Co-Chair Pitts Sends Message of Hope and Solidarity to the People of North Korea

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, in recognition of the Korean New Year, TLHRC Co-Chair Joseph R. Pitts shared the following statement with the people of North Korea:

"I write to you, the people of North Korea, once more out of continued solidarity in your plight, as well as out of a steadily increasing hope for your future. You have endured another year of tyranny and oppression, which gives little reason to celebrate. A cruel dictatorship has taken from you every freedom and denied you every human right. Tens of thousands of your fellow countrymen have been sentenced to die or to languish in prison camps because they simply had the courage to think for themselves, to choose their own beliefs, or to ask for a better life. Entire generations of families are punished for the alleged crimes of a single family member. Thousands more are left to starve on a daily basis, not because your nation lacks food, but because your ‘Supreme Leader’ has decided to maintain total control at any cost. He rules by fear, but no government can take away your faith and hope, or the ineradicable human yearning to live in freedom and peace."

"Just weeks ago, your leaders violated international law again by threatening the world with even deadlier nuclear weapons. Immediately afterward, I voted with my colleagues in the U.S. Congress to sanction the Kim regime and punish it for its crimes. This past Sunday, your leaders conducted yet another missile test, drawing widespread condemnation and further isolating your country from the world community."

"The world is listening to you, and knows of your plight. An official inquiry by the United Nations in 2014 found for the first time ever that the actions of your government constituted 'crimes against humanity.'"

"To the persecuted and the oppressed people of North Korea, the United States is with you. To all people of good will, together we can make a more just world, and uphold the human rights of every single human being."