So unless someone wants to take over the blog, I’m shuttering it.

But that is not the end of the story.

For years, I’ve urged people to take action on one of the most pressing human rights issue in the world. Awareness is important, but it only really matters if it translates into action.

I’ve had this blog for over 3 years now, I’m one of the most aware persons. Why am I not doing anything?

So this morning on my way to work, I thought about what I can do. I don’t have a lot of money, nor do I have a lot of time. And I’m certain there many people in this country with the same situation. So what can I do make the most out of what I have?

I remembered an old post on microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus. And I also know the microfinance site, Kiva.

What if we find North Koreans hiding in China and finance their escape to safety, and recoup our loan long after they reach it?

Obviously, there are major risks involved. And it will no doubt be a tough sell. There is no guarantee that the North Koreans we fund will make it to safety, we can only maximize their chances of success. And the thought of poor North Koreans paying off rich westerns like me is unappealing.

But what are the alternatives? The current model of charity relies purely on faith that one’s contribution will make a difference. And with loans instead of gifts, we can maximize what meager resources in order to help others escape.

There are plenty questions that need to be asked. How much does it cost to get one North Korean out of the country? How can we finance children? When they do succeed, how do refugees, facing social isolation and meager employment, plan to pay off that loan?

They say freedom is priceless, but I plan to put one anyway and hope for both refugees and lenders, it is worth the price. I don’t consider it immoral, but others may disagree.

There is much research I have to do. I’ll have to find honest brokers. I’ll have to find ways to communicate with both refugees and lenders without comprising refugee’s safety. I’ll have to provide information to lender that their loans are worth it without giving too much information (like real names).

Hopefully, these questions will be answered and I will launch my new initiative and put my own money on the line to see if this is a sustainable model.

It’s my turn to act.

Reporting from Seoul – Editor Jiro Ishimaru dimmed the lights and started the shaky video clip before a roomful of North Korea experts.

The footage, taken surreptitiously from a speeding motorcycle, was jarring: It showed the Soonchun Vinylon factory, which many defectors claim has been secretly used to produce lethal chemicals, including nerve gas. But the video showed a deserted complex slouching forlornly on a weed-strewn stretch of countryside.

The experts sat wide-eyed. They had heard rumors of the factory’s fate, but this was their first real evidence.

The images will soon be featured in an issue of Rimjingang, a magazine published in Japan that offers a highly intimate look inside North Korea. What makes it all the more remarkable is that the quarterly publication consists of articles written not by outsiders, but by a few North Koreans, farmers and factory workers who risk their lives to provide poignant vignettes and hard-news accounts of life in their reclusive homeland.

Give them your support, because if they’re caught, nobody can save them and nobody will be able to remember them.

Look forward to the English edition of Rimjingang.

To the West, North Korea is a pariah state, best known for its secrecy, famines, belligerent politics and its leader’s brutality.

At home, North Koreans live under total government control and the watchful eye of the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il.

But in the Amur region of Russia, almost 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the border, North Korea has created a home away from home at a series of remote logging camps in which nearly 1,500 workers are employed.

I travelled to one of the camps deep in the forest. A giant monument bearing the words “Our greatest leader Kim Il-sung lives with us forever” stood in the middle.

One of the buildings had a sign which read “Laboratory of Kim Il-sung’s Theory” a commonly used slogan found on North Korean administration blocks. The camp even had its own theatre.

Further into the forest we found a group of North Koreans hard at work. They lived in a mobile wagon, decorated with portraits of the North Korean leaders.

Although reluctant to speak, one told me that he earned the equivalent of $200 per month. Another said that he earned $1 for each truck he loaded and that he could load up to nine per day, but he had not been paid since May.

Like trafficking of North Korean women in China, Russia’s North Korean logging camps have to do with addressing Russia’s shrinking population.

Be sure watch the actual video on the page.

