LiNK Outreach - Bay Area

National Geographic's Inside North Korea Documentary Screening

2010-03-07T21:15:00.000-08:00

Hello from LiNK Outreach Bay Area!

It's been a while, but we're excited for all the upcoming events we've planned for the rest of this semester. Come join us at our first major event!

National Geographic's Inside North Korea Documentary Screening
When: Tuesday, March 9 @ 7pm
Where: 60 Evans

Don't forget to bring out your friends and spread the news :)

- E-board

NK holding 154,000 political prisoners

2009-10-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

SEOUL — North Korea is still operating six Stalinist-style labour camps holding 154,000 inmates, a South Korean lawmaker said Saturday.

Yoon Sang-Hyun, from the ruling Grand National Party, said the North had 10 camps holding about 200,000 prisoners until the late 1990s when it closed down four of them amid mounting international criticism.

"Currently, it holds 154,000 prisoners in six places," he was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.

He cited a government report presented to the National Assembly.
Seoul had reportedly been aware of the camps since 2005 but had not disclosed the information for fear of harming inter-Korean relations, the conservative Dong-A daily said.

North Korea denies holding any political prisoners. Its official media say there are no human rights issues in the communist state where everybody leads "the most dignified and happy life."

Inmates at the gulags are reportedly forced to work more than 10 hours a day and denied access to medical care, receiving only 100 to 200 grams (four to eight ounces) of food rations, while the North Korean food ration for children of up to age four is set at 234 grams.

The inmates include not only political opponents or those who lost out in political struggles but also ordinary people who were penalised for making disrespectful remarks about leader Kim Jong-Il.

Political prisoners caught while attempting to escape are subject to public execution in front of all other inmates at the site. In addition, female inmates are frequently raped, the Dong-A daily said.

source: AFP
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jLY3MNRy_e45vnQQC2Cf_xN-CIpQ

China Detects Nerve Gas at its North Korean Border

2009-10-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

China has detected a deadly nerve gas at its North Korean border and suspects an accidental release from its neighbor, according to a Japanese news report on Oct. 9.

The Chinese military is intensifying its surveillance activities after identifying the highly virulent Sarin gas in November last year and again in February, according to a report from the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, that cited anonymous sources from the Chinese military. The gas was found in Liaoning Province.

Chinese special operations forces found trace levels of Sarin gas when conducting regular surveys in winds blowing from North Korea, the report said...

from the Epoch Times
for full article: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/23655/

Nine North Koreans Escape to Vietnam

2009-09-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

By CHOE SANG-HUN for the New York Times

SEOUL, South Korea — Nine North Koreans entered the Danish Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Thursday seeking political asylum and passage to Seoul, South Korean activists said.

The group entered Vietnam from China in recent weeks through smuggling routes, said Kim Sang-hun, a leader of the International Network of North Korean Human Rights Activists who assisted in the North Koreans’ escapes to Vietnam.

The rights network said the defectors carried a message in English: “We are now at the point of such desperation and live in such fear of persecution within North Korea that we have come to the decision to risk our lives for freedom rather than passively await our doom. The only power we have left is to appeal to you on our knees and with tears.”

Ole Brix Andersen, a spokesman at the Danish Foreign Ministry, confirmed that a group of people believed to be North Koreans had entered its embassy in Hanoi and “asked for help and protection,” The Associated Press reported. He said they would be allowed to stay at the embassy for the moment “because we do not send people out who could face some kind of persecution.”

full article can be found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/world/asia/25korea.html

Reuter's article on the same event:
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE58N11P20090924

LOBA 2nd Gen. Meeting

2009-09-23T14:38:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone!

It's already the 5th week of school and time for LOBA events to get started! To update you guys on what's going on in North Korea, what's going on with LiNK Headquarters, and what we're doing here at Cal, we'll be having a staff meeting this SUNDAY. So mark your calenders.

Who: YOU!
What: Staff Meeting
When: Sunday, Sept 27 @ 8 PM
Where: 255 Dwinelle
Why: to help spread awareness about what's going on in North Korea.

Hope to see you guys there.
- E-board

N. Korean Succession

2009-09-13T19:32:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

just wanted to update with some interesting news about the succession of Kim Jong Il's youngest son as the next leader of North Korea.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has launched a public propaganda campaign to prepare its people for the succession of Kim Jong Il's youngest son as leader, a news report said Sunday.

North Korea has mentioned Kim Jong Un by his full name — which it had not done in the past — and his qualifications in broadcasts through speakers installed in each house, Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unidentified source on North Korean affairs.

The broadcast campaign was launched in Pyongyang about two months, but it was not clear if it had been extended to other parts of the country, Yonhap said.

