Category Archives: North Korea
Border Report – January 2006
Women Sold, Babies often Abandoned
The following report is by an LFNKR staff member who visited the border area of North Korea and China in January 2006. The Tumen River running along the border was completely frozen. Standing on the riverside on the China side we could see Namyang, North Hamgyong on the other side, in North Korea. There were lookout posts about every 100 meters. Clearly, the crackdown on North Koreans attempting to escape into China has been stepped up even further.
Video Reveals Prisoner Beating
Guard beats female prisoner
On September 25, Free North Korea Broadcasting, a South Korean NGO, released footage of a female North Korean defector being beaten and kicked during interrogation on Aug. 17 at a guard post on the China-Korean border. The footage was widely reported by the media the next day, including newspapers and television broadcasters in Japan and South Korea.
Former Foster Children Tell How They Became Orphans
Photos of the 3-Day Conference
Grace Yoon, whose father was arrested by the Chinese authorities on May 9, 2005 while attempting to help North Korean refugees, addressed the group.
NK Refugees Being Overlooked
Refugees Overshadowed by 6-Party Talks
The Six-Party talks in Beijing to discuss the elimination of nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula are dangerously close to overshadowing the struggles of five North Korean refugees, whose stories are being dwarfed and in danger of being forgotten. On July 27th, LFNKR received information regarding five North Koreans now seeking to be declared refugees.
China Tries to Stifle Award-Winning Documentary
Director Reveals Secret Censorship Moves by Chinese Government
If China had its way, the documentary film ‘Seoul Train,’ would never be seen at a single international film festival.
Director-producer Jim Butterworth revealed recently that several festival producers had contacted him quietly with news that Chinese embassies were applying pressure to discourage showing of the Seoul Train documentary. The film reveals China’s role in sending North Korean refugees back to face punishment and even execution, and this exposure apparently displeases Chinese authorities.
New Book: A Long Way to Freedom
A Long Way to Freedom is the story of one refugee family’s harrowing journey to safety, from a daring escape out of their own country, North Korea, to years of surviving their way over half a continent.
This is a tale of bravery, great fortune, and also terrible failures and defeat. It is an epic adventure of love, violence, danger, true friendship, and betrayal. But it ultimately ends in success, and a hard earned victory over unbelievable odds.
A Long Way to Freedom – (297 pages, Paperback or PDF)
By Douglas Comish
Lawmaker Proposes Human Rights Law in Japan Diet
Diet member, Masaharu Nakagawa …
… is spearheading a parliamentary bill addressing a number of current problems that Japan faces with its neighbor, North Korea. The bill, sponsored by the Democratic Party of Japan, was officially presented to the House of Representatives on Feb. 25, 2005 under the leadership of Rep. Nakagawa, team leader of the North Korea Issue Project. The Democratic Party is targeting passage of the bill during the current session.
Protests Held at Chinese Embassy & Consulate in Japan
Journalists Swell the Crowd in Tokyo Demonstration
Actual participants numbered perhaps 30 or so, but with the journalists buzzing around our group, the crowd probably looked larger to the double-handful of guards blocking the gate to the Chinese embassy in Tokyo. We were careful to maintain order and obey the laws, but it appeared the embassy staff didn’t want to take chances. The guards remained serious and watchful throughout the protest.