Laura Ling, one of the women journalists captured by the North Koreans in March and then freed earlier this month following a visit by former President Bill Clinton, is shopping a book proposal–with her sister.

According to a publisher who has seen the proposal and asked to remain anonymous, Ms. Ling, together with her sister, Lisa Ling, a special correspondent for “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” is offering a book that will examine the meaning of sisterhood and journalistic ideals. The issue of Laura Ling’s captivity will be discussed, but in a larger context.

Some commentators wanted to blame Ling and Lee for endangering North Korea refugees. I defended them saying that helping refugees by nature carries a heightened risk and that the real culprits are the Chinese and North Korean government.

But it’s over. Ling and Lee are free. There are tens of thousands more refugees hidden in China. The cause I’ve been blogging for over threes is not about two journalists at the wrong place.

This is the last I will mention these two. I hope everyone else will follow suit.

I don’t live in New York so I have no stake in this and Choe’s foreign policy views aren’t applicable in city council. If he does get elected, it may or may not be interesting fodder for this blog.

North Korean President Kim Jong Il has pardoned and released two U.S. journalists, state-run news agency KCNA said Wednesday.
President Clinton met Tuesday with North Korea leader Kim Jong Il.

The announcement came after former U.S. President Clinton met with top North Korean officials in Pyongyang to appeal for their release.

“Clinton expressed words of sincere apology to Kim Jong Il for the hostile acts committed by the two American journalists against the DPRK after illegally intruding into it,” the news agency reported. “Clinton courteously conveyed to Kim Jong Il an earnest request of the U.S. government to leniently pardon them and send them back home from a humanitarian point of view.

“The meetings had candid and in-depth discussions on the pending issues between the DPRK and the U.S. in a sincere atmosphere and reached a consensus of views on seeking a negotiated settlement of them.”

The report said Clinton then conveyed a message from U.S. President Obama “expressing profound thanks for this and reflecting views on ways of improving the relations between the two countries.”

I am sure many people are elated that Ling and Lee are freed, as they should, but I wonder what was the cost? Will it hamper human rights work in China? What if the cost was promises to prevent Americans from operating near the Chinese-North Korean border?

All speculation until further info, but I personally doubt that KJI released them because of any threats or intimidation from Clinton.

One good thing though is now we can finally receive an accurate account of what happened at the border.

OFK found this bizarre story on Michael Jackson’s willingness to negotiate the release of Laura Ling and Euna Kim.

In addition to the WaPo’s front page expose on North Korea’s concentration camps, this is by far the most coverage on North Korean human right I’ve ever seen.

So what does this mean in regards to actual change. If the Iranian protests are any indication, interest will wane but the optimist in me believe there will be actual change in Iran.

I admit I haven’t been closely following the situation as I used to, but if this sudden rise in awareness has to do with LiNK and the other NK Human Rights groups, then congrats.

However, attention spans are short. Here’s hoping that raised awareness translates to action.

SEOUL, South Korea — When Im Chun-yong made his daring escape from North Korea, with a handful of his special forces men, there were many reasons why the North Korean government was intent on stopping them.

They were, after all, part of Kim Jong-il’s elite commandos — privy to a wealth of military secrets and insights into the workings of the reclusive regime.

But among the accounts they carried with them is one of the most shocking yet to emerge — namely the use of humans, specifically mentally or physically handicapped children, to test North Korea’s biological and chemical weapons.

“If you are born mentally or physically deficient, says Im, the government says your best contribution to society… is as a guinea pig for biological and chemical weapons testing.”

Even after settling into the relative safety of South Korea, for 10 years Im held on to this secret, saying it was too horrific to recount.

But with Kim’s health reportedly failing, and the country appearing increasingly unpredictable, Im felt it was time he spoke out.

Speechless.

However, those who do get out, it is our duty to help them anyway we can.

Update: If you need a review now, ROK Drop has one.

I’ll be sure to discuss when I finish reading it.