Denying human rights to uphold it: A N.Korean defector's case | NK News
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December 14, 2024

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Denying human rights to uphold it: A N.Korean defector’s case

If upholding one person's human rights endangers the safety of many more, what can we do?

“There is a runaway train, on course to kill five track workers, but you can divert it to only kill a single one on another part of the track. What is your choice?” This is the famous question coming from Michael Sandel’s book Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? When faced with this question, most people will try to save the five by sacrificing the one.

A similar dilemma happens quite often between Pyongyang and Seoul, and one example would be of a woman who is non-stop in her praise of Pyongyang while still living in Seoul, yet she has not arrested by South Korean authorities.

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