Category Archives: Defectors
Open Letter to Xi Jinping
Dear Mr. President:
We call on the Chinese government to stop the forced repatriation of North Korean defectors
On October 9th, the Chinese government forcibly repatriated approximately 600 North Korean defectors who had been arrested and detained during the coronavirus period.
North Korea had refused to accept defectors repatriated from China due to coronavirus prevention measures, but after declaring victory over the coronavirus, it reopened the border between North Korea and China.
10th year challenge
Everybody is well aware of the current situation all around the world. Because of today’s circumstances, we at LFNKR are, like so many other organizations, being seriously impacted. Our rescue activities have been drastically curtailed. Since the border between China and North Korea has been completely closed for over a year, rescue operations for North Korean defectors waiting in China have been indefinitely suspended. Meanwhile, however, we are delighted to report on the great success achieved by one of our North Korean defector couples. We were involved in their rescue and their resettlement in Japan. In the following article the wife tells about the couple’s experiences.
10th year challenge (by K. M.)
It feels like it was just yesterday that we escaped from North Korea and came to Japan, but it’s been 10 years now. Anyone over 40 will know this feeling – that the years have flown by.
North Korea rejects to accept NK defectors from China
The coronavirus is still frustrating the restart of our rescue operations.
The full blockade at the China-North Korean border is still going on, and according to Yonhap News, the North Korean government recently buried landmines in a part of the border area.
Sung Kook`s Challenges – A Far Journey
On December 14, 1959, a so-called “Repatriation Ship” set sail from North Niigata in Japan and headed for North Korea. A massive propaganda campaign had, for months, been touting a “Socialist Paradise on Earth,” and this ship was carrying the first of the 93,000 ethnic Korean residents of Japan and Japanese spouses in search of their dreams, their hopes, and even their misgivings about the unknown country where they planned to make their new home. Included among that number were 6,730 Japanese spouses and children.
Statement on Enactment of the Hong Kong National Security Law
On June 30, the Hong Kong government enacted and put into force the “Hong Kong National Security Law” that strengthens the central government’s control of Hong Kong. It is now possible to crack down on a wide range of actions that are deemed counter to the Chinese government’s policies. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment. For “serious situations,” the central government has established a new security maintenance agency in Hong Kong that will be directly involved in compulsory investigation, enabling trials and enforcement of sentences in mainland China.
Interview with a North Korean defector
In May of this year, a 17-year-old boy in Switzerland contacted LFNKR. He is, he said, working on his thesis about North Korea. He asked us if we could arrange for him to interview a North Korean defector. So, we forwarded his list of questions to Kim Su-hyong.
Mr. Kim, who escaped from North Korea in 2017, now lives in Japan. The following questions and answers are good, basic information about North Korea and the current situation there.
Another success story
We at LFNKR are extremely proud of Kim S. who graduated from a night school in March this year. He made it to Japan in 2017 after escaping from North Korea and surviving a journey filled with hazards and hardships.
We told you about him back in Sept. 2017. If you’d like to read the back-story, refer to: https://www.northkoreanrefugees.com/2017/09/
When Kim S. arrived in Japan, he did not speak, read or write Japanese at all, but now …
Inhumane Repatriation
LFNKR strongly protest the forced repatriation of two North Korean fishermen requesting asylum
The Unification Ministry of South Korea has issued a press release stating that on November 7, the government handed over two North Korean fishermen to North Korean officials at the border village of Panmunjeon in the demilitarized zone.