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Global Festival in Tokyo
October 6-7, 2008
Almost Eighty Thousand in Attendance
A Global Festival to commemorate the global citizenship of every person on earth was held for two days in Tokyo, beginning on Oct. 6, which is designated International Cooperation Day.
The event was hosted by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
The festival drew nearly 80,000 visitors.
As part of our own activities to direct attention to the North Korean refugee issue, our group, Life Funds for North Korean Refugees (LFNKR) displayed a number of items from everyday life in North Korea, including school textbooks and stamps, and continuously played the documentary DVDs Seoul Train and Public Execution.
LFNKR members manning our booth were very encouraged by the participation of three new former North Korean refugees, whom LFNKR helped to reach Japan and settle here. They explained the situations and related their own experiences in North Korea to the people who visited the LFNKR booth.
LFNKR members staffing the booth were surprised by the intense interest in the near-crumbling school textbooks from North Korea. The books attracted consistently large crowds, with many of the visitors requesting permission to photograph them.
The
textbooks shown below were received
from several North Korean refugees whom LFNKR helped
reach Japan. Until the 1980’s the country used ordinary
pulp paper to print textbooks, but when the government could
no longer afford pulp they began using paper made from corn
husks (excluding the outermost husks). The ink used for printing
is of extremely low quality. The textbooks are re-used for
many years, thus the serious worn and tattered condition.
Visitors had to handle the books very carefully to keep the
books from coming apart.
School
textbooks currently used in North Korea
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English
textbook: Table of Contents page
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English
Textbook: Dedication Page
It reads:
"The Respected Leader
Generalissimo Kim Il Sung
Will Always Be With Us"
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English
Textbook: Second Dedication Page
It reads:
"Thank
You, the Great Leader
Marshal Kim Jong Il !"
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English
Textbook: Lesson One
"Listen and say: Hello !"
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English
Textbook: Lesson Two
"Listen and say: Good-bye !"
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English
Textbook: Lesson One
"Listen and say: Good afternoon !"
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Math
Textbook: Elementary school
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Worn
Out Shoes
These were being worn by a NK refugee
when
we met to
help him to freedom
during one of our rescue operations.
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Packages
of Corn Noodles
A
few months ago, an LFNKR staff member brought back
a case
of corn noodles from Yanji, China to sell at
the One World Festival.
The
noodles are one
of the most popular foods in
North Korea.
Ethnic
Koreans in China sell them widely.
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Book:
Are They Telling Us the Truth?
Brutality Beyond Belief
This
book, co-published by LFNKR in English, contains eye
witness testimony by North Korean defectors who have
survived unbelievable
brutality in the labor camps
of North Korea. (Available for donation of US$20 or
more).
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Most
recent issue of the printed Japanese language newsletter
that LFNKR mails to members in Japan.
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