Category Archives: North Korean Refugees
Two Former NK Refugees Now Happily Wed
By Midori Yotsuya, LFNKR Member
It was Aug. 30, just after the 4th General Meeting in Seoul of IPCNKR (International Parliamentarians’ Coalition for North Korean Refugees and Human Rights). We headed to a small hotel to meet some of the foster children that LFNKR had formerly supported under our education sponsorship plan. They had all lived together like a family for several years at the same LFNKR shelter in China after fleeing from North Korea. Some of them are now young adults in their early twenties.
LFNKR’s Kato Speaks on Human Trafficing of NK Women
Speech by Kato Hiroshi, Executive Director
Life Funds for North Korean Refugees
Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor for me to be here today and I would like to thank The Committee for the Bangkok International Conference for North Korean Human Rights for giving me the opportunity to say a few words on behalf of Life Funds for North Korean Refugees.
Human Rights Activist Kim Sang Hun
Mr. Kim’s Speech:
Chairperson, Distinguished Members of the International Community of Human Rights NGOs and Activists, Respected Members of News Media, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to thank you for your interest in the human rights disaster that North Korea has created, and for the innocent victims it has created.
Appeal to National Human Rights Commission of Thailand
Presented on Behalf of North Korean Refugees Detained in Thailand
INTRODUCTION
We are a group of human rights organizations and activists based in Thailand, Japan, Korea and other countries. We have just attended the International Conference in Thailand, September 17-21, 2007, on the North Korean Human Rights Situation. The Conference has reviewed the situation of North Koreans in Thailand along with addressing other related issues.
US Lawmakers Call for Boycott of Beijing Olympics
US Lawmakers Introduce Legislation
Legislation was introduced in the U.S. Congress by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46th) and Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Joseph Pitts, Thaddeus McCotter, John Doolittle, Dan Burton, Frank Wolf, and Chris Smith, calling for the U.S. government to take steps to boycott the Beijing Olympics unless the Chinese regime stops its human rights abuses against its own citizens and other nations.
LFNKR’s Kato Speaks at 4th General Meeting of International Lawmakers
“Protect North Korean Refugee Human Rights”
This organization’s Secretary General, Kato Hiroshi,addressed the 4th annual meeting of International Parliamentarians’ Coalition for North Korean Refugees’ Human Rights (IPCNKR). Representatives totalled 111 and came from 36 different countries at this year’s conference, which was held in Japan.
Outline of North Korean Human Rights Act
I. Aims
This law, building upon the “Resolution on the Situation of Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)” passed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16th 2005, and taking into consideration the human rights violations committed by North Korea, which are of pressing importance to Japan, including abductions, which require the cooperation of the international community to resolve, while at the same time recognizing the importance of increasing public awareness of North Korean human rights issues, aims to clarify the North Korean human rights situation and deter human rights abuses in cooperation with the international community.
NK Defector Couple Face Death… or Life
Special Field Report
One of LFNKR’s local staff members went to Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, in the Jilin Province of China recently to interview a couple who, in hopes of reaching Japan, had decided in early 2007 to escape from North Korea. The husband and wife (names are not disclosed for their protection) were just children when their parents, ethnic Koreans born in Japan, moved to North Korea, expecting to find the “Paradise on the earth” that was being touted in a widespread campaign to attract immigrants. The husband had been 6 years old and his wife only 1 year old when their parents made the move.