North Koreans are obligated to install speakers in their homes to listen to broadcasts on policy of the ruling Workers' Party and its propaganda, according to North Koreans who have defected to the South.

source: FOX News
for the rest of the article, go here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,549662,00.html?test=latestnews

LiNK - first informational mtg.

2009-09-07T20:56:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

LiNK Outreach Bay Area is ready for another semester of reaching out to promote human rights awareness!

We will have our first informational meeting this coming Tuesday, September 8th @ 8 pm in 87 Evans Hall. Please come out to learn more about what's going with human rights in North Korea and what we're doing here at Cal to spread the word.

If you're interested in helping out, or just learning more about North Korea, come check us out! We'll be handing out staff applications for those of you who want to get more involved.

Hope to see you all there!

What: LiNK Outreach Bay Area General Meeting
When: Tuesday, Sept 8. @ 8 pm
Where: 87 Evans Hall

Sincerely,
LiNK Outreach Bay Area

We're Back!

2009-08-31T20:44:00.000-07:00

Hello from LOBA -- LiNK Outreach Bay Area!

We're definitely looking forward to an exciting semester this fall :)

I know this blog hasn't been updated as often as we would have liked, but we'll do our best to keep you posted on some of the latest news sorrounding North Korea, the state of human rights (or lack there of) in the country, and some of our thoughts as well.

To start, here's part of an informative article from The Korea Times that touches upon multiple events that have occurred recently:

NORTH KOREA SEEKING TO ENGAGE SOUTH
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

North Korea seems to have begun a reverse engagement policy with South Korea by making a number of conciliatory gestures over the past few weeks.

Among others, the communist state freed five South Korean detainees, in addition to the release of two American journalists, and stressed the need for governmental talks between the two Koreas.

The move is similar to the late former President Kim Dae-jung's "Sunshine Policy'' of engaging the North that started about 10 years ago.

On the other hand, the South Korean government is seemingly being less than enthusiastic about initiating dialogue.

The North's official Rodong Shinmun newspaper said, "There is no separation between authorities and civic groups when it comes to the implementation of inter-Korean joint declarations.''

The declarations refer to those signed on June 15, 2000 and Oct. 4, 2007 between North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and the late former Presidents Kim and Roh Moo-hyun.

North Korea has called on the South Korean government to abide by the two accords.

...

On Saturday, Pyongyang released four South Korean fishermen after 30 days of detention, the latest move to ease tension on the Korean Peninsula. They accidentally crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) last month.

About two weeks ago, a South Korean employee working at the Gaeseong complex returned home ― after 130 days in detention ― following Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun's visit to North Korea and a rare meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

The man was detained for allegedly making derogatory comments about the North Korean regime and attempting to entice a woman to defect to the South.

North Korea asked for nothing in return for the release, according to Unification Ministry officials.

For the late former President Kim's state funeral, North Korea dispatched a delegation to Seoul to pay its respects to the architect of the engagement policy toward Pyongyang, who held the first inter-Korean summit in 2000.

North Korea also agreed to resume reunions of displaced families from Sept. 26 to Oct. 1 at its scenic Mt. Geumgang resort during inter-Korean Red Cross talks last week.

Seoul, however, appears unready to present conciliatory measures any time soon.

"It is true that the inter-Korean relations are thawing but the government cannot improve the ties if there is no advancement in denuclearization,'' a government official said, asking to remain anonymous.

Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung also said late last week that the government would not resume the suspended tour program to Mt. Geumgang unless North Korea guarantees the safety of South Korean tourists.

In July last year, a South Korean female tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier at the Mt. Geumgang resort.

North Korea has refused to conduct a joint investigation of the incident.

*Full article can be found at: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/08/116_50917.html

Temper Tantrum

2009-02-20T15:05:00.000-08:00

South Korea's president Lee Myung-bak has been unimpressed by North Korea's recent threats and abuses. North Korea, upset with Mr. Lee's stance of only engaging with the North when it dismantles its nuclear capabilities, has threatened confrontation. According to the Economist, North Korea has "expelled most South Korean officials from the Kaesong industrial complex, a symbol of economic co-operation. In late January it repudiated a 1991 agreement on reconciliation, non-aggression and co-operation between the Koreas. It says it will no longer honour the western maritime boundary between the two countries, known as the northern limit line, long disputed by the North. This week South Korea’s press reported that the North Korea seemed to be making preparations to test-fire its Taepodong-2 missile." Mr. Lee has acknowledged the threats as serious but "not new".

