Read on for the latest news from LiNK and the worldwide movement for North Korean human rights!

Message from the Director

Friends,

I write from Seoul, Korea, where perhaps a new consciousness for North Korean human rights and refugees may be stirring among the people. The movie Crossing debuted in theaters here last week, with very positive feedback from audiences thus far, and LiNK is working closely with the film producers to ensure as many people see the film as possible. Our Project: Real Sunshine delegates here this summer have been meeting with defector groups, activists, and advocates to forge new breakthroughs and to press for change in new, untried ways. Korean celebrities have begun to speak openly about a resurgent famine in North Korea, and some have been speaking about the need for South Koreans to take up the cause of their suffering brethren to the North.

This past weekend, LiNK delegates spent the weekend playing sports, singing karaoke and eating with North Korean defector leaders, newly resettled North Korean youth, and even young North Korean children. Amidst laughter, friendly competition and spirited songs, (A favorite karaoke song for one male defector was Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” Go figure.) we saw a heart-warming vision of what could be. For so long, the only images and stories we heard were overwhelmingly those of desperation, struggle, difficulty and heartache. Now, as the community of those who have escaped to freedom grows, we are beginning to see more hope - smiles on their faces, warmth in their words, and the slow emergence of cultural, political and social leaders among them. Even among the youngest we are seeing tremendous potential and vision emerge - and it is no small number among them who have dedicated their lives to helping those they have left behind.

From Seoul, we will do our best this summer to push along a fledgling movement for human rights in North Korea. Read on below for more updates!

Onwards and upwards!
Adrian Hong

Greetings from Project: Real Sunshine!

This year we have nearly 20 participants actively promoting and researching issues affecting the North Korean human rights cause. Our Project: Real Sunshine team will be spending three weeks in South Korea from June 22 to July 14 raising awareness in the streets of Seoul and researching the resettlement experiences of North Korean refugees and Korean public sentiment on North Korean human rights.

While many may be familiar with our “Drop Dead” initiative from Project: Sunshine 2006, this year we have taken a decidedly more inviting approach with our new “FREEZE” initiative. Our participants have been distributing fliers throughout Seoul and inviting the public to learn more about the issue and program we are working hard to promote. The “FREEZE” - incorporated with the arrow initiatives used in 2006 - has been receiving positive public feedback and we hope to encounter even more in the weeks to come.

Please continue to check updates on The LiNK Blog [ here ] and in Korean [ here ].

Update From the Field

Over the past year, reports from Southeast Asia raised concerns about the treatment and processing of North Korean refugees in Thailand. Many waited extended periods of time - some up to two years, without a sense for when processing would culminate in exit to the U.S. LiNK investigated the situation on the ground in 2007 to 2008, and led efforts to advocate on behalf of these refugees. Thanks to the help and support of various groups, organizations, and individuals who helped tremendously in these efforts, we are very happy to announce that last week, 5 North Korean defectors arrived in the U.S. from Thailand. We will continue working to ensure that refugees continue to find safe and viable ways to reach safety and asylum, and are grateful to the United States and the Royal Thai Government for their work on this issue.

Resurgent Famine to Occur in July

Recent reports from various organizations have warned of a resurgent famine in North Korea, comparable to the “Great Famine” that hit the country in the mid-1990s. Reports have indicated that the “Public Distribution System”, North Korea’s state food distribution system, has broken down not only in rural areas, but in Pyongyang as well, typically the last area to experience the same hardships felt in the rural counties. The widespread damage caused from major flooding in 2006 and 2007 has exacerbated the effects of the abnormal weather and low crop yield this season. In addition, North Korea has refused to accept or formally request aid from its neighbor South Korea, ending years of millions of tons worth of unconditional food aid that typically arrives from the South. The U.N. World Food Programme, one of many organizations predicting a major shortfall in food this year, has reported that, “North Korea faces a looming food and humanitarian crisis after a poor harvest that has caused food prices to skyrocket and supplies to dwindle.” The WFP estimates and expects North Korea’s annual food deficit to nearly double since last year to 1.83 million tons, leaving nearly 6.5 million people hungry. In the great famine of the 1990s, North Korea suffered from an estimated one to three million deaths out of a population of 23 million.

