Tag Archives: starvation
Missiles fly; Citizens starve
Since January 2017, North Korea has already launched 11 missiles this year. Most of the news about North Korea these days focuses almost exclusively on those missiles. World media seem to forget about the majority of the people in North Korea, those who still suffer dire food shortages.
By mid-July 2017, North Korea had begun connecting high voltage power lines to the barbed wire fencing that runs along the Tumen and Yalu River. This is a move to further tighten their crackdown on people trying to escape into China.
For decades now, the entire nation of North Korea has been a huge prison.
Below are three news articles reminding us that in North Korea, people are suffering. Even the soldiers face long-term malnutrition and many people are shipped abroad to work as slaves, where they earn foreign currency, which is sent back to the regime.
Electrified fence – Asia Press
North Koreans working as slaves – Radio Free Asia
Soldiers suffering malnutrition – Asia Press
Why one young lady escaped from North Korea
On May 12, 2017, Yong-mee Lee was invited to Tokyo University to present a speech to the students.
Yong-mee Lee is one of the North Korean refugees whom LFNKR (Life Funds for North Korean Refugees) has helped to safely reach Japan and resettle here. We are very happy to see the growing number of resettled North Korean refugees now helping LFNKR. They are actively participating in our activities to raise awareness of the difficulties still faced by the North Korean people. The following speech was presented by Yong-mee Lee.
North Korea’s Latest Launch Condemned
Squandering National Resources
This organization, (Life Funds for North Korean Refugees) strongly protests the missile-launching test that North Korea carried out on Dec. 12, 2012. According to reports, this launch was yet another test of banned ballistic missile technology.
LFNKR’s 2012 Annual Report
Annual Report Released at 15th General Meeting 10/8/2012
Attending LFNKR’s 15th Annual Meeting in Tokyo this year were five North Korean defectors who have settled in Japan. They talked about how they had managed to survive and how they made a living in North Korea. They also discussed some of the difficulties they endured before finally making it to Japan.
Tokyo Bar Association Awards Human Rights Prize to LFNKR
Kato’s Speech Text
Honored members of the human rights awards screening committee of the Tokyo Bar Association, and ladies and gentlemen gathered here today, I would like to express profound thanks to the esteemed Tokyo Bar Association for presenting the human rights awards for 2008. We at Life Funds for North Korean Refugees are deeply honored to receive your award this year.
Interview with a Former NK Refugee
His Dream Is to Own a Yakitori Restaurant
~ Kim Chun Gun, NK refugee ~
As part of its activities, LFNKR supports resettlement of North Koreans in Japan after helping them safely reach this country. Here is the first chapter of a series of true stories relating the experiences of former North Korean refugees working to start a new life in Japan.
Report from a Refugee Who Made It Back
No One Said Fitting into Japanese Society Would Be Easy
Mr. Park went to North Korea with his family when he was four years old. The family went to Onson County in North Hamgyong Province, where they were assigned to a coal mining operation. Then, in 1999, he fled to China to escape the food shortages and starvation that had plagued the country throughout the 1990s. Park found, however, that life in China was very hard due to his illegal status. One employer made off with Park’s wages, leaving him without a single yuan and in despair.
International Protest Day – Sample Letter
Citizens Worldwide Mail Protests
This coming winter, the number of starving North Korean refugees escaping into China is expected to increase, particularly in light of the major flooding in North Korea.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government continues to hunt down and repatriate North Korean refugees, while also arresting humanitarian aid workers. We must persist in our protests against Chinese government actions in order to save the starving North Korean refugees.
December 2 has been set as a day for simultaneous worldwide protest. Here in Japan, LFNKR and other groups involved in the rescue of North Korean refugees will stage a protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in this country.
You can join us by sending protest email to the Chinese embassy in your country.
Here is a list of embassy addresses.
And below is a sample letter you can use as a guideline when writing your own letter.
Sample Letter:
Dear President Hu Jintao,
Please immediately stop arresting and repatriating North Korean refugees.
On Dec. 2, many citizens’ groups in Europe, the USA, South Korea, and Japan are simultaneously doing joint protests in front of Chinese embassies in their countries. The purpose that we share, which surpasses race, religion, and ideology, is to help the lives and human rights of the people seeking to escape from starvation and oppression in North Korea.
It is widely known that yearly tens of thousands of North Korean defectors have escaped into China for more than a decade. The Chinese government, however, has ignored the voices of the international community urging your government to immediately stop repatriating North Korean refugees and to cease arresting the aid workers who try to help them.
It is also widely known that a staggering number of North Korean women are victims of human trafficking in China and that even when they marry Chinese men and bear children, most of them are still arrested and sent back to North Korea. The children born of these marriages often remain without nationality and are therefore denied an education. Your government continues mercilessly depriving those innocent children of their mothers and of their basic human rights.
These are not only inhumane acts, they violate the Refugees Convention to which your country is signatory. This fact seriously dishonors China in the international community.
I urge the Chinese government to:
- immediately stop arresting, detaining or repatriating North Korean refugees and duly to protect them in your country under the supervision of UNHCR or other related international organization, and to assure them safe passage to third countries if they wish to leave.
- immediately free the currently detained North Korean refugees and humanitarian aid workers, and
- grant Chinese nationality to North Korean defectors who marry Chinese citizens as well as to their children, and allow them to settle in China.
(Your name)