Kim Jong-Il is likely employing these threats as a means of stirring up nationalism within North Korea while trying to maintain the attention of the United States as President Obama attempts to address domestic concerns, rather than to instill fear in the South Korean people. The
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has directed her attention to the North as she joined Yu Myung Hwan of the RoK's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to assert their dedication to the Six Party Talks to achieve a verifiable end to the North's nuclear program. Clinton called upon the North to uphold is agreement to the 2007 Joint Statement of the Six Party Talks. Additionally, Clinton stated North Korea can not expect to have a productive relationship with the United States if it continues to abuse and threaten South Korea.

In related news, Clinton announced that Ambassador Stephen Bosworth is to be the special envoy to North Korea and will assume the position of U.S. chief negotiator at the Six Party Talks. Bosworth has served as a U.S. ambassador to South Korea most recently at the turn of the millennium, as well as to the Philippines and Tunisia. He was the executive director of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) from 1995 to 1997, a group that, according to the Daily NK, "is in control of the aborted building of two light-water nuclear reactors in the North as part of a previous denuclearization deal".

North Korea's New Cold Front

2009-02-01T20:56:00.000-08:00

South Korea's president, Lee Myung-bak, and his ministries are experiencing newfound difficulty in progressing discussion with North Korea and its leaders. South Korea's unification minister, Hyun In-taek, the constructor of Lee's policy of offering aid and investment under the condition of the North's giving up of its nuclear arms. However, North Korea has obviously viewed this policy as an presumptuous infringement on their sovereignty, as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has refused to talk to the South for months now. According to The Economist, North Korea has vaguely threatened “all-out confrontation” in January, blaming the Republic of Korea's president for raising tensions. This hostile tone from the North is not a surprising response, given that the rumors of political instability following their dictator's stroke and resulting health complications have forced the North Korean government to present a stoic face to the world, as the nations of the globe speculate as to the future of the DPRK.

In other news, LiNK is preliminarily preparing for a screening national tour of the award winning film, Crossing. Acting as South Korea's official submission to the 2009 Academy Awards' Foreign-Language Film category, this film poignantly depicts a North Korean father and his epic journey as he is forced to travel into China to retrieve medicine and money for his ailing family. A trailer subtitled in English is available on YouTube here. The LiNK Crossing Tour: West will reach the following cities on the following dates:

March 15th-March 18th: San Diego, CA
March 19th-Marchl 24th: Orange County, CA
March 25th-April 3rd: Los Angeles, CA
April 4th-April 6th: San Louis Obispo/Santa Barbara, CA
April 7th-April 11th: Sacramento/San Francisco, CA - Bay Area take note!
April 13th-15th: Eugene, OR
April 16th-April 18th : Salem, OR
April 19th- April 25th: Portland, OR
April 26th-April 29th: Tacoma, WA
April 30th -May 5th: Seattle, WA
May 6th: May 8th: 21st: Spokane, WA
May 9th: Boise, ID
May 10h-May 11th: Salt Lake City, UT
May 12th –May 15th: Las Vegas, NV

More details are to come.

Liberty Live Tour 2008 Comes to Berkeley

2008-09-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Start: Sunday, October 12, 2008 7:30 PM

Location: Julia Morgan Center for the Arts
2640 College Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704

Directions to the Julia Morgan Center

Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) Outreach: Bay Area will be hosting Spiralnote Records and LiNK's Liberty Live Tour as it makes a stop from traveling across the States to grace us with the harmonious sounds of the Philly rock band Miss Vintage and LA rock-pop sensation Andy Grammer, playing music and raising awareness about the present humanitarian crisis in North Korea.

The third-to-last of their 22 stops will be right here in the East Bay at the Julia Morgan Center in Berkeley.

Our lives are not through just yet, so lets help turn this tour into the genesis of an exciting campaign to bring this issue to the attention of America at large and empower a movement that will one day allow for liberty in North Korea.

Tickets are $10 Pre-Sale! They are available now online at http://www.linkglobal.org/libertytickets.html
Tickets are also available at the door for $15.

UPDATE:
In an attempt to make this event more affordable for all, tickets are now
$8 dollars Pre-Sale and $10 at the door! All the more incentive to bring all your friends for a great show!

Inside North Korea Documentary Screening this Week

2008-09-09T01:30:00.000-07:00

Our first event come Autumn 2008 will feature a National Geographic documentary, offering a very comprehensive look at the state of North Korea, this Wednesday. The film follows Lisa Ling as she poses as an undercover medical coordinator and is closely guarded/watched throughout her trip inside the dictatorship.

The film will be shown on the UC Berkeley campus in the Valley Life Sciences Building (VLSB). Details of the showing can be found above on the flier. So nice, we printed it thrice.

