Someday we will be able to thrive as they have been able to thrive. And then the question of what happens here at home if that happens . Will the people here understand what happened in the 1950s . Will that you understand our commitment to the people . Our commitment to the people from so long ago . We noticed in syria that there are different shades of red lines. I think that is a big concern to leaders in south korea, around the world, and certainly to congress. We have to do a better job in congress in sharing with people, the American People, what it means. What is happening in north korea , and to give them the reasoning and resolved to understand why we have such a defense and security commitment to the people of north korea. We must be absolutely resolved that our commitment is deep, deep red. Show of force. Commitment. Training. Military exercises. They must understand that before that the full deterrent of the United States extends to south korea, we must be unequivocal in that statement. We have to share that reads with at the same time, we have to share that with the American People so they understand as well. I agree with everything that was said. This is about leadership. Part of leadership is education. If the president actually set the red line, and responded to us as you suggested he would have had great support from the American People. In this case, if we get to the point where the red line appears that the North Koreans have the ability to hit the western part of the United States with a Nuclear Armed missile, then it will take leadership to point that out. Becomes the it issue of wrestling with not acting and this is not an easy decision to state the obvious i dont think the American People understand this specific circumstance. That we should not get in a korean like ground war again. That we should take different kinds of actions to incapacitate a totalitarian regime and has the potential to hit the United States. I think the American People would not prefer that, but they would support it. As opposed to, being exposed to a madmans missiles and nuclear weapons. It is fun to do a panel with the very best people in the field. So, thank you. Thank you. [applause] at that same event, the former First Lady Laura Bush spoke about the impact of the 2004 human rights act. This was about 40 minutes. Good morning. I am the chief operating officer of a Capital Management firm, a Family Office based in new york city. I also serve on the freedom board for north korea. An organization that helps North Koreans escape to freedom. This is in issue near to my heart. In 1947, my grandmother, then a 27yearold single mom and my mother, then a fiveyearold girl began a long, harrowing journey to escape north korea. Covering 200 miles over 21 days in moving about only in darkness to avoid contact with north Korean Police and soldiers. They miraculously arrived in seoul, korea. South korea. Overwhelmed with joy and thankful, they donated all of the money in their position to a local church and started their lives over from the bottom. They faced many challenges that they faced many challenges. They would have been inspired by the following words from mrs. Bush. Literacy builds the foundation from freedom of poverty, freedom of disease, and freedom from oppression. My grandmother selftaught how to read and lead. She saw opportunities and became a professor of nursing, serving countless children, students, patients, and elderly citizens. In doing so, they also provided me and my brother with a foundation for freedom from poverty, disease, and oppression. It has been my honor and joy to have been part of the conversation with the wonderful staff at the Bush Institute in and also likeminded koreans and other americans in helping our north korean friends build the same foundation for freedoms that would unleash their own opportunities, dreams, and potential. To that end, i am delighted to introduce mrs. Bush who has been instrumental in helping to get freedom for women and children around the world through education. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming mrs. Laura bush. [applause] mrs. Bush thank you all. Thank you, jensen. Thank you for introducing me and thank you for telling the story of your courageous grandmother and mother. Refugee stories like your lys inspiresami all americans. Public Opinion Research conducted by the Bush Institution show 70 of americans are aware of the human rights abuse in north korea. And, the same percent of americans believe it is important that we help refugees from north korea. But what few americans know is that there is already a small but growing community of north Korean Refugees living right here in the United States. In 2004, president bush signed the north korea human rights act into law. That legislation supported funding for efforts to bring information to North Koreans. Even though North Koreans are at risk of arrest, they still seek information, news, and entertainment from foreign radio, television, and other sources. We believe they have the right to receive it. The north korean human rights law led to the creation of the office of the special envoy for north korean human rights. Ambassador bob king has done a terrific job to ensure that american diplomacy to give north korea be attention it deserves. Thank you, bob, for your service. Most importantly, the north korean human rights law created a pathway for north Korean Refugees to seek asylum in in seek asylum in the United States. Today, men women and children have traveled to the United States for a chance at a new life. Think for a moment about the journey we just witnessed in the video. You are living in the most isolated country on earth and you make the decision to escape. You know you might be caught, arrested, or executed. You illegally crossed into china where you risk being deported back into north korea. If youre a woman, you might become a victim of trafficking, forced prostitution, or marriage against your will. You journey across china to another country in southeast asia. If you are