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Report co-authors Henri Feron, Joy Yoon, and Dr. Kee Park outside the UN in New York City on October 30, 2019. Photo by Constance Faulk
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Dear Friends,
Last week, members of the Korea Peace Now! campaign traveled to New York for the release of the report The Human Costs and Gendered Impact of Sanctions on North Korea — the first comprehensive assessment of sanctions against the country.
The report, which was commissioned by the campaign and produced by an international and multidisciplinary panel of independent experts, shows that sanctions imposed on North Korea are having adverse consequences on humanitarian aid and economic development in the country, with a disproportionate impact on women. (Download a PDF of the full report here.)
The seven authors drew on information from UN agencies on the ground as well as their combined expertise in public health, law, economics, history, and gender studies. They found that although there are UN mechanisms to exempt humanitarian-related items, these are insufficient to prevent negative impacts, and, in fact, delays and funding shortfalls may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of people.
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“Sanctions are shackling people like me whose intent and mission is to help those people who are falling through the cracks. It’s blocking both the North Korean people’s attempts as well as external people who want to help.”
— Dr. Kee Park, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, the director of the DPRK Program at the Korean American Medical Association
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On Oct. 30, we held a press conference with three of the report co-authors — Henri Feron, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy; Joy Yoon, who co-founded the nonprofit Ignis Community; and Dr. Kee Park, director of the DPRK Program at the Korean American Medical Association and lecturer at Harvard Medical School. The event at the Church Center for the United Nations was attended by members of the media, humanitarian aid organizations, the UN Security Council, and various Missions to the UN, among others.
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Dr. Kee Park, Joy Yoon, Henri Feron, and moderator Yifat Susskind, executive director of MADRE, at the press conference on October 30, 2019. Photo by Constance Faulk
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Joy Yoon is interviewed by reporters about the impact of sanctions on her humanitarian aid organization’s work in North Korea. Photo by Constance Faulk
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The next day, Christine Ahn, executive director of Women Cross DMZ and international coordinator of Korea Peace Now!, spoke alongside report co-author Joy Yoon at the Council on Foreign Relations. There was a maximum-capacity crowd for the roundtable session titled “North Korea: A Path to Ending War and Lifting Sanctions.”
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Christine Ahn of Women Cross DMZ and Korea Peace Now! speaks about the importance of including women in the peace process at the Council on Foreign Relations on October 31, 2019. Photo by Constance Faulk
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Over the course of the week, the authors were interviewed by The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, as well as Democracy Now, VOA News, and Nippon TV. (Read the story by the Wall Street Journal: “North Korea Sanctions Contribute to Deaths of Innocent Civilians, Report Says.”)
This week, three more of the report co-authors — Suzy Kim, professor of Korean history at Rutgers University; Ewa Ericksson Fortier, former Head of Country Delegation in the DPRK for the International Federal of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; and Kevin Gray, professor of international relations at the University of Sussex — will be in Geneva for a second launch of the report. To keep up on the latest updates, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
In peace,
The team at Korea Peace Now!
Read some of the media coverage of The Human Costs and Gendered Impact of Sanctions on North Korea so far:
Wall Street Journal: North Korea Sanctions Contribute to Deaths of Innocent Civilians, Report Says
The Hill: Nearly 4,000 civilian deaths in North Korea tied to sanctions: report
Forbes: New report: sanctions kill
International Business Times: North Korea News: Thousands Of Country's Citizens Have Died Due To Sanctions, Report Claims
VOA News: “북한 여성 ‘제재 이중고’ 겪어”
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