Born and Raised in a Concentration Camp: North Korean Defector Shin Dong-Hyuk Shares

2008-05-07T00:15:00.000-07:00

Start: Monday, May 12, 2008 7:00 PM
End: Monday, May 12, 2008 8:15 PM

Location: Valley Life Science Building, Room 2040, UC Berkeley
2040 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720

Directions to Berkeley

Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) will be hosting North Korean defector Shin Dong-hyuk on a speaking tour entitled, "Born and Raised in a Concentration Camp." He will recount his experiences as a North Korean who was born into slavery as a political prisoner in a North Korean concentration camp. Shin was born on Nov. 19, 1982 and called the camp home until 2005. While at the camp, he endured daily beatings, torture, starvation-level rations, saw forced abortions and even witnessed the public execution of his mother and brother in 1996. Shin described his life of total isolation from the world: "In South Korea, although there is disappointment and sadness, there is also so much joy, happiness and comfort. In Kaechon, I did not even know such emotions existed. The only emotion I ever knew was fear: fear of beatings, fear of starvation, fear of torture and fear of death." LiNK's Executive Director Adrian Hong will accompany Shin on the tour and will be speaking about the broader issue of human rights in North Korea, as well as the current refugee situation and LiNK's resettlement activities. Liberty in North Korea is an international non-governmental organization devoted to human rights in North Korea and the protection of North Korean refugees.

6:45 PM Registration
7:00 Speakers: Shin Dong-Hyuk, North Korean defector
Adrian Hong, LiNK
8:00 Q&A

More Information:
Ki Hong Lee
kihong86@gmail.com
(818)468-1070

Speaker Biographies:

Shin Dong-hyuk: Mr. Shin was born and raised in Political Prison Camp No. 14 until his escape in 2005. Based in South Korea, he has testified before Britain's House of Lords, and published a book in 2007 entitled "I Was a Political Prisoner at Birth in North Korea" published by the DataBase Center for North Korean Human Rights. Mr. Shin aspires to attend college and hopes to become a policeman.

Adrian Hong: Adrian Hong currently serves as Executive Director of Liberty in North Korea, or LiNK, an international NGO devoted to human rights in North Korea, and the protection of North Korean refugees all over the world. In December of 2006, Mr. Hong was arrested along with 2 LiNK field workers and 6 North Korean refugees in the People's Republic of China and imprisoned before being released and deported.

A Second "Arduous March"?

2008-04-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

Dr. Andrei Lankov has an article up on Asia Times about the prospects of another major famine in North Korea.

Among the North Korean population there is widespread talk about a "second Arduous March" (the "Arouse [sic] March" being a somewhat pompous official name for the "Great Famine" which killed between 500,000 and 1 million people between 1996-1999). International experts seem to agree. Tony Banbury, the World Food Program (WFP) regional director for Asia, said in mid-April: "The food security situation in the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] is clearly bad and getting worse. It is increasingly likely that external assistance will be urgently required to avert a serious tragedy."

This change of mood is dramatic. Merely a year ago, North Korean leaders were optimistic. The good harvest of 2005 persuaded them that food shortages were behind them, and that North Korean agriculture had begun to recover. The 2005 harvest was merely 4.6 million tons, well below the 5.2 million tons which are necessary to keep the entire population alive. Still, it was clearly an improvement.

It's looking more and more like a perfect storm of rising food prices, posturing against the new South Korean administration, and a poor harvest could lead to a very bad next few years in North Korea.

Read the whole article for more info. It's a little long, but well worth the read.

Day 2 of Fast for NK Week

2008-04-22T09:10:00.000-07:00

We'll once again be out on Sproul today. Come and stop by our table if you haven't already!

In the meantime, please read up on your North Korea facts. Today, check out this link right here. It's a collection of articles on human trafficking in and around North Korea.

And if you have any questions for us, our email address is linkbayarea@gmail.com.

Fast for NK Week

2008-04-21T00:56:00.000-07:00

Starting in a little less than 9 hours, LiNK Outreach: Bay Area (LOBA) will be bringing Fast for NK back to the UC Berkeley campus.

Fast for NK was started last year by LiNK Global as a way of bringing attention to the humanitarian crisis in and around North Korea. On April 11, 2007 thousands of people worldwide abstained from eating, in solidarity with starving North Koreans, and donated the money they would have spent on food toward LiNK's shelters.

This year, we'll be doing the fast again at Berkeley, on April 25th. Throughout the week, LOBA will be on Sproul, tabling, flyering, and sharing with our fellow students about the crisis. In addition, many of LOBA's staff are going above and beyond simply fasting on one day by eating only one cup of rice a day - about what an average North Korean gets in rations - for the first four days of the week.

