A Letter from Kerry Kennedy: Mourning the Loss of RFK Human Rights Award Laureate Kim Keun Tae

2011-12-31

Dear Friends,

I just heard the terrible news of Kim Keun Tae’s passing.

The very first mission of the newly established RFK Center for Human Rights was our visit to Seoul in 1988 in order to present Kim and his wife In Jae Keun with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. I will never forget Kim’s kind and humble demeanor, this hero of human rights, activist for democracy, labor leader, and intellectual visionary, who not only endured extreme cruelty, but refused to be silenced by a government which sought to coerce him into self-censorship in exchange for release from imprisonment.   Instead, Kim condemned the torture and torment, putting himself in harm’s way by   exposing the regime for the all the world to see. Kim’s steadfast refusal to compromise with a corrupt and brutal regime gave hope to everyone working for justice and was a turning point in the quest for change.

Over the years I was honored to visit In and Kim in Korea several times, and to host them in the United States. One of my prized possessions is a photograph I have framed in my living room of In and me on the grounds of a prison where we were going to see her husband over the objections of the U.S. ambassador, the Minister of Justice, the head of the military and the then head of state. With all their power and position, they were no match for In's determination.

The last time I saw Kim was in Seoul a few years ago, for the launch of Speak Truth to Power there. I asked him how he was doing.  At the time he was the Speaker of the House and was considering a run for the presidency.  What a transformation. What a life he led, and what a perfect partner he found in In Jae Keun, his wife and partner in the struggle for human rights.

I am so sorry about the Kim family's loss and about the loss all people who love justice must feel today.  But I know the angels in Heaven are celebrating, for one of their own has finally come home.

I hope you will join the Kennedy family, and the board and staff of the RFK Center in sending our condolences and love to In Jae Keun.

Kerry Kennedy
President, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights