Taiwan presents human-rights award to Free North Korea Radio founder

Taipei - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on Thursday presented the 2009 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award to the founder of Free North Korea Radio, which beams news from South Korea to the North. Ma expressed admiration for Kim Seong-Min's "moral courage in challenging the North Korean dictatorship."

Kim is the fourth recipient of the annual award which includes a sculpture and a cash grant of 100,000 US dollars.

The award was established by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy in 2006 to promote democracy and freedom in Asia. It is presented on December 10, International Human Rights Day, every year.

Kim, a former propaganda officer in the North Korean army, crossed the border from North Korea to China in 1996, hoping to defect to South Korea, but was arrested and taken back to North Korea. He was tortured in prison and sentenced to death, according to the foundation's news release.

On his way to his execution site, Kim jumped off a moving train and defected to South Korea in 1999. He founded Free North Korea Radio in 2004.

The station, whose staff includes both North Korean defectors and South Koreans, broadcasts five hours of news every day, an important source of information for North Koreans as Pyongyang tries to bar its citizens from listening to foreign radio broadcasts.