Category Archives: China
LFNKR Action Plan for FY 2006-2007
Overview
Last year, a single charter flight from Vietnam carried 460 North Koreans into South Korea. This case had a strong impact on the international community and spotlighted North Korea’s human rights problems. It remains to be seen, however, what lessons it has taught the South Korean government, which fears a similar incident occurring in Thailand.
Suji’s Letter to Her Father
From the Daughter of a Jailed Humanitarian
Hi, I am Suji, the eldest daughter of Choi Yong-hun.
On the first of November 2002, our family of four moved to China, where my younger sister and I began settling in to our new life there. We started school in January 2003. But just two months after our move to China, our father was arrested by the Chinese police for attempting to help some North Korean refugees. I had trouble believing he had been arrested since the media were reporting that he had been helping a group of refugees from North Korea.
LFNKR Activity Report – FY 2005-2006
Annual Report 2006
Activity Report – Fiscal Year 2005-2006
Pressure on the North Korean government by the international community is increasing thanks to greater international awareness of the grave human rights abuses committed by the North Korean government, in addition to the refugee and abductee issues.
Summer Clothes Are Survival Gear
The Right Clothes Make a Person Invisible
For North Korean refugees hiding in China, the wrong clothes can mean arrest, repatriation and hard prison time. That is why their aim is to blend in, look like the Chinese locals, and escape notice. When warmer weather comes, if they are seen still wearing winter clothing, the Chinese police notice it immediately. Being noticed by the police automatically means arrest for them, followed quickly by forcible return to North Korea where harsh punishment awaits them.
Wife Reports on Imprisoned NK Refugee Aid Worker
No Early Release in Sight
Even though the United States recently accepted 6 North Korean refugees, marking a dramatic change in the situation of North Korean refugees, nothing has changed for Choi Yong-hun, the South Korean Humanitarian aid worker. He still sits in a jail cell in China, after having served 3 years and 4 months of a 5-year sentence. He is still being punished for his attempt to help North Korean refugees in China.
4 NGO Members Named in NK Arrest Warrants
Two LFNKR Members on the List
Japanese news media are reporting that North Korea has issued arrest warrants for four Japanese NGO workers. The men have reportedly been named as suspects in the abduction of North Korean citizens. The North Korean Ministry of People’s Security, announced on 27 March 2006 the issue of arrest warrants and notified the Japanese government via diplomatic channels, demanding that the four be handed over to North Korean custody.
No Mercy, No Justice for NK Mothers and Children
Mother of 5-year-old Repatriated to North Korea
In February, 2006, the mother of 5-year-old Kim Yong-soon was arrested and repatriated to North Korea. Six years ago, the mother, a young North Korean woman who had fled the country of her birth, was sold into a forced marriage to a Chinese man. She quickly became pregnant and gave birth to daughter Kim Yong-soon. This daughter, Yong-soon is being supported under LFNKR’s foster parent program.
Interview with NK Border Shelter Staff Members
Human Trafficking and Starvation
Recently an LFNKR staff member visited some of the shelters in China being run clandestinely by this NGO. The following interview with a few local staffers working at one of the shelters brings us information about the recent food situation in North Korea and the victims of human trafficking.
In the interview, “LFNKR” indicates one of our people dispatched from Japan who interviewed “Local staffers,” who are the people actually caring for North Korean refugees and orphans living in our shelters in China.