Sen. Sam Brownback reiterated Friday that the United States should make human rights a priority in dealing with North Korea while it accepts more refugees from the communist state.
In a statement e-mailed to Yonhap News Agency, the senator said he met with six North Korean refugees who arrived in the U.S. on May 5. They are the first group from North Korea to be granted asylum in the U.S.
"They shared a heartbreaking but ultimately triumphant story of hope and freedom," Brownback said.
"We should continue to make the human rights of North Koreans a priority in our foreign policy toward their country, and we must open our arms to as many North Korean refugees as we can while also working to change the conditions in their troubled country," he said.
The senator, a Republican from Kansas, is an outspoken human rights advocate on North Korea and co-chairs the Senate Human Rights Caucus with Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).
The refugees, whose resettlement in the U.S. was facilitated by the North Korean Human Rights Act legislated in 2004, came to Washington earlier this week from New Jersey. They head out to Los Angeles on Saturday and hold a news conference there on Tuesday.
Cheon Ki-won, a South Korean minister who helped their U.S.
settlement, said the refugees relayed their appreciation for the congressional support for North Koreans and told in detail how they survived years of oppression and threats.
Four in the group are women who were trafficked or sold into marriages in China, the primary escape route for North Koreans because of the shared border.
Washington, May 19 (Yonhap News)
Sen. Brownback meets N.Korean refugees |
