Category Archives: LFNKR
Visit to Bangkok’s Immigrant Detention Center
Although Thailand is not the final destination for North Korean defectors flowing into this country, this flow is currently the largest in the world, outside of China. The numbers have steadily increased over the past several years. According to the Thai government, about 1,000 North Korean defectors were detained here in 2007. From 2008 and after, the Thai government stopped publicly announcing numbers, but my estimation is about 1,500 in 2008 and a bit higher in 2009.
US State Dept. Honors LFNKR’s Kato
Exec. Director Kato Recognized
In recognition for years of effort on behalf of North Korean refugees hiding in China, the US State Department, on 26 April 2010, presented a special certificate to LFNKR Executive Director Kato Hiroshi in a ceremony at the US embassy in Tokyo.
Food Prices Out of Control in NK
Excerpt from LFNKR Internal Report
The following is taken from an April 10, 2010 report from a local LFNKR staff member working in North Korea. The report examines rising prices in the North Korean provinces of Chonjin, Musan, and Haesan during the 11 days from March 30th through April 10th.
To celebrate the 98th birthday of the late dictator Kim Il-sung (born April 15, 1912), the North Korean government distributed 7 kilograms of food to each person. According to our worker, the local government in North Hamgyong Province had to pull stockpiled rice out of its second military warehouse. This is unprecedented. Food shortages are obviously critical now. North Koreans are now whispering that the starvation of the late 90’s may be returning.
Insane price increases for food illustrate how desperately unstable the North Korean economy has become. The day the LFNKR staff member checked food prices in Musan, for example, prices were wildly higher than they had been just four months earlier.
Specifically, wheat flour was now almost 25 times higher. Rice was nearly 8 times more expensive. And corn prices had multiplied almost 5 times during the four-month period. The prices are rising not just day-to-day, but even by the hour. Those who don’t buy in the morning often have to pay more in the afternoon. The extremely volatile food prices are a clear indicator of the chaos rampant in North Korea. The failure of the recent currency reform adds to the people’s distrust of their own money.
Our local staff member reported that, amidst the currency reform failure, one bank president in Yanggang-do was recently executed for his failure to implement the reform.
The report also mentions that 5% of the soldiers of the sixth army corps located in North Hamgyong suffer from severe malnutrition and beriberi. Soldiers with beriberi symptoms are sent home, since the army has no medical facilities to treat the disease. Some have reportedly taken advantage of their temporary leave to escape into China.
LFNKR Dispatches 2 Members to UN Working Group
LFNKR, together with three other human rights groups, has sent a letter of recommendations to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Japan’s policy toward North Korea’s human rights and refugees.
Medicines for NK Refugees Detained in Thailand
Chiang Saen, Thailand
Mr. Tomoharu Ebihara and an LFNKR staff member visited the Chiang Saen Police Station in northern Thailand to donate non-prescription medicines, blankets, and other items for North Korean refugees being detained there. Mr. Ebihara works at Thailand-Japan center, Payap University in Chiang Mai and also heads The Association for the Rescue of North Korea Abductees, Chiangmai (ARNKA).
LFNKR Seeks Closer Ties with UN
Application for ECOSOC Status
Report Submitted to Human Rights Council
Resolving the various human rights issues related to North Korea requires the understanding and cooperation of the international community. With this in mind, Life Funds has recently been working to build and deepen ties to the United Nations.
US NGO Report – ‘Lives for Sale’
Personal Accounts of NK Women Fleeing to China
An American NGO, The US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), at the end of April this year, released a 64-page document titled “Lives for Sale.” The report includes 53 summarized personal accounts, along with the history and context of such human trafficking of North Korean women in China. Most of the women fall into the hands of brokers, who sell them to Chinese farmers or to China’s sex trade.
Protesting NK Resident’s Organization in Japan
Nuclear Tests, Abductions, Human Rights Violations an Outrage
North Korea continues to ignore the UN resolutions and has repeatedly committed outrageous misconducts, such as the nuclear bomb tests and the ballistic missile launches.? My resentment has risen beyond the critical level.? I now feel that we definitely must do something to stop them.