Last year, 118 people on the Berkeley campus fasted, raising over $800 to support shelters and food aid for North Korean refugees. Will you join us this year?

If you're not in the area, you can still help out! Please use this opportunity to spread the word about the North Korean human rights crisis. If you want more information about LiNK, please visit LiNK Global's web site - and if you'd like to make a donation, you'll find a "donate" button on the left side of the screen. All money LiNK raises goes directly to helping North Korean refugees.

We'll be keeping this blog updated throughout the week with information about what's going on in North Korea. Stay tuned!

Olympics Activism on Behalf of NK Refugees

2008-04-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

Controversy is mounting over the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing; here in the Bay Area, we've seen lots of protests over China's human rights record, particularly by advocates for Tibet and for Darfur. Less active, or at least less visible, have been advocates for North Koreans. In Seoul, however, a group is trying to bring attention to the issue.

Onlookers watch as a man tied up in ropes is led down a crowded pedestrian street by a woman holding a plastic assault rifle. Another man holding a megaphone explains that the re-enactment depicts a scene that has become an everyday occurrence in China. A multinational coalition of activists, calling themselves the 4-4-4 Campaign, holds this demonstration each weekend in downtown Seoul.

In Chinese culture, the number 4 symbolizes death. Protester Nam Hyang Soo says the activists chose their name because Beijing's refugee policy is killing North Koreans who try to escape their impoverished homeland.

[...]

For the past few weeks, attention has been focused on the Chinese crackdown on protesters in Tibet. The 4-4-4 Campaign wants the world to remember that Tibetans aren't the only people whose human rights are regularly violated by Beijing. They too are calling for an international boycott of the Olympic Games, and have threatened to disrupt the opening ceremonies in the Chinese capital in August.

More pictures from North Korea

2008-03-31T09:17:00.000-07:00

From a courageous reporter for The Sun, who goes into some detail about the treatment he received after being caught taking the pictures.

SKorea to back UN resolution on NKorea

2008-03-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

By KWANG-TAE KIM, Associated Press Writer

South Korea will vote in favor of a U.N. resolution on alleged human rights violations in North Korea, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.

The resolution is expected to raise concerns about the rights situation in North Korea — which international advocacy groups say is among the world's worst abusers. Voting for it would make good on the new Seoul government's promise not to refrain from criticizing Pyongyang.

The official spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because he did not want to comment publicly before the vote, scheduled later this week at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The new government of conservative President Lee Myung-bak has promised a change from the reluctance of previous South Korean liberal governments to publicly criticize the North.

Since 2003, South Korea has only once voted for a U.N. resolution on human rights in its communist, impoverished and isolated neighbor — after the North's nuclear test in October 2006.

In other votes, the South either abstained or stayed away out of concerns that its criticism might hurt ties and efforts to resolve the international nuclear standoff with North Korea.

From: Yahoo!

Major food shortage in NK this year

2008-03-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

From Yahoo!:

A dire food shortage across North Korea has become so acute it has started to affect the country's elite in the capital, Pyongyang, reports say.
(Advertisement)

Aid agency Good Friends says food rations for some parts of the city have been cut by up to 60%, while others have seen their supplies cut off completely.

Only citizens who show absolute loyalty to leader Kim Jong Il and his regime are allowed to live in Pyongyang and are considered better off than their fellow countrymen.

But the food situation, which has mostly been felt in rural areas where rations have been suspended since November, has now spread to the city, according to the South Korean aid agency.

"Even ranking officials have run out of their (rationed) food supply, while a ban on (private) trade is strictly maintained," said an unidentified city official quoted by Good Friends.

"It is nothing but a death sentence."

The agency also said farm labourers were staying away from work because they were not getting any food. This was said to be affecting the planting of new crops.

The fact that this is affecting the elite in Pyongyang is unprecedented, and leads to a possible silver lining to this very dark cloud. From One Free Korea:

The regime has contained and survived mass-casualty famine and dissent in the countryside before. A severe downturn in Pyongyang, however, is a game-changer. If the regime can’t even feed its elite, it’s going to have to take some chairs away from the banquet table. That means commissars and apparatchiks will shiv each other for the remaining chairs as though their lives depend on it. A rumored phase-out of the “military first” policy introduces a whole new pool of potential coup plotters. This could be the beginning of the end. If the report is true – and if China doesn’t execute an Olympic-sized airlift to reverse those conditions fast – there’s a 70% chance of regime collapse within the next year.

Disarmament Talks, Cont.

