Video: N. Korea human rights conference at SAIS, with keynote by Hon. Michael Kirby

On Tuesday, I took a day off from the day job to attend an outstanding conference, organized by the International Bar Association, the Defense Forum Foundation, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, the North Korean Freedom Coalition, and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Rather than describe it, I’ll just give you a little weekend viewing and post the whole thing.

The first video starts with introductions by Jae Ku of SAIS, and speeches by Sen. Cory Gardner, Amb. Ahn Ho-Young, and Amb. Lee Jong-Hoon. After this, there were five panels:

9:45am-11:15am Panel I: Human Rights in North Korea Today

Moderator: Greg Scarlatoiu: Exec. Director, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK);
Robert Herman: VP for Regional Programs, Freedom House
Amb. Lee Jung-Hoon: Ambassador for Human Rights, Republic of Korea
Amb. Robert King: Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues, State Department
John Sifton: Asia Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch

11:30am-1:00pm Panel II: Sanctions

Moderator: Sung-Yoon Lee: Professor, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
Frank Jannuzi: President & CEO, The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation
Bruce Klingner: Senior Research Fellow, The Heritage Foundation, Asian Studies Center
William Newcomb: Former Member, UN Security Council Panel of Experts on DPRK Sanctions
Joshua Stanton: One Free Korea

1:00pm-2:00pm LUNCHEON AND KEYNOTE SPEECH: Hon. Michael D. Kirby, Chair, U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of North Korea.

Special thanks to Shaquille for taking this photo:

2:00pm-3:30pm Panel III: Accountability for Human Rights Violations

Moderator: Roberta Cohen: Non Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK)
Param-Preet Singh: Senior Counsel, Human Rights Watch, International Justice Program
Morse Tan: Associate Professor of Law, Northern Illinois University College of Law
David Tolbert: President, International Center for Transitional Justice

3:45pm-5:15pm Panel IV: Indigenous and Cross-Border Activities Aimed at Advancing Human Rights in North Korea

Moderator: Suzanne Scholte: President, Defense Forum Foundation
Jieun Baek: Fellow, Harvard University, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Scott Busby: Deputy Asst. Secretary, State Department, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Kang Cheol-Hwan: President, North Korea Strategy Center
John Fox: Founder, I-Media
Kim Seong Min: Founder, Free North Korea Radio

The unsung heroine of the conference was a young woman named Sosseh, who works for the International Bar Association. Sosseh handled the organization, scheduling, and logistics of all of the events, and made it all run like clockwork.