Crossing Heaven's Border

"In the past decade, up to 100,000 defectors have crossed the waters of the Tumen and Yalu Rivers into northeast China to escape from North Korea, the world’s last closed Communist state. In Crossing Heaven’s Border, WIDE ANGLE tells the moving and dramatic stories of a few of them.

Crossing Heaven’s Border reveals the plight of North Korean defectors from the point of view of intrepid South Korean journalists who risk their lives filming undercover for ten months to capture the haunting stories first-hand. The reporters introduce us to a mother working in China as a tour guide to support her six-year-old son who is sick with cerebral palsy and in dire need of medical attention. And we follow the grueling ten-day journey of a teenage girl and a little boy smuggled overland across China and Laos into Thailand, where North Korean defectors can request asylum at the South Korean embassy."

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/episodes/crossing-heavens-border/introduction/4990/ <-- visit for the episode, related videos, and other links.

North Korea Freedom Week 2009

http://www.nkfreedom.org/fileadmin/Image_Archive/NKFW09PressRelease.pdf

http://www.nkfreedom.org/index.php?id=29

From Suzanne Scholte

Dear Friends:

Those of us involved in the North Korea human rights movement can definitely sympathize with the comments that President Obama has made about not having the luxury of dealing with one crisis at a time but being confronted with many crises at once. As the world watches North Korea prepare for their missile launch, let's remember that when it comes to North Korea, the most important issue is the human rights conditions and the terrible multiple tragedies facing the North Korean people.

Please remember that today, over 200,000 men, women and children continue to suffer in North Korea's gulag where over 400,000 have already been killed; people are continuing to starve adding to the 3 million lives already lost from famine; North Korean females are being victimized by traffickers in China; refugees forced back to North Korea by China's cruel repatriation policy will be beaten and tortured and even executed; three hundred aging South Korean POWs who gave their youth to make South Korea free will wonder if they will continue to be abandoned and forgotten; hundreds of abductees from South Korea, Japan and nine other nations will wonder if they will ever see their families again; and two young, brave American women, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, languish in a prison in Pyongyang wondering if they will meet the same fate as abducted American resident Kim Dong Shik who was tortured and starved to death in Pyongyang for helping the North Korean people.

This is a most critical time for the North Korea human rights movement: we either advance these issues now with the opportunity that comes from a new administration and a new Congress or we see another decade of death and despair for those whose great misfortune was to be born under the Kim Jong Il dictatorship to become the world's most persecuted and isolated people as well as for those who have been abducted by this regime.

This North Korea Freedom Week we do not have the luxury of addressing one of these ongoing tragedies, so we intend to address all of them. We have more events, and more organizations and defectors participating this year than in any previous North Korea Freedom Week.

We have confirmed the participation of thirty defectors from North Korea who will join us for our April 28 North Korea Freedom Day rally as we stand together to promote the freedom, human rights and dignity of the North Korean people.

We need your help on the following items:
NKFW09 Flyers & Posters-- Please print out the attached flyers to help us spread the word about the two main public events that week -- the Capitol Hill Rally at noon April 28 and the demonstration at the Chinese embassy at noon on May 2. Silence is Death won the poster contest, and we have large posters available to be placed in public sites. Please email Henry Song at henry@defenseforum.org if you would like a poster to hang up in a public place. Our North Korea: Did You Know? Fact Sheet is also available for distribution.

Register to Visit your Senators and Congressmen in support of North Korea Human Rights: Please take the time after the April 28 rally to visit your own lawmakers, please register here: nkfreedom.org/index.php. If you registered during April 4-9, please register again. Due to a technical problem, we may not have received your information during those dates.

Shepherds Needed for Capitol Hill Visits: Those of you who know your way around Capitol Hill and would like to be a "shepherd" for these visits to accompany folks wishing to visit their lawmakers, please let Lindsay Vessey know if you can help: LindsayV@odusa.org
Housing for NKFW Participants: If you live in the DC area and can open your home to folks coming for NKFW OR if you are coming for NKFW and need housing, please let Jane Yang know at: jane.e.yang@gmail.com

North Korea Genocide Exhibit: Nancy Purcell and Linda Dye will be setting up and taking care of this exhibit at Union Station on Monday, April 27 and at the Rally on Tuesday April 28. If you can help them on either of those days, please email Nancy at Rtp3@aol.com
Rally Set Up and Volunteers for North Korea Freedom Day Rally on Capitol Hill, April 28th: If you can help with setting up and manning registration tables, please email Sue Logan at sueyoonlogan@gmail.com

Financial Help: If you cannot physically be present for North Korea Freedom Week, please consider being a sponsor of the week's events by sending a tax-deductible contribution to:
North Korea Freedom Coalition, c/o Jubilee Campaign, 9689 Main Street, Suite C, Fairfax, Virginia 22031.

Or donate online via credit card here: Network for Good.
Please make your check payable to "Jubilee Campaign" and be sure to designate your donation to "NKFC" in the note section. Jubilee Campaign is the official Treasurer for NKFC. (www.jubileecampaign.org)

Acta Non Verba,
Suzanne Scholte, Chairman

Laugh for a Cause Debrief

From Eddie:

- - -

Hey All,

Great work with the Fundraiser last night. I think that it turned out to be a great event given the resources and time we had to put it together and the external circumstances that surrounded the event.