2008-03-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

Recently elected South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has taken a firm position towards North Korea. According to Reuters:

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday urged North Korea to start standing on its own feet, stop relying on handouts and get ready for unification. [...] The conservative leader has promised to help lift North Korea out of abject poverty on condition the reclusive communist neighbor abandons nuclear weapons and opens up its economy.

Thankfully, an international disarmament accord was signed in 2007. However, there is dispute over whether North Korea completely and accurately followed through with it. According to Associated Press:

The accord, signed among the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, is at a stalemate due to a dispute over whether the North fully accounted for its nuclear programs by a Dec. 31, 2007 deadline. The North says it already provided the list in November, while the U.S. says it is still waiting for a complete, detailed declaration.

On the other hand, North Korea is asking the other members of the international accord to fulfill their agreements: to provide 1 million metric tons of fuel oil and normalized diplomatic ties (remove North Korea from the state sponsor of terrorism list) with the U.S. and Japan (Bloomberg).

That's why, at the suggestion of North Korea, chief U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill and his North Korean counterpart Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan met in Geneva on March 14 to discuss these discrepancies (Chosun Ilbo). However, no progress was made.

2008-02-27T11:26:00.000-08:00

In Visit, Cellist’s Quest for Lost Chord to His Youth

By DANIEL J. WAKIN for the New York Times
PYONGYANG, North Korea — For much of his 60 years, Valentin Hirsu has thought of those three Korean boys in his class.

It was at Music School No. 1 in Bucharest, Romania. The boys were North Korean orphans from the war that had torn up their country. One played piano, another clarinet, the third flute.

After about six years, they were taken home.

Mr. Hirsu never heard from them again. Now, in Pyongyang as a cellist with the visiting New York Philharmonic, he is asking about their fate.

"It’s a crime not to look for them if I’ll be there,” he said on the eve of the orchestra’s departure from Beijing. “I don’t know if they are alive or minister of culture. How am I supposed to know?” he said.

Mr. Hirsu kept a picture that includes the three Koreans among a clutch of students around a teacher, like a “mother hen,” he said.

He recalled the three boys as excellent students and good kids. “They were the best in drawing,” he said. “They were the best in geography, even Romanian, volleyball, everything.”

After graduating, Mr. Hirsu embarked on a successful career as a soloist in Romania. In 1975, he immigrated to Israel and a year later to the United States, where he almost immediately won an audition for the Philharmonic.

Mr. Hirsu gave the photograph to Fred Carriere, the executive director of the Korea Society, which helped the Philharmonic with logistics for the trip. Mr. Hirsu had a phonetic recollection of the names, but that did not prove to be much help. Mr. Carriere said Monday, after the orchestra arrived in Pyongyang, that he had had no success in locating the three.

A disappointed Mr. Hirsu said he would not give up, promising to ask every North Korean musician he encountered about them. “I can find them on my own,” he said.

U.S.'09 Budget for NK Shifts to Denuclearization

2008-02-17T22:21:00.000-08:00

The U.S. budget for North Korea-related funds in fiscal year (FY) 2009 is spread out between the energy and state departments with a shift away from democratization assistance to nuclear disarmament.

The budget proposed earlier this month, and to start in October this year, includes the Energy Department's request for $ 140.5 million for Nonproliferation and International Security (NIS) which covers the Next Generation Safeguards Initiative. This program is specifically aimed at disabling, dismantling and verifying North Korea's nuclear program and at stopping spread of weapons of mass destruction.

``Another priority in FY 2009 is disablement, dismantlement, and verification of nuclear programs in North Korea,’’ the department's budget request says.

``In FY 2009, NIS will provide technical expertise required (for) dismantlement actions of the North Korean nuclear facilities, continue to verify the North Korean declaration of its nuclear program elements, support the six-party working groups, and undertake scientist engagement opportunities to support denuclearization and proliferation risk reduction.’’ (Yonhap)

From: The Korea Times

22 N. Koreans Executed for a Defection Attempt

2008-02-17T22:17:00.000-08:00

Twenty-two North Koreans, sent back to the North by South Korean authorities earlier this month after their fishing boats drifted into South Korean waters, were reported to have been executed by a firing squad.

The North Koreans were shot dead last week by North Korean military authorities of South Hwanghae Province, which believed they had attempted to defect to the South, Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday, quoting an unidentified government source.

``The rumor (of the execution) has been spreading out among locals. Local people have been shocked that all of the 22 were executed by a firing squad without distinction of age or sex,'' the source said.

The 22 North Koreans included eight men, 14 women and three students.

North Korean fishermen often stray into southern waters because of bad weather or engine problems.

