Category Archives: Public Awareness
University in US Recognizes LFNKR Director Noguchi
University Website Mentions Noguchi’s New Book
Arkansas State University posted an article, Thursday June 3rd, on its school news website, Inside ASU, describing the new book written by alumnus Takayuki Noguchi. The book, entitled Escaping with North Korean Defectors, relates his experiences in China as he helped North Korean refugees escape to freedom.
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.
LFNKR Director Publishes Book in Japan
Success, Failure and Imprisonment
A young Japanese man begins a risky mission to help North Korean refugees escape across the China border into Vietnam.
Noguchi Takayuki, one of this organization’s directors, relates how he was jailed in China in 2003 for engaging in humanitarian work. His book, “Escaping with North Korean Defectors,” was released on April 10, 2010. Noguchi, a young volunteer with a Japanese NGO, was on a mission to guide North Korean defectors to freedom, but ended up jailed in China for 243 days.
See an NK Refugee Destination in Person
29 October 2009 – Sunday
A one-day tour has been scheduled for 29 October to visit Chiang Sean, the small town in northern Thailand where we recently donated boxes of supplies (pictures here)
This in-person visit to a North Korean refugee “escape route and destination,” will include visits to the Chiang Sean Police Station and Mae Sai Immigration Office, plus a boat trip on the Mekong River. The North Korean refugees must cross this river to reach safety in Thailand. This one-day tour will be on 29 Nov. – a Sunday.
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.
NK Foster Kids Write “Report Cards”
Foster Kids Send Their “Report Cards”
Recently at the LFNKR office we received a packet of letters from our North Korean foster children in China, telling us about their school achievements. Clearly some of these children are gifted students, and it would be a tragic waste if they were denied an education. We are delighted that they are doing well and learning very rapidly. It is my hope that the happiness in their lives can continue.
China Denies National ID for Shadow Children
‘Shadow Chidren’ Have No Nationality, Legal Status
In China, the number of children having no national identity papers continues to rise, particularly in the provinces of Jilin, Heilongjang, and Liaoning where the trend is strongest. These so-called “shadow children,” born to female North Korean defectors and Korean-Chinese or Han-Chinese men, are denied the right to register as real Chinese, which means they have neither identification nor official standing.