RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The majority of the people of North Korea have experienced unimaginable suffering under the dictatorships the late Kim II-sung, the late Kim Jong-il and the current regime of Kim Jong-un; and
WHEREAS, The North Korean government has executed political prisoners, outspoken opponents, certain "repatriated" defectors, as well as member of outlawed religions and organizations; and
WHEREAS, The North Korean government currently holds a quarter of a million political prisoners in camps under deplorable conditions; and
WHEREAS, During the early 1990s, more than two million inhabitants of North Korea died of starvation; and
WHEREAS, Since 1995, the North Korean government has prevented the monitoring of the delivery of food aid provided by the World Food Program; and
WHEREAS, The risk of malnutrition and starvation, threat of persecution and lack of personal freedoms have caused hundreds of thousands of North Koreans to flee, primarily into China, where they often do not find the aid or asylum that they seek; and
WHEREAS, While the responsibility for domestic refugee resettlement naturally devolves to the South Koreans, the United States should play a leadership role in addressing the plight of these refugees and develop international solutions for this humanitarian crisis; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the Chicago City Council, assembled this 21st day of October, 2015, express our solidarity with the North Korean refugees in their quest for relief from hunger and persecution; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we call upon the United States government to take a leadership role in forming an international framework for resettlement of North Korean refugees both here and abroad; and