From The Korea Times

NK Intensifies Press Oppression

2008-02-17T22:14:00.000-08:00

"North Korea executed a state-run company's director last year for having made phone calls abroad without government permission, an international journalist group said in its annual report released Sunday.

The case reflects a marked increase in executions for the offense of communication with people outside the totalitarian country, Reporters Without Borders said.
``North Korea is the world's most isolated country and the security forces are responsible for keeping it that way at all costs,’’ it said in the report.

`` North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is visiting media newsrooms, giving orders to reporters and correcting the editorials.’’

The group campaigning for freedom of speech also introduced burgeoning efforts to break the isolation. About a dozen North Korean reporters, who received secret training in China, launched the country's first magazine immune to censorship in November.

``Working closely with a Japanese news agency, Rimjingang has promised unprecedented news about the situation within the country,’’ it said. ``The first edition carried interviews with North Koreans and an analysis of the country's economic situation.’’ (Yonhap) "

From: The Korea Times

North Korea Diverts Food Aid to Military

2008-02-15T10:44:00.000-08:00

The Korea Times, among others, reports that South Korea's food aid may actually be serving to feed the North Korean military, rather than the North Korean population as a whole:

Some of the rice given to North Korea by South Korea for humanitarian purposes has been funneled into the North Korean military units on the front lines, according to a military source Thursday. But Seoul has never raised the issue with Pyongyang.

``Since late 2006, we have noticed bags of rice clearly marked with South Korea's Red Cross logo being unloaded from trucks in North Korean military camps and some of them were left in a stacked there,'' an official said on condition of anonymity.

The bags, which contained rice, were also used for North Korea's military encampment. So far some 400 rice bags reportedly ended up in the North Korean military bases.

North Korean defectors have often said rice provided to the North by the South leaked to the military. Some even said the good quality rice goes to the military first.

It's an odd cycle, with South Korea feeding the very military that threatens to invade it. There are, however, more sinister implications regarding the regime's motivations. Must read analysis at the blog One Free Korea, which posits, among other things, the possibility that the North Korean regime, when given food aid, cuts back on importing food so as to free up more money to spend on other things while its people sit on the brink of starvation.

More on China's Pre-Olympic Crackdown

2008-01-29T17:32:00.000-08:00

From the International Herald Tribune:

When state security agents burst into his apartment on Dec. 27, Hu Jia was chatting on Skype, the Internet-based telephone system. Hu's computer was his most potent tool. He disseminated information about human rights cases, peasant protests and other politically touchy topics even though he often lived under de facto house arrest.

Hu, 34, and his wife, Zeng Jinyan, are human rights advocates who spent much of 2006 restricted to their apartment in a complex with the unlikely name of Bo Bo Freedom City. She blogged about life under detention, while he videotaped a documentary titled "Prisoner in Freedom City." Their surreal existence seemed to reflect an official uncertainty about how, and whether, to shut them up.

That ended on Dec. 27. Hu was dragged away on charges of subverting state power while Zeng was bathing their newborn daughter, Qianci. Telephone and Internet connections to the apartment were severed. Mother and daughter are now under house arrest. Qianci, barely 2 months old, is probably the youngest political prisoner in China.

For human rights advocates and Chinese dissidents, Hu's detention is the most telling example of what they describe as a broadening crackdown on dissent as Beijing prepares to stage the Olympic Games in August. In recent months, several dissidents have been jailed, including a former factory worker in northeastern China who collected 10,000 signatures after posting an online petition titled "We Want Human Rights, Not the Olympics."

"This is a coordinated cleansing campaign," said Teng Biao, a legal expert who has known Hu since 2006. "All the troublemakers — including potential troublemakers — are being silenced before the Olympic Games."

Both refugees and NGO workers are likely to fall into the "troublemakers" category, which bodes ill for them and for the cause of North Korean freedom.

Update: Yoo Freed, Others Repatriated

2007-12-24T15:49:00.000-08:00

Good news on the Yoo Sang-Joon issue that was mentioned on this blog last post. Once again, head on over to One Free Korea to read about it.

Dissident Yoo arrested, facing trial and deportation

2007-11-24T15:01:00.000-08:00

Please read the account of this over at One Free Korea. It's unlikely that China will respond to grassroots pressure on this issue - but it's still possible.

ROK Abstains on UN DPRK Human Rights Resolution

2007-11-21T23:18:00.000-08:00

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With the arrival of the Thanksgiving holiday, we all have a chance to remember on the many things we have to be thankful for. As we do so, let's remember the people in North Korea and elsewhere who are not so fortunate. Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi once urged the free world to "use your freedom to promote ours." As we reflect on what we do have, let us do so with an eye toward using our blessings - in whatever capacity - to bring help and hope to those who so desperately need it.
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From the International Herald Tribune:

A U.N. General Assembly committee adopted a draft resolution Tuesday expressing "very serious concern" at persistent reports of widespread human rights violations in North Korea including torture, inhumane conditions of detention and public executions.

