Apologies if this has already been posted, but I hadn’t seen it.
Norbert Vollertsen, a German doctor and human rights activist, was encumbered by a neck brace and crutches when he welcomed this reporter at his secret residence on Tuesday. His injuries began last Friday when he and a group of human rights activists tried to send balloon-tethered radios to North Korea from Cheolwon, a town near the border. The police stopped the balloon launch, and Vollertsen was wounded in an ensuing scuffle. Then last Sunday, while rallying in Daegu with activist groups, protesting against the North Korean regime he was knocked down by a group of North Korean reporters and briefly lost consciousness.
| Well, that's certainly permissible. They're communists. It's a cultural thing... |
Vollertsen, who is now at the center of the country’s attention, started the conversation. "I was amazed at the treatment I received from the police of a democratic country, considering that I had never been beaten by the police in North Korea," he said.
| "By their journalists, yes. The cops, no..." |
When asked about possible setbacks in inter-Korean relationship over the long term as a result of the provocative ways in which he chooses to demonstrate, he said, "Of course we organized those events to provoke the North Korean government. How can we expect a change to come when we just sit down and smile under the Nazi regime? We decided to politically provoke the North Korean government for the sake of North Koreans’ human rights."
| That kind of talk will make him "human scum" on KCNA... |
"In Daegu, I was only holding the pictures of starving North Korean children, nothing violent at all," he said. "I am a doctor and a nonviolent activist. But an ax handle a stick came out of nowhere and hit me in the back. I was so disappointed at the Korean media describing it as a scrimmage."
| Barely a tap, by NKor standards... |
Critics call Vollertsen an enemy of the sunshine policy. When asked about this, Vollertsen cited the cash-for-summit scandal, calling it a "criminal act." He said he would refuse to recognize any policy that is unconcerned with North Koreans’ human rights. Vollertsen will leave Korea on Wednesday for Southeast Asia, where he will continue his efforts at helping North Korean refugees. He will then map out his later plans after the six-way nuclear talks in Beijing are over. "I will keep working on my mission and will definitely come back to Seoul and Korea, where work still remains to be done," he said. "However, my ultimate destination is Pyongyang, where my young patients suffer."
I know South Korea is irrationally committed to reunification at all costs, but this is really ridiculous. |