- We had about 20-25 attendees and we raised $74 (Grace will be adding the money to our account and we'll send the donation to the respective organizations ASAP). The event started at 8:15 and went until 10pm. There were 6 comics that performed.
- The feedback from the audience was energetic throughout the event. And I have only heard positive feedback from them afterward.
- The comics all seemed to have a fun time. They definitely brought the energy and excitement throughout the event.
- All the equipment worked perfectly. Hoong Ern and Joseph were great about helping us get a hold of the equipment.

Overall, I was very happy with how the event turned out. Though, the turn out wasn't exceptional, everyone who went had a great time. There was most definitely a lot of laughing... for a cause.

Anyone care to add anything?

-Eddie

Laugh for a Cause! - Stand Up Comedy Fundraiser Friday April 24 8pm

Mike Kim's talk

**The views and opinions of the author expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of Harvard HRiNK or any agency or entities thereof.**

So Mike Kim came and spoke at the Law School two days ago, as you may be able to tell by my post from the 8th. I wish he went into more detail about how he got to the point of packing his bags for the Northeast China/North Korea border and what drew his heart there, but anyhow, a few points that caught my attention:

--Mike didn't strictly summarize from his book, instead pointing out certain things here and there. There were a few details he shared that he hadn't written, so those were welcome surprises. Most of the words he spoke were either paraphrased or extremely similar to those of his book (I had read up to Chapter 10 before his talk), though,and it seemed as if he had it all memorized. Perhaps he really writes as he speaks, which would be a good thing, or maybe he's given so many book talks that he's had to have scripted part of his routine, which is practical, yes. Not trying to criticize or anything, just noting.

--There was one question from an audience member that threw Mike off: "What do you think is your purpose in coming here [and delivering this presentation]?" Actually, I noticed that for several of these "why" questions Mike seemed a bit flustered and when answering the questions he repeated back a good portion of the inquirer's question (if the inquirer had been so kind as to have given Mike a possible explanation for the question to which s/he was seeking the answer). Just saying.

--It really does seem like there are two alternate universes, the land of North Korea, and then business school [read: "normal life"] where Mike is now. Mike did detail plot well in his book, and I suspect my still having difficulty consistently wrapping my head around the experiences and attitudes he describes can be ascribed to my only having in recent months began delving into literature and accounts of modern-day North Korea. [edit: When I mentioned this to an older non-HRiNK friend, she asked, Wouldn't it be a bit disturbing if you could wrap your head around it, though? Hm.. I think she has a point there too.]

The hermit nation is one of mystery, indeed. It remains my hope that with increasing communication between the hearts and minds of those inside and outside the country, we outside may learn more to empathize with our northern Korean brethren and be compelled to actively campaign against their nation's grave injustices.

--I wonder what Mike thinks is key to both the opening up of North Korea and maintaining what's left of its psychosocial stability. He mentioned that after taking the two elder women through China and Laos, Crossing Borders decided not to engage anymore in that form of direct refugee aid because it wanted as an organization to exist for a longer period of time. What needs to happen before we no longer need organizations like Crossing Borders, however?

Is it social and political awareness, as Mike introduces by saying we can form campus and church chapters of LiNK? Is it economic development, as Mike is researching for his graduate school thesis? Is it spirituality, perhaps? The last factor Mike did not mention at his talk, but he praises God, appropriately, at several signposts in his book, so I was just wondering. I do not wish to suggest any good or ill about his motives, as I realize that would be judging him and placing an immense pressure on him, but I wish he had been clearer in his talk regarding his personal beliefs. This view transcends "respect for privacy" since Mike's personal beliefs are especially important as those of one who envisioned and instigated this movement.

- - -

Anyway, I guess I'll just email Mike and ask him about that last issue, then. I had been planning to chat with him after his talk, partly to follow up on an issue that a friend who heard him speak at Columbia (on 02 April 2009) had brought up, but Q&A ended just as I had to run, so I shall instead make use of and be thankful for technology.

Escaping North Korea -- Mike Kim @ HLS on 4/20!

ESCAPING NORTH KOREA:

DEFIANCE AND HOPE IN THE WORLD’S MOST REPRESSIVE COUNTRY

A conversation with the author:

Mike Kim

Please join us as Mike Kim, founder of Crossing Borders Ministries, an NGO assisting North Korean defectors in China, shares his experiences along the China-North Korea border and through the six-thousand-mile modern-day underground railway leading North Koreans to asylum. Mike Kim’s uniquely personal perspective on the human security challenges facing North Koreans builds on his intimate conversations with refugees who helped him understand the hidden world of ordinary North Koreans.

Join us for a dialogue with the author on:

Monday, April 20, 2009
- 5:00 to 6:30

Pound 108, Harvard Law School

The book Escaping North Korea will be available for purchase at a discounted rate, and the author will be available for signing following the event.

Sponsored by HLS Advocates for Human Rights, Harvard College Advocates for Human Rights, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Harvard Asia Law Society, and Harvard Undergraduates for Human Rights in North Korea

Testing, testing, 1-2-3!

Hello, world!

Photo from The Korea Times

North Korean defectors and South Korean activists stage a rally welcoming the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Feb. 10. A group of activists are asking Clinton, who is scheduled to arrive in South Korea on Thursday, to highlight North Korea’s dismal human rights record during her visit. / AP-Yonhap

Click for the full story.