탈북여성 1호 박사인 이애란 경인여대 교수(가운데)가 10일 미국 워싱턴 국무부에서 ‘용기 있는 국제여성상’을 받고 버락 오바마 미 대통령 부인 미셸 오바마 여사(오른쪽), 힐러리 클린턴 국무장관과 포즈를 취했다. 워싱턴=연합뉴스
“이애란 박사는 어린 시절 북한 정치범수용소에서 8년을 보냈고 역경을 뚫고 북한을 탈출한 후에는 쉬지 않고 탈북자들을 옹호하는 활동을 해왔습니다.”
버락 오바마 미국 대통령의 부인 미셸 오바마 여사가 10일(현지 시간) 워싱턴 국무부에서 탈북 여성 1호 박사인 이애란 경인여대 교수(46)를 칭찬하면서 이같이 말했다. 이 박사는 이날 미셸 여사와 힐러리 클린턴 국무장관이 공동으로 수여하는 ‘용기 있는 국제여성상’을 받았다.
미셸 여사는 축사를 통해 이같이 언급하면서 “이 박사는 국회의원에 도전한 최초의 탈북여성”이라며 그의 도전정신을 높이 샀다. 그는 이어 “이 박사는 수상자로 결정되자 ‘나는 당연히 해야 할 일을 했을 뿐’이라고 간단하게 얘기했다”며 이 박사의 겸손한 자세에 대해서도 칭찬했다.
이 박사는 1997년 돌이 지나지 않은 아들, 부모와 함께 탈북해 한국에 정착하는 과정에서 갖은 역경을 이겨냈고, 2005년 이화여대에서 ‘1990년 전후 북한주민의 식생활 양상 변화’를 주제로 식품영양학 박사 학위를 받았다. 그는 2008년 총선에서는 국민실향안보당의 비례대표 국회의원으로 출마했지만 낙선했다. 현재 북한전통음식문화연구원장으로 활동하고 있으며 올해부터 경인여대에서 강의를 맡고 있다.
클린턴 장관은 이 박사에 대해 “한국 사회에서 탈북자들의 삶과 교육수준을 증진시키는 선봉에 나섰고, 여성의 권리를 신장시키고 북한의 끔찍한 인권 상황을 알리는 데 이바지했다”며 수상자로 선정한 배경을 설명했다. 그는 이어 “북한에서 태어난 이 박사는 어린 시절에 압제를 겪었고 한국으로 탈출한 후에 인생이 바뀌어 탈북자들의 인권을 위한 힘이 돼 왔다”고 말했다.
그는 북한 전통음식을 알리는 데 힘쓰고 어려운 처지에 있는 탈북여성의 자활을 도운 노력이 평가돼 캐슬린 스티븐스 주한 미국대사의 추천으로 수상자로 결정됐다.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Lee Ae-ran, Republic of Korea
March 1, 2010
2010 International Women of Courage Award Winner
Dr. Lee Ae-ran's experience with tyranny began at age 11, when she and her family were designated "bad elements" by the North Korean government and sent to a labor camp following her Christian grandparents' defection to South Korea. Dr. Lee spent eight years as prisoner, enduring abuse, horrific living conditions, and starvation as punishment for her grandparents' "crime." Upon her release, she graduated from college and worked at a government science and technology committee.
In 1997, after a family relative in the United States published a memoir implicating her father in anti-regime activities, Dr. Lee fled to South Korea rather than be imprisoned again. She was able to take her 4-month old infant son with her, but was forced to leave her husband and other family members behind.
Dr. Lee is the first North Korean defector to run for the Republic of Korea’s National Assembly, and the first female defector to earn a doctoral degree. To help others in the refugee community reach the levels of achievement that she’s earned, she’s spearheaded a variety of initiatives. In 2005, she founded the Global Leadership Scholarship Program, which has provided more than a thousand North Korean students with scholarships to study English – a skill critical to success in South Korean colleges and universities. In January 2009, she founded the Hana Defector Women's Organization, an NGO with more than 200 members that provides North Korean women in the Republic of Korea with job training, child care, educational support, and human rights training. This year, Dr. Lee also opened the first North Korea Traditional Culinary and Culture Institute to provide North Korean women with practical entrepreneurial and culinary arts skills.
Lee Ae Ran, a professor in the Department of Food and Nutrition at Kyungin Women’s College and the first ever North Korean refugee woman to receive a Ph.D., has been chosen as one of the “Secretary of State’s 2010 International Women of Courage,” by the U.S. Department of State.
The news was revealed by United States Ambassador to South Korea Kathleen Stephens during her congratulatory remarks at an international donor conference in Seoul yesterday.
The Department of State gives the award to those women who have contributed the most to improving women’s rights around the world in commemoration of International Women’s Day, which falls on March 8th.
U.S. Embassies in each country nominate a candidate, and then the Department of State chooses the winners. Finally, the Secretary of State hosts an awards ceremony for the recipients in Washington D.C.
The list of winners of the 2009 award are women such as Suaad Allami, an Iraqi lawyer who runs an organization helping women in Sadr City, one of the poorest and most densely populated neighborhoods of Baghdad, and Norma Cruz, who is working to stop the violent mistreatment and murder of women in Guatemala.
Making her remarks, Ambassador Stephens had high praise for her “good friend, and respected colleague” Dr. Lee, saying, “She has done so much… to empower North Korean women refugees and to advance women’s’ issues in South Korea. I know Secretary Clinton is looking forward to presenting Dr. Lee’s award to her personally next month in Washington, D.C.
During a subsequent phone conversation with The Daily NK, Doctor Lee was modest. “I was only doing what I was naturally supposed to do for North Korean refugees in difficult situations,” she said, “I’m flattered to receive such award, although I have done nothing.”
The range of Doctor Lee’s work for North Korean refugees is wide. She serves as an assistant administrator on the “GLS Scholarship Committee,” established in 2006 to give financial assistance to North Korean students in South Korea. The group supports those students without accommodation or who cannot register for school, offering them cost-of-living scholarships of around $250 every month.
She also works with “North Korean Youth Christian Meeting,” a group established in 2007 to aid North Korean refugees in difficult situations and encourage Christian fellowship, where Dr. Lee teaches bible classes.
Finally, she is involved with efforts to connect refugees with people who can offer them financial stability by acting as guarantors on bank loans, so that they can have a chance to stand on their own two feet in South Korea.
Dr. Lee was recently interviewed for an article which appeared on The Daily NK on Wednesday, in which she was highly critical of the so-called “Chosun Food Encyclopedia,” a list of 21 “traditional” North Korean foods introduced by North Korean propaganda website “Uriminzokkiri (being amongst our nation).”
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