DEBRIEF: “Crossing” Screening in LA

LiNK, along with ImaginAsian Entertainment and KoreAm Journal, hosted a private pre-screening of Director Kim Tae-Kyun’s “Crossing” at the ImaginAsian Center in Los Angeles, which was attended by over 200 guests, including activists, media and representatives of the California State Assembly, the California State Senate, and the United States Congress. The audience was visibly moved and many pledged to increase their involvement in and support for this cause.

Help Send “DEFACE” to the Oscars!

DEFACE - a short film about a North Korean villager who vandalizes propaganda posters after the death of his daughter - has been nominated for Best Short Film at the 80th Annual Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars. The film qualified for the nomination after winning Best Narrative Short at the 2007 Austin Film Festival, sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

According to writer, director, and executive producer John Arlotto, $10,000 must be raised by mid-July to have a print made of film to fulfill the Academy’s requirements. To donate online, please click [ here ]. To mail contributions made payable to “Fractured Atlas”, please send them to:

John Arlotto
c/o Viviane Meerbergen
PO Box 69943
West Hollywood, CA 90069

If you are in the New York City area, please also consider attending the New York premiere of DEFACE on Friday, July 18th, 6:30pm at the Asian American International Film Festival. To purchase tickets ($8-10), please click [ here ].

DEFACE is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. To view the trailer, please click [ here ].

Donate to LiNK!
Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is

Don’t forget - you can make recurring, monthly donations to LiNK and the worldwide movement for North Korean human rights! With a few clicks, you can set a monthly contribution from your credit card - funds that will go toward LiNK’s growing network of underground shelters in Asia, rescue missions, humanitarian aid projects inside North Korea, and international advocacy for these vulnerable and voiceless people.

All contributions are, of course, tax-deductible!

Click below to donate today!

Contact Information
email: info@linkglobal.org
phone: 202.347.2150
web: http://www.linkglobal.org

Committee for Democratization of North Korea President Hwang Jang Yop has criticized the “candle light demonstrations,” which have been going on for over 2 months in the center of Seoul against imports of U.S. beef, as nothing but the “dictatorship of the masses.”

Hwang Jang Yop released a statement on the 2nd to encourage “the citizens’ alliance against illegal candle light demonstrations,” saying that “There are now two kinds of dictatorship on the Korean Peninsula. The first one is North Korea’s dictatorship that destroys even third generation seeds of resistance; a state dictatorship. And, the other is the South Korean one, the dictatorship of the masses, ruled by the leftists who previously fell under the spell of North Korean propaganda.”

He pointed out that, “From my perspective, which has witnessed both systems, North Korea’s state dictatorship is similar to the South Korean masses’ candlelight one. While the national principle is the Juche Ideology, the South Korean principle is ‘against mad cow disease,’ which was stimulated by anti-Americanism. While the command group in North Korea is the National Defense Commission, South Korea’s leading group is the faction of pro-North Koreans and the followers of Kim Jong Il, the so-called ‘progressive leftist group.’”

Unfortunately, one common tactic that propels any issue to the top is to turn violent. It’s embarrassing stunts like the anti-beef protests that make me wonder if North Korean human rights can be serve better if we withdrew from South Korea.

After all, the issue is too important to rely on people hooked on the latest leftist cause.

Ten North Koreans have defected by boat to the South this month, coming in a total of six trips, four of which were reportedly taken in stolen motor boats.

While thousands of defectors come to the South every year, they usually do so by first going to China and Southeast Asia. The boat journey is more direct but riskier. This month’s trips have reportedly prompted North Korea to strengthen its coastal borders.

More than 2,000 North Koreans came to the South in 2006 and 3,000 defections are expected this year according to the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights.

