Dr. Tara O, a member of the academic council at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in the United States, raised suspicions in an exclusive interview with News & Post on the 30th (Thursday) that the Korea-U.S. Parliamentarians' Exchange Center (KIPEC) might be an organization lobbying the U.S. Congress through South Korean National Assembly members on behalf of China's policies.

Dr. O stated at a hearing on North Korean human rights organized by the House Human Rights Committee on the 28th (Tuesday) that South Korean National Assembly members visited the U.S. through KIPEC, and their activities appeared to advocate for agendas such as opposing the nomination of Sung Kim as U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, the declaration of the end of the Korean War, and preventing interference in internal affairs related to Coupang.

She emphasized that such agendas would be favored by China or North Korea.

However, Dr. O said in this interview, "We can suspect that the Chinese Communist Party, unable to do it directly, created an organization through South Korea."

Dr. O argued that the reason for this suspicion is that the Korea-China Parliamentary Federation, established on December 2, 2022, and the Korea Inter-Parliamentary Exchange Center (KIPEC), established in Washington D.C. in April 2024, are related.

Dr. O pointed out that the organization name KIPEC does not include "US" or "America" to refer to the United States.

In reality, U.S.-ROK interparliamentary exchange organizations, which include members of Congress such as Representative Young Kim and Senator Andy Kim, use the name "U.S.-ROK Interparliamentary Exchange."

Dr. O strongly alleged that the Korea-China Parliamentary Federation was created at China's request, and that these two parliamentary organizations are attempting to lobby the U.S. Congress with pro-China agendas using taxpayer money.

She criticized the activities of National Assembly members under KIPEC as "deceiving the Korean people."

According to its website, the Korea-China Parliamentary Federation is a bipartisan group of lawmakers launched to commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and China and to strengthen parliamentary exchanges and economic cooperation between the two countries. Currently, about 100 National Assembly members participate from South Korea, and the National People's Congress (NPC) serves as the primary partner from China.

The credit at the bottom of the Korea-U.S. Parliamentarians' Exchange Center website states that the organization is registered under the FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) on behalf of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.

Meanwhile, Dr. O urged the Korean public and Korean Americans in the Americas not to give up on informing those around them about the truth.

Dr. O, a former Air Force lieutenant colonel, has been active as a North Korea expert, having served as a fellow at the Hudson Institute, the East Asian Research Center (EARC), and the Korean-American Institute (ICAS), focusing on issues such as North Korea's nuclear program and human rights. However, she stated in an interview with News & Post that after witnessing the impeachment process of former President Park Geun-hye in 2016, she has been focusing her research more on South Korean issues than on North Korean ones.

By Hong Sung-goo, Chief Editor, U.S. NNP / Special Dispatch NNP info@newsandpost.com