Korean unification and human rights: old, new challenges

April 16 (UPI) -- Since its inception three decades ago, the North Korean human rights movement has been facing some familiar challenges.

Human rights in North Korea are often outcompeted by political, security and military issues. Those rights and the slow-motion North Korean holocaust are often outpaced by other humanitarian and human rights crises -- in Ukraine, the Middle East, the Mediterranean Basin and South Asia.

At the State Department and foreign ministries around the world, a bias exists against human rights -- a tendency to relegate them to second- or third-tier status.

This bias begins in college, as diplomatic apprentices initiate their training in international relations. North Korean human rights defenders also suffer from a perennial lack of funding and resources.

Now, we face a systemic challenge. The U.S.-dominated post-Cold War order included elements of realism, liberalism, institutionalism and constructivism.

Realism focuses on the projection of power. Liberalism concentrates on change from within, through work on human rights, humanitarian affairs and information dissemination. Institutionalism centers on multilateral cooperation and dialogue through the United Nations and other international organizations.

Constructivism argues that global politics is shaped by socially constructed ideas, norms and identities, not just material power.

In addressing North Korean human rights, governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations have applied elements relating to all of these four theories of international relations:

• Realist, through extended deterrence and containment based on the U.S.-ROK alliance

• Liberal, through civil society and like-minded governments addressing human rights and humanitarian issues

• Institutionalist, through U.N. and other international organization, and

• Constructivist, through cooperation among like-minded democracies, based on shared beliefs and values.

We are now witnessing a hard turn toward realism -- even offensive realism. This is happening at the expense of liberal, institutionalist and constructivist elements of the international order, which are rapidly evaporating.

At this stage, it is more than just lack of interest or having to compete against other issues that impedes the North Korean human rights movement. Civil society and human rights defenders are facing an increasingly steep systemic bias against human rights.

Human rights and peaceful positive change in North Korea

Despite ever mounting difficulties, enacting positive change in North Korea is still possible. To do that, the following components of a peaceful intervention are needed:

• Since U.S., ROK or any other government or international organization support is unavailable, secure funding from private sources.

• To prepare for a global campaign, select and synthesize material reflecting North Korea's major human rights violations, from its vast system of unlawful imprisonment to the songbun system of social discrimination and to the human rights-security nexus.

• Highlight the success stories of young North Koreans living outside the country, some of them media influencers in their adopted new home, to highlight a new sense of North Korean escapee identity -- youthful, vibrant, successful and forward-looking.

• Launch a global campaign to highlight North Korea's crimes against humanity and other human rights violations, as well as the human rights-security nexus.

• Conduct information operations inside North Korea with the potential to empower the people through information, with the particular goal of creating a "revolutionary generation" among the younger population of that country.

• Engage free North Koreans living outside the country in preparation for unification, through training and capacity building focused on tackling priority areas at the early stages of the future post-transformation period.

While unification of the homeland is of the utmost importance, unification must focus on people rather than territory. For good reasons, South Korean scholars have focused on the German precedent. The ensuing result has been excessive focus on the cost rather than the benefits of unification.

A new North Korean identity

Since the "Arduous March" of the 1990s, North Korean identity has been defined by stories of suffering, death and survival. In recent years, young former North Korean social media influencers have been shaping a new identity, memorializing the past while expressing hope and determination for the future.

For perfectly good reasons, the story of North Korean escapees has been one of tragedy, loss and victimization. That narrative has increased awareness of North Korean human rights violations. It has also exacerbated views that differences between the two Koreas are insurmountable.

An information campaign targeting the people of North Korea must remain focused on the tragic narrative of North Korean human rights. It must also highlight a new optimistic sense of identity developing among young free North Koreans living outside the country.

It is essential to work with the most effective North Korean social media influencers to examine the newly emerging North Korean identity and the ways it could be presented to inform both global audiences and the people of North Korea.

The Arduous March is deeply etched as a period of profound suffering among North Koreans, and the new identity for young North Koreans is being forged within this historical backdrop.