With Chinese authorities actively ridding its country of refugees before the Olympics, going out to sea in the onset of typhoon season is becoming more of an attractive option.

Unfortunately, there is no way to help seafaring refugees until they land somewhere outside of North Korea.

A SOUTH Korean prisoner of war has escaped North Korea after 55 years and is waiting in a third country to return to his homeland, an activist said today.
The 78-year-old man was in a South Korean consulate after fleeing the communist state on June 14, Choi Sung-Yong, who arranged the rescue, said.

The man was captured by North Korean troops in 1953 after suffering a gunshot wound to the knee.

“He had worked as a coal miner in North Hamgyong province. He fled alone through China, leaving his wife and children at his home,” Mr Choi said.

“He is sick and being attended by South Korean officials,” said the South Korean activist, who has arranged at least 10 previous escapes.

Mr Choi did not elaborate on the PoW’s rescue, which involved arranging border crossings. If caught in China, refugees from North Korea face repatriation and harsh punishment - possibly even a death sentence.

I wonder what drove him to live so long?

With the Beijing Olympic torch relay ahead which is supposed to be staged on July 19th in Yanji, China, a large-scale resident registration investigation have been taking place, so defectors have been going through rough experiences.

While the investigation have not been specifically targeting defectors, Yanji City, which pays special attention to the public security issue, has been making rounds to residences and investigating identifications and family relations, making it more difficult for defectors to hide out.

Mr. Kim who came to Yanji in April of last year bringing a travel certificate valid for one month said through an interview with the Daily NK, “At the time, there were 100-some people who received one-month permits and came with me; a portion of them went back in time, but most of them have been staying in China. I know several people who were caught and arrested during the recent investigation.”

He appealed, “With the help of relatives, I fortunately was able to avoid the investigation. Extending the valid term of the travel certificate has become difficult, so depending on the opportunity, I am thinking about going back to my hometown, but I do not have any money.”

It is not uncommon for defectors to be caught during unrelated investigation. This is more significant as this links the Olympics negatively affecting the fate of defectors. But just like any issue that tarnishes China’s image, this is swept under the rug or its citizenry will backlash against “outside forces”.

Father slays family as hunger returns to haunt North Korea

Man flees N Korea after 33 years
And I am further impressed by the lack of America-bashing in these threads (at least the ones still dugg up).  Fortunately, stupidity doesn’t always perservere.

As North Korea steps closer to a second great famine and North Koreans continue to endure the depredations of the repressive regime that rules over them, an exodus of refugees slips out of the country. The twin imperatives of food and freedom (much more of the former, at least initially) are driving them hundreds or thousands of kilometers from their homes.

During their perilous trek, they will be hounded by agents of repressive regimes and thwarted by the indifference of governments that could and should do more to help them. That they should have to endure such inequities is a shame on several governments, including those in Washington and Seoul.

In order to crack down on the movement of refugees, both the North Korean and Chinese militaries have recently boosted troop strength on their border. Those refugees who do not have enough funds to bribe their way past guards on both sides of the border will find it increasingly difficult to get out.

While bureaucracies slumber, it is up to individuals to take action.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s military warned Friday that tensions between the two Koreas could become “catastrophic” if South Korea keeps sending propaganda leaflets into the communist nation.

The North’s tough talk was yet another sign that relations between the rivals have turned sour since new South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February with a pledge to get tough on Pyongyang.

North Korea has since unleashed a spate of harsh rhetoric, including making threats to attack and hurling personal insults at Lee.

“If they do not want the present inter-Korean relations to lead to a catastrophic phase, they should take immediate steps to stop all forms of reckless scattering of leaflets at once,” the official Korean Central News Agency said.

There’s also a news segment that accompanies the report

One man’s garbage is everyone else’s link to the outside world.

Liberty in North Korea | LiNK Newsletter
Updates from LiNK Worldwide

Read on for the latest news from LiNK and the worldwide movement for North Korean human rights!

