NORTH KOREA

In hope of finding happiness in South Korea, the North Korean Yu Tae Jun went back to take his wife to the South. But at the Chinese CNorth Korean border, Yu Tae Jun was captured and publicly executed as reported. This is how the North Korean authorities deal with North Korean defectors, who are seen as countrys betrayers. North Korea, however, says that Yu Tae Jun is still alive and safe. They even had a news conference broadcast on the Pyongyang broadcasting on June 13, 2001. Yus mother said, that was not my sons voice.

Is Yu Tae Jun still alive?

Or, is this case an epitome of the propaganda machine operating in North Korea?

4 September 2001

Former North Korean was 'publicly executed'

The Chosun Ilbo (17.03.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (04.09.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - A former North Korean, who lived in South Korea, traveled to the Chinese-North Korean border in order to take his wife back to the South, was captured and publicly executed by the North Korean authorities.

Yu Tae-jun (31 years old) arrived in South Korea in November of 1998 and lived in Taegu City. In June of last year he traveled to China and was not heard from since. However, in the beginning this year he is known to have been executed in the South Hamgyong Province in North Korea.

It is known that the North Korean government executed many former North Koreans, however this is the first time that the victim has actually been identified. In addition, due to the fact that Mr. Yu was a South Korean citizen, the repercussions for this incident are expected to be large.

Mr. Yu was publicly executed in front of a group of North Korean citizens. It is known that he was charged with going to South Korea and committing treason against the Pyongyang government.

Mr. Yu met his wife at the border of North Korea and China, and was then captured by the North Korean National Security Guard.

Before coming to South Korea, Mr. Yu was the manager of sales at an agency that sold coal. This was a highly sought after and powerful position in North Korea. When he decided to go to South Korea, his wife rejected his proposal to go with him.

It is known that South Korean government officials were aware that the North Korean authorities captured Mr. Yu, however officials in the South have not taken action.

Mr. Yu arrived in South Korea with his five-year-old son, who is presently staying with Mr. Yus mother in South Korea.

Mr. Yus mother and father were elite who graduated from the Kim Chaek University of Technology (or the Kim Chaek Polytechnic Institute). His father was a professor at the National Economic Institute and his mother worked at the Foreign Language Publishing House. His father died early and his mother was forced to take care of her son by herself. Mr. Yu enjoyed reading, especially Tolstoy and Shakespeare, along with other famous works of literature. In North Korea, as a child, he was occasionally able to listen to South Korean radio broadcasts. He thus became aware of the realities of the outside world and from his middle school years his eyes were opened to the deficiencies of the North Korean government.

Those close to him in Taegu said that Mr. Yu was planning to go back for his wife in North Korea. When Mr. Yu arrived in South Korea his dream was to become a writer. Among former North Koreans in South Korea he was known as a loner.

In October, Ahn Jong-sook, Mr. Yus mother was informed by South Korean authorities that her son had been captured by North Korea near the Chinese - North Korean border. Mr. Yus mother arrived in South Korea two months after her son.

After the food shortage and the hardships, which have arisen due to the difficulties in controlling society in the 1990s, public executions have increased in North Korea.

This story with a photo of the executed Yu Tae-jun was posted on the web on 19 March 2001.

Mother of executed defector criticizes government

The Chosun Ilbo (19.03.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (04.09.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - Ahn Jeong-suk, mother of executed North Korean defector Yu Tae-jun complained about the lack of government intervention in the death of her son. Yu, who defected to South Korea with his mother and son, went to China to get his wife out of North Korea, however he followed her back into the North, was arrested and later executed. Ahn said that she realized Yu was missing in October last year when Taegu police brought her grandson to her, saying that if she did not look after him, he would have to be sent to an orphanage.

She said that she was ordered by authorities not to talk to anybody about Yu returning to North Korea, especially the media, which she wanted to use to try and save her son. Ahn complained that if a North Korean came to the South and was caught and executed, he is regarded as a hero, whereas South Korea tells people to keep quiet when its people are killed in the North. She said that the government should have looked after her grandson as her son was a South Korean citizen, but instead just repossessed their apartment.

Ahn noted that since last October, authorities had just said that her son was safe, telling her to remain silent. She added that the monitoring period undergone by defectors was extended in her case because of her son.

Ahn had worked as a manager at Pyongyang Foreign Publishing House and as a reporter for Hamnam Daily before entering the South in February 2000. She has written many articles on North Korea's human rights, which were published under a pseudonym.

'The voice from the news is not my son's

The Chosun Ilbo (13.06.2001)/ HRWF International Secretariat (04.09.2001)- Website: http://www.hrwf.net C Email : info@hrwf.net. In regards to the news conference broadcast on the Pyongyang Broadcasting concerning Yu Tae-joon on June 13, Ahn Jeong-suk, Yu's mother said, "that was not my son's voice."

Yoo Tae-joon is a former North Korean who defected to the South in 1988. After being arrested in China by North Korean police, he was reported as being executed. Pyongyang Broadcasting later declared that he was alive and that he even participated in a news conference. Yu's mother (Ahn Jeong-suk) and his half-brother presently reside in South Korea.

On Wednesday, 13 June, Mrs. Ahn held a news conference at the Heungsadan auditorium in Seoul in which she said that her son has a deep and husky voice and the voice of the person who spoke in the news conference was clear and high. A mother cannot fail to recognize her son's voice. She also said that Yu's uncle, who was mentioned during Yu's news conference on the 12th as tricking Yu into going to the South was actually killed during the Korean War.