lucky to make it that far, you face a choice. For most, the only reasonable option is going to south korea where the language and the culture are familiar. But a very brave few make the decision to come to america, and , as you will hear in a moment, they are remarkable men and women. Like any refugee though, they face countless challenges. Refugees typically seek about six months of formal support upon arriving in the United States. They are guided as they look for a place to live and a first job , and they are taught some of the basics on how to navigate life in america. But then, refugees are expected to make it on their own. Over the last two years, the Bush Institute has conducted two studies of North Koreans living in the United States, and what we found was encouraging. Although it is difficult, most North Koreans are adjusting well. They are working, in some cases, multiple jobs and providing for their families. When we asked them about their dreams and goals, several spoke of their desire to improve themselves through education. Difficultind it because of education and their because of the high cost of education and their own commitment to family and work. At the bush center, we want to help these refugees on their path to success, and i am pleased to announce the Scholarship Program for North Koreans living in the United States. We have worked with people around the country, especially in the koreanamerican community, to raise money to kickstart the fund. Nearly 300,000 has been raised for the scholarship which surpasses the original goal. They can see to study at accredited for your universities, community colleges, as well as trade and vocational programs. Applications can be submitted as january 2017 and the first awards will be announced this spring. We look forward to working with our neighbors at the Community Foundation of texas which will house and manage the fund. The bush center is proud to work with leaders in the koreanamerican community on this important initiative. As you will hear in the next panel, many refugees are already working to educate the public about the realities in north korea. By standing with them, we can help prepare the refugees to be ambassadors for the north Korean People and to the voices for those who remain trapped beyond pyongyangs iron curtain. Thank you to all of you who have supported this effort. Now, we invite others to join us. The success of these brave men and women brings us closer to the day when all North Koreans can live it in freedom. Thank you. [applause] announcer please welcome our second panel. The story of north Korean Refugees moderated by michael garson. Now, our discussion turns to the human dimension in these global events. I was often with george bush in president bush in the oval met withen he dissidents and refugees from north korea. Often the meeting started stiff and formal. It can be intimidating to meet the president of the United States. At the end of every meeting, the dissidents, defectors, and refugees knew the president was on their side. I remember one meeting with church leaders. At the end, the president prayed with them and said, now, when i hear about human rights in china , i will think about you. These frequent meetings gave the bush era policy a human face. That is part of what we are doing today. We have two of the most outspoken escapees living in the United States. We should remember this is a rol e with risks and costs. That is the topic of the second Study Released today based on the lives and struggles of north korean escapees living in the United States. One way we can demonstrate a commitment to human rights in north korea is to support those who escaped it. Many of them hope to return someday to a free and united korea. Our panelists, grace escaped from north korea after the great famine in which her family suffered unspeakable horrors. Ce was repatch created twice through china but pursued her freedom with tenacity and courage. Now she has built a life. Her sister is with us in the audience today. Joseph was orphaned in the great famine and left for himself and escaped to china where he was connected with the Christian Community there. He eventually came to the United States as a refugee. Now he is at college finishing his ashlar degree. Bachelors degree. A remarkable story of success. Now we also honor a special envoy for north Korean Special rights. For three decades, he has been a tireless and effective advocate for human rights in American Foreign policy including his time working with a remarkable and much missed tom. Ambassador king has done as much as anyone to raise the profile in our government. Thank you all for joining us. I will start with joseph. Why did you decide to come to america . A place where you had to learn a new language and navigate a strange culture . Tell us the story of how and why you came. Joseph sure. I think there are a few reasons. One was i was helped, assisted , a nonprofitn Ngo Organization based in america. The person who came to ask me led me to a consulate in china and lived in america. So i thought going somewhere where a new no one versus going to america where i at least knew one person. [laughter] joseph so that is one reason. While i was waiting for my asylum case to be processed at the american consulate in china, i had an opportunity to watch south korean dramas, and i learned so many things about south korea through dramas and one thing i realized was South Koreans are highly valued englishspeaking individuals for hiring for jobs. So, i realized i might as well go to america to learn english. That was one part of it. Later on, i realized how complicated the issue of i guess the south korean really wantid not people to leave north korea just to go to america. Definition of refugee complicates the issues. The government saw it as an embarrassment to send north korean effectors to the u. S. I do not think it is something to be embarrassed about. I think the south korean government has done a great job. I do not think it is something they should be embarrassed about. My