Message from the Director

Friends,

Change is coming. Here in Washington, DC, the last two months saw a great deal of dialogue, debate and discussion about human rights in North Korea, among citizens, activists, advocates, scholars and public representatives. We are seeing slow but steady progress in winning new leaders and representatives to our case. In South Korea, a new President is joined by a new National Assembly this June, and both branches have shown a willingness to talk about what was once considered taboo - human rights in North Korea, and the rights of North Korean refugees.

On June 26, the movie Crossing will premier in theaters throughout South Korea, a powerful portrayal of the sufferings of the North Korean people. Our entire headquarters office, as well as some of our field protection officers, will gather in Seoul as well, spending several weeks working on engaging both the grassroots and policymaking elite, raising awareness of the crisis to the general populace, and also engaging North Korean defectors in Seoul.

To say the least, we have high hopes.

In the past month, I have had the privilege of spending just under two weeks with Dong Hyuk Shin, a North Korean defector who is the only known survivor born and raised in a North Korean concentration camp, and one of the DPRK’s “Total Control Zones” at that. Shin was born in 1982 in North Korea’s Camp Number 14 in the Kaechon region. His story is at once compelling and numbing, tragic and yet hopeful. Shin has come from a background that makes so many others’ pale in comparison, and has become a capable and passionate advocate for recognition of the atrocities happening in North Korea. Throughout meetings with policymakers and the grassroots, it has reminded us of the urgency of this cause, an urgency we lose sight of so often. As you read these words, the children Shin grew up with in Kaechon’s camp - children who have known no life outside of the camps - are still living, working, and dying in these camps. This summer, reports from various aid agencies and NGOs indicate potential losses from starvation of up to a quarter-million North Korean refugees.

We must continue to develop and improve our own efforts, and we must fight harder to make this issue one that matters to leaders around this world. This summer, we hope to make an impact in South Korea, and spark what must eventually become a domestic grassroots movement that can propel Free Korea to the forefront worldwide on this fight. Amidst what is often discouraging work, it is the energy of the grassroots and the willingness of complete strangers to help that often recharges us. Pictured here is just-turned-five David, oldest son of one of LiNK’s supporters in the Bay Area. Recently, David worked with his father to break open his piggy bank, and carefully removed exactly half of his savings - $25 - to give to the cause. He also set aside a crayon and some papers for “the North Korean children.”

We have been entrusted to do important work, and to do it effectively. We will work hard to ensure your trust is well-placed, until the day North Koreans are free. Thank you for your continued support.

Onwards and upwards,
Adrian Hong

RECAP: Shin Dong-Hyuk US Tour

LiNK hosted a nationwide speaking tour from May 1-15, 2008 for North Korean defector Shin Dong-Hyuk who was born into slavery and raised as a political prisoner in a North Korean concentration camp. Beginning with a press conference on Capitol Hill - hosted by Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Representatives Frank Wolf (R-VA) and Diane Watson (D-CA) - Mr. Shin shared his story and perspectives on North Korea and the world that was hidden from him until recently, and urged the world to stop the grave injustices in the North.

LiNK’s Directors, who accompanied Mr. Shin, also shared new developments and information about the crisis, refugee situation and LiNK’s resettlement activities, and how the public can get involved.

The following week, LiNK hosted a private pre-screening of Director Kim Tae-Kyun’s Crossing at The ImaginAsian Theater in New York City, which was attended by over 200 guests, including activists, defectors, media and representatives of the New York State Governor and Assemblymen. The audience was visibly moved and many pledged to increase their involvement in and support for this cause. A “Brown-Bag Lunch Discussion” was also hosted at Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Human Rights, as well as a press conference and gathering with New York State Assemblymember Ellen Young.

Mr. Shin also shared his testimony and pointed the location of his former home and camp parameters and facilities on Google Earth in a “Google Tech Talk” with LiNK Executive Director Adrian Hong at the Googleplex headquarters near San Francisco. Google had previously hosted Mr. Hong for a talk in June.