Young North Korean influencers focus on resilience and remembrance. They have not forgotten this tragic chapter of their history. Instead, they have used it as a foundation for building narratives of strength and survival. They embrace their resilience and are steering their identity toward a future of hope and self-determination.

There has been a visible shift in narrative from one of scarcity and endurance to empowerment and advocacy. They have found empowerment through expression. They aim to educate and engage a global audience through their social media presence.

The identity of young North Koreans escapees today is centered on cultural synthesis and global integration. Having endured the Arduous March and resettled in their new homes in South Korea, the United States and other countries, they embody an identity that respects its origins yet is globally integrated.

This identity is informed by the lessons of resilience and the opportunities of a connected world. Personal insights enable young former North Korean influencers to develop a forward-looking identity.

These young North Koreans are no longer solely witnesses to the past, but are also active participants in shaping a new, empowered identity that looks to the future with resolve and optimism.

The next generation of thought leaders and trendsetters in the North Korean escapee community brings deep personal perspectives on evolving identities. The most prominent ones seek to connect with diverse audiences and impact them by sharing stories of resilience and triumph.

No longer confined to the geographical and political boundaries of North Korea, these young influencers establish their identity beyond borders -- an identity that honors their origins while celebrating the freedoms and personal growth they have discovered in their new homes.

They challenge perceptions, transcending the important, but narrow, lens of escape from oppression. They can shape perceptions of North Korea in the global consciousness and redefine what it means to be a North Korean in the 21st century.

The exploration of this digital identity transformation has potential implications for cultural understanding, diplomacy and the personal growth of individuals who have left North Korea. The global discourse on North Korean escapees must shift to include multifaceted representations that celebrate their complexities.

By examining the intersection of personal history, cultural adaptation and digital expression, one can present a compelling case to North and South Korean audiences, while compelling global audiences to listen, learn and contribute to that discourse.

The 1990 German reunification is surely a precedent of the utmost value. Other precedents, including the German unification of 1871, grounded in Otto von Bismarck's pragmatic realpolitik, must be examined.

Most importantly, one must remember the enlightened European revolutionary generations that accomplished the Italian unification, the Risorgimento (1861-1871) and the Western-educated generation of young 1848 Romanian revolutionaries who accomplished the unification of two of the Romanian principalities (Wallachia and Moldova), creating the Kingdom of Romania in the process.

What North Korea needs is an enlightened "revolutionary" generation, aware of the outside world, the corruption of the Kim family regime and the abysmal human rights situation. Awareness will be only the first step. The capacity to organize despite draconian coercion, control, surveillance and punishment will be of the essence. And so will be the courage to enact change.

Contraband K-culture provides entertainment and a window on North Korea. But K-pop does not create revolutionaries. Information campaigns must be cognizant of that aspect and concentrate on enhancing awareness, capacity to organize and the courage to act within the younger generations of North Koreans.

All countries change after unification. The only unification one can envision is under a free, democratic, prosperous, capitalist Republic of Korea. And there is no doubt that the sense of Korean identity will change, as it did in Germany in 1871, in Italy in 1861-1871, and in Romania in 1859 and 1918.

To ensure a balanced, stable transition to a new sense of unified national identity, compliance with fundamental human rights principles will be of the essence.

Greg Scarlatoiu is the president and CEO of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. From 2011 to 2024, he was its executive director. While leading the committee, he directed publication of more than 50 reports on North Korea's detention facilities, regime dynamics, vulnerable groups and information environment. He has been a visiting professor at Yonsei University since 2022 and taught at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies for eight years. Scarlatoiu is president of the International Council on Korean Studies.

For 22 years, he authored and broadcast the Korean language "Scarlatoiu Column" for Radio Free Asia. His experience includes three years with Korea Economic Institute in Washington, D.C., and more than six years in international development. Scarlatoiu holds a master of arts degree in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and master of arts and bachelor of arts degrees from Seoul National University's Department of International Relations. He completed the MIT XXI Seminar for U.S. national security leaders in 2016-2017.

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This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 10:10 AM.