point is that, when i was having an interview, they asked me why i wanted to go to america. And i said, i want to have freedom. At the time, i did not even know what freedom means and i am still processing it. The interviewer asked, does in south korea doesnt south korea also have freedom . That is something i did not think about. [laughter] joseph but there was some tension. I just did not feel like being pushed to go to south korea. I said, i am not sure why you keep asking me but like, you know, it is the opposite of what you are asking. [laughter] grace can you address the same question . The story of how you got here and why. Grace first of all, it is my greatest honorable moment today in my life. So, thank you to Bush Institute and president bush for helping Korean Refugees, myself included. I can say there are three reasons for me to come to america. First is my family. I lost my father, my grandmother, two younger brothers, and my oldest sister in north korea during the famine. My mother is here today in the audience should audience. She also had a lot of torture and hardship in north korea. So, first, the decision was made by my mother. She decided to come to america right after president bush signed the north korean human rights act in 2004. A koreanamerican missionary that lives in seattle bought the korean newspaper and helped us to read that. My mom read the newspaper and she changed her decision, because, the next day, we were supposed to depart from china to south korea but she changed her decision to come to america. Actually, the pastor actually tried to convince us that this law did not mean it you could go to america that way. We do not know when we have opportunity to help you go to america, but my mom kept her decision. We stayed in china, and, after many years, we were able to come to america with help should help. The biggest reason is my mom did not want to go to korea, because we lost our family had north korea and we know the north korean government like very how can i say this . System inry cruel north korean government. So, my mother wanted to get away from that system. There are a lot of north korean spies in south korea, and we also learned in china that when north Korean Refugees went to south korea, they would get assigned to an apartment. Many North Koreans lived together. So, it is a little similar, north Korean Community in south korea. So my mother did not want to live the north korean lifestyle anymore. That is why she chose america. She wanted to live a different life. The second reason is at the similar time we read another news article mentioning about a 60yearold grandmother who went back to high school and then she pursued her education and graduated high school at 60 years old. In asian culture, we do not have that kind of opportunity once you are of an older age and in america you have an opportunity to study. So it is very important for you guys to go to america and get your education. That is the second reason than reason. The third reason i can add is our family came to china, lived there for 10 years, back and forth. We do not have any relatives in china, south korea, or the u. S. But the koreanamerican missionary, he was the one who helped us to get to live in america, so it is a little easier for us to choose america. It seems like theres greater scrutiny on human rights. Are you seeing greater pressure to increase pressure on north korea question mark i dont think theres a question that has been the case. The decision to create the commission of inquiry, the report that came out in 2014 was given a great deal of attention. The one statistic mrs. Bush was 67 of americans are aware of the human rights problems in north korea. A lot of that has to do with the efforts of the commission of inquiry. Was an indonesian former prosecuting general of indonesia, a Civil Society leader from serbia. The three of them did a magnificent job not only of creating report but news information about what was going on in north korea with regard to human rights and the raising of that profile has been important. The United Nations has been an important effort in terms of what we have done as far as raising the profile on human rights and at the time the north korean human rights act was passed in 2004, the United Nations, the Human Rights Commission at the time, adopted a resolution criticizing north korea for its human rights record. Have adopted with ,verwhelming results resolutions that are overwhelmingly critical of the North Koreans and we have been able to raise the issue in the General Assembly as well. A resolution thats on the verge of being passed this year for the 12th or 14th time we have adopted a resolution in the General Assembly and the last two years, we have been able to raise the issue of human rights at the un security council. Inwill be doing that again the next couple of weeks where we will again raise this issue. Growing support and concern on the part of countries around the world with the human rights situation in north korea and the Information Available and what we have done has been helpful in that regard. I want to mention particularly the Bush Institutes efforts in terms of raising this issue. Has been extremely well done an extremely helpful and with symposia like this, the other thing that is particularly helpful is the effort to do something about it by raising funds and adopting programs that will provide opportunities for north Korean Refugees who come to the United States. They deserve a good deal of credit as well. Joseph and grace, you are both students. Has it been easy to pursue your studies . What challenges have you faced in attempting to do that . Me, the biggest challenge i faced in the beginning was learning a leader which learning a which. English is my third language but totill had a hard time understand some teachers lectures and it was hard for me to express my thoughts as well. So i had a hard time. Was ast hard time i felt a family member, i was the first person who can learn english and be able to speak a little english, so i have