge the president said the japanese deputy counsel general in new york. [applause] in addition it also like to note the presence of several hudson institute trustees, vice chair and jack david who is a special interest in this book as he was the first person to read it and is married to the author. and we are grateful for jack service firebird and also his involvement in this important book. lastly, to think today's distinguished panelists, jay lefkowitz, senior prager prager kirkland and ellis, george bush is unfair and human rights for korea. adrian hong, director of is his strategy a

at 11:00 eastern melanie kirkpatrick is joined via panel that includes one of the men shea profile to discuss the experience of north koreans who escaped the country. watch these programs and more on c-span2 and booktv.org. >> in those years it really was scary before we liberated, let's say, baker county. but to have this happen, to have the blocker, you are only trying to do the , you are only trying to do the best you can for everyone and everyone and t take your words to cut and splice and make your message appears to be the exact opposite of what it was and what it is is just an unbelievable situation, and it is a way to terrorize. you don't know that you will never be able -- to determine even if i had to tell one person at a time. >> it makes me think there is this whole media energy around this book. last time the media energy was very was in july of 2010 when it went down and going back to those places where people you interviewed were making those accusations. the speed at which that happened. how does it feel being back in that space with the whole story? >> it feels good t

i'm going introduce the keynote speaker melanie kirkpatrick first. she'll give intrux remarks about the book. what influenced her to write the book and the features from the bock. i'll introduce the other two