Throughout the tour, mixers and happy hours were hosted at venues such as M Grill Restaurant in Los Angeles (5/14) and IndeBleu in Washington, DC (5/2), the latter co-sponsored by the Sejong Society of Washington, DC, Asian American Pacific Film, Inc. and the National Association of Asian American Professionals.

Awareness events were also held at The King’s College in New York City (5/6), Northwestern University Law School (5/9) and Foster Bank in Chicago (5/10), UC-Berkeley (5/12), UCLA (5/14) and UC-Irvine (5/15).

Full debrief coming soon at The LiNK Blog [ here ].

UPDATE: Reports Indicate Resurgent Famine Looming This Summer

Recent reports from various organizations have warned of a resurgent famine in North Korea, comparable to the “Great Famine” that hit the country in the mid-1990s. Reports have indicated that the “Public Distribution System”, North Korea’s state food distribution system, has broken down not only in rural areas, but in Pyongyang as well, typically the last area to experience the same hardships felt in the rural counties. The widespread damage caused from major flooding in 2006 and 2007 has exacerbated the effects of the abnormal weather and low crop yield this season. In addition, North Korea has refused to accept or formally request aid from its neighbor South Korea, ending years of millions of tons worth of unconditional food aid that typically arrives from the South. The U.N. World Food Programme, one of many organizations predicting a major shortfall in food this year, has reported that, “North Korea faces a looming food and humanitarian crisis after a poor harvest that has caused food prices to skyrocket and supplies to dwindle.” The WFP estimates and expects North Korea’s annual food deficit to nearly double since last year to 1.83 million tons, leaving nearly 6.5 million people hungry. In the great famine of the 1990s, North Korea suffered from an estimated one to three million deaths out of a population of 23 million.

Cars for Refugees

LiNK is seeking cars to be used by North Korean refugees resettled here in the US. If you are able to donate and would like more information, please email info (at) linkglobal.org with the subject headline “Cars for Refugees.”

All contributions are, of course, tax-deductible!

Fundraiser Highlight: RUN for LiNK

LiNK would like to thank Christine Kwon for her efforts to raise awareness for the North Korean human rights cause and $10,000 for LiNK by sacrificing her time and energy to run two! marathons.

To learn more about Ms. Kwon’s goals, or help her reach them, visit her blog [ here ].

LiNK Headquarters in Seoul

LiNK Headquarters will be in Seoul from June 21 to July 27 for Project: Real Sunshine and the Chollima Leadership Program. LiNK staff will continue to answer emails and can be reached at their respective addresses or at info (at) linkglobal.org.

Donate to LiNK!
Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is

Don’t forget - you can make recurring, monthly donations to LiNK and the worldwide movement for North Korean human rights! With a few clicks, you can set a monthly contribution from your credit card - funds that will go toward LiNK’s growing network of underground shelters in Asia, rescue missions, humanitarian aid projects inside North Korea, and international advocacy for these vulnerable and voiceless people.

All contributions are, of course, tax-deductible!

Contact Information
email: info@linkglobal.org
phone: 202.347.2150
web: http://www.linkglobal.org

May 29 (Bloomberg) — Video clips of a sprawling marketplace, smuggled out of North Korea by an undercover journalist, show women selling goods including garments with heart-shaped price tags. The most conspicuous man is a monitor who shoos away unauthorized merchants.

Women almost exclusively operate the private stalls in the jangmadang, government-managed markets that ruler Kim Jong Il allowed to spring up after famine contributed to the collapse of North Korea’s economy in the 1990s. Late last year Kim lost his tolerance for these pockets of free enterprise, ordering many women out of the private sector and back into government- run factories.

In a communist country where dissent is rare, Kim’s actions angered women, many of whom are finding ways around the directives and returning to the markets. Some are even fighting back with public protests, at least one of which reportedly resulted in a physical fight with the police.

In times of famine, these female merchants will be key to survival. Whether this means a further breakdown of state control remains to be seen.