a lot of responsibility on my shoulder to make a choice for the family or translate the English Version two korean for my family and help my mom to decide and choose the choice. Was one of the hard adjustments for me. I came not knowing almost any english, but luckily, i was faced in an American Family where i was forced to learning bush. I think it was better in that case. Long story short, i went to an American Public high school and started taking esl clashes and i esl classes and i finished high school in four years and i thought i can speaking less now. After high school, i decided to go to committee college in new york city and i did not feel i felt confident in my conversation level of english or standard level of english. What i did not realize was after fouryear,ed to a higher expect school, i started to realize theres a difference between conversational english happen to learn conversational english and express myself and my thoughts and my feelings and write some short essays. It was completely a different word. My first assignment, for example, i was asked to write about the difference between wisdom and knowledge in socrates terms, five or 10 pages. Do people actually write five or 10 pages . [laughter] even when i go to the dining room with my friends, they would start asking what did you think about the view of humanism . Different and. Here are different challenges even though the challenges of learning the new language and culture, yes, those challenges were great in a sense that i did not know what to do but, at the same time, my desire to help and is also as great as the challenges we face and for that reason, i think we can overcome those challenges. In terms of learning language and culture, i think its a matter of time and process and motivation, but one thing that most northcult for that one oftors is weggest constraints dont really know the culture or information about different scholarships. We dont know how to get them or apply them. Information, that is one thing that is so challenging for us. I have been lucky in a sense offeredschool has college expense, so a lot of time, i know at the same there are so many students its not a greater capacity than i do. They are also waiting to pursue their dreams but it is difficult to pursue and i think thats why i was really grateful and glad that the Bush Institute initiated the Scholarship Program for north korean defectors. I think that is something really needed. Korea react toth human rights critique . I think increasingly sensitive. Do they ever change their behavior based on criticism . North koreans are in a interesting position. Legitimateto be the government of korea. You have two regimes that are very different. , south korea is 40 times as large as north korea is. The number of cell phones in south korea, 1. 3 per person. Dont ask me why that third of a cell phone is important. Talking lesswe are than 10 of people have cell phones. A situation where north korea has been sanctioned by the United Nations frequently and at the same time, south korea has a former foreign minister who is the secretary general of the United Nations. A south korean diplomat was present was president of the human rights council. These countries are vying for legitimacy to make the claims that they are the government of all korea. North korea is in a real bind. It has very little to make that claim. With very little regard to human rights, the North Koreans are very sensitive about what is going on. ,hen they were first criticized they made suggestions that they tried to make progress on areas that were not sensitive lyrically, dealing with the issue of people with disabilities. The North Koreans, when they reported to the u. N. Human rights council, they announced they had signed the convention on people with disabilities. They made progress and were working with nongovernment organizations to deal with people with disabilities. British hosted the olympics four years ago, there were a couple of south korean disabled athletes who participated in the paralympics. So, the North Koreans are sensitive. The problem is, because of the nature of the political system, they are not willing to go very far in terms of opening up access to information and not go very far in terms of allowing critiques of the government. They are willing to go a little bit, but not all the way. We need to continue to push them because there are areas where they are vulnerable and we need to press them on that. You are active in a group called nk in usa. Or you afraid to speak out . Is it important for north korean escapees to tell their stories in public . I can answer yes. North koreans are afraid about speaking out in public. It can be many reasons but first, to be afraid about long distant family members still living in north korea, but and we we are survivors believe in this free country and we are enjoying this freedom, we the suffering of our life here. We want to let the people know of the world and be we want stories andar our help North Koreans that are still suffering in north korea. Difficult thing for my sister and i to bury our stories we ourselves is at night, still think about our family members who already passed away if the worlde , may theut this before world can do something to this. T my family members and other north Korean Refugees, like , those people are individuals like moms and dads. They should not have to die. That duringelieve , more people do not know about the holocaust and we tried to help them but the current holocaust is happening in north korea, so we have two open our ears to the current holocaust and try to stop this tyranny for the future. Its very important for us to tell our stories. [applause] can you talk a little bit about your goals . What is your intent for the future and how to get there . Sure. Not is i seehe problem many different paths but i have a hard time deciding which one i want to choose. Working, i feel like the best way to bring up the awareness of human rights or sometimes i feel like i should serve in government to make positive