... hosted by the Japanese and Korean NGO Coalition was
held in Tokyo on 18 and 19 July
2004. The two-day Conference, organized by three Japanese NGOs
(The Society to Help Returnees to North Korea, RENK, and Life
Funds for North Korean Refugees), attracted approximately 100
participants from 9 NGOs and 6 countries.
1st day (July 18, Sunday) at Bunkyo Civic Center,
Tokyo
Chaired by Mr. Fumiaki Yamada (Representative of The Society to
Help Returnees to North Korea, a Japanese NGO) and Ms. Im Hyeun
Su
9:30 – Opening Session
Speech by Kenkichi Nakadaira
and participants from abroad were introduced.
10:00 – Main Reports and Special
Reports
Keynote speech by Hiroshi Kato (LFNKR);
Speech by Gerald Thorns (Global-Pac);
Speech by Kim Sang Hun (Int’l
solidarity);
Speech by Kim Bong Soon (Wife
of humanitarian aid worker)
12:00-13:00 – Luncheon
During the lunch break, a donation box was circulated to raise
funds to help Kim Bong Soon and her two daughters travel to Yantai
Prison in China where her husband, Choi Yong-hun, is being held.
Donations totaled enough to pay their airfare to Yantai. Also,
a petition addressed to President Hu
Jintao was circulated. It was decided that the petition, signed
by the participants, would be sent to the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo
thanks to a suggestion by a Chinese participant, who pointed out
that it would be more effective if sent via the Chinese Embassy
in Japan.
13:00-16:00 – Sub-topic meetings
Group 1:
Discussed how to promote international solidarity
Chaired by Mr. Kim Sang Hun and Mr. Tim Peters
Mr. Masaharu Nakagawa, Japanese parliamentary member, also joined
the discussion.
Group 1 Resolutions
Group 2:
Discussed how to strategically leverage the “2008
Beijing Olympics” to improve the plight of North Korean
refugees hiding in China
Chaired by Mr. Fumiaki Yamada and Mr. Kan In Ku
Group 2 Resolutions
Group 3:
Discussed how to help North Korean refugees in China,
and how to rescue detained aid workers as well as extend support
to their families
Chaired by Mr. Chun Ki Won and Mr. Kikuchi
Group 3 Resolutions
16:00-17:00 – Comprehensive documentation
Results of discussions by the three groups were shared among all
participants. Click
for photos.
18:00 - Buffet party
2nd day (July 19, Monday)
11:00 Participants marched in an hour-long demonstration
from Rekisen Park, in front of the Civic Center, to the Korean
YMCA, which was the venue for the afternoon symposium.
The march was led by a traditional Korean drum, while a person
wearing a Chinese police uniform dragged an effigy of a chained
North Korean refugee to depict “repatriation.” (Click
for photos) Several participants handed out fliers along the
march.
13:00-16:00 Symposium at Korean YMCA in Tokyo
A segment of the BBC documentary titled “Access
to Evil” was played to open the symposium.
The symposium focused on how to support the
still detained aid workers and how to protest the ongoing repatriation
being carried out by the Chinese government.
Chaired by Mr. Jiro Ishimaru (journalist), the
symposium started with reports by Hiroshi Kato, Fumiaki Yamada,
and Chun Ki Won, all of whom are aid workers who have been jailed
in China, and Kim Bong Soon, wife of Choi Yong Hun, who is still
imprisoned in China. Chronological
report on Choi Yong-hun
During the symposium, the panelists talked about
their jail experiences in China. A report featured the 17-year-old
North Korean boy shot to death by Chinese
border guards.
Mr. Fumiaki Yamada, who was jailed in Shanghai
for three weeks, revealed his suspicions that he was released
so quickly because of a large Japan-financed business project
that was going on at the time. He believes, he said, that Chinese
government decisions regarding when to release detained aid workers
are not guided by law.
At the end of the symposium, postcards to be
sent to Choi Yong-hun, South Korean aid worker, and Park Yong-chol,
a North Korean refugee arrested and jailed together with Choi
Yong-hun at the prison in Yantai, were sold out.