The assembly's human rights committee approved the resolution by a vote of 97-23 with 60 abstentions, including South Korea. The draft now goes to the 192-member General Assembly for a final vote.

[...]

North Korea said it "categorically resents" the draft resolution which it said is "filled with fabrications" and "cannot be justified in any case" because it does not also condemn human rights violations committed by the countries co-sponsoring it.

The draft cites North Korea's "all-pervasive and severe restrictions on the freedoms of thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association" by persecuting people exercising these rights and barring their freedom of movement and travel abroad.

It singles out "the persistence of continuing reports of systematic, widespread and grave violations of civil, political and economic, social and cultural rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea including torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including inhuman conditions of detention, public executions, extrajudicial and arbitrary detention..."

This is not entirely unexpected; South Korea abstained from similar resolutions from 2003 to 2005. Although they did support a similar resolution in 2006, two things have changed since then: 1) North Korea has been behaving fairly well and 2) South Korean Ban Ki-moon is not running for Secretary-General.

Interestingly enough, editorial opinion in South Korea seems to be fairly unanimously critical of the move. Both Chosun Ilbo on the right and Hankyoreh on the left criticize it in the following editorials:

Chosun Ilbo: A Wrong View on Human Rights

Chosun Ilbo: Abstaining from UN Vote on N. Korea is Cowardly

Hankyoreh: S. Korea's abstention on human rights resolution

Some items of interest

2007-11-02T15:25:00.000-07:00

Daily NK: The US House of Representatives has passed a bill encouraging China to abide by its obligations under international treaties.

JoongAng Daily: North Korea's state-run media appears to be changing its tune with regard to contact with the outside world, claiming, "[t]he republic has always maintained its position that it wants to have good relations, even with capitalist countries."

Daily NK: North Korean defector Lee Sang Hyuk has been caught, but not before he apparently got in contact with relatives in the South. This won't help his cause.

Bordering on the absurd

2007-10-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you read something about Kim Jong-il that makes you wonder if it's parody. Consider this example of his capriciousness and utter control over his people, from the Daily NK:

You idiots!” said Kim Jong Il swearing at his attendants while looking at a potato field through the car window during his visit to Daehongdan on August 9th, 1999.

A large banner with the slogan saying “Potato is white rice!” was hanging at the entrance to every potato field.

In fact, the local cadres and officials from Propaganda and Agitation Department under the Workers’ Party ordered to put up the banner in every potato field because when Kim Jong Il visited the county a year ago, he said to them, “Potato is the same as white rice.”

Of course, the potato cultivation is important. However, it is basically nonsense that growing potato is as important as growing white rice, which is the staple food of the Korean diet. Kim Jong Il forgot that it was him who said the nonsense.

Pulling up his car in front of the banner at the potato field in Daehongdan County, Kim Jong Il said yelling, “Who the heck said those words? Does it make any sense that potato is white rice?”

On that day, as his first schedule of the day’s program, he visited a field where a new kind of potato starts to be reaped.

When Kim Jong Il was getting out of his car, Kim Sung Jin, a chief secretary of the county came running toward him, only to be brought to a halt by Kim Jong Il who raised his hand gesturing him to stop.

“Does it make any sense to you that potato is the same as white rice?”

Having sensed something went wrong, Kim Sung Jin’s face turned pale. He had no idea when Kim Jong Il would start pouring out his anger on him. He just stood still frozen with fear. (He said later to his colleagues, “It was like the whole world turned upside down.”)

Kim Jong Il putting his hands under his armpits was gazing at something for quite some time. It was a large message board engraved with Kim Jong Il’s own words, “Potato is the same as white rice.” Looking at the board quite a while, Kim Jong Il burst into a laughter.

Pointing at the board, Kim Jong Il asked of Kim Sung Jin who was standing vacantly “Hey, did I really say that?” Kim Sung Jin answered in a position of attention, “Yes, General. You said those words when you visited Daehongdan on October 1st last year.”

Kim Jong Il, looking dumbfounded and awkward, looked at the board again and said, “Oh, my! You fools took my words too far. How could potato ever be the same as the rice? Pull it down right away!”

“Yes, Sir!,” Kim Sung Jin answered out loud. Then, he ran off to his men and ordered them to get rid of the banner immediately.

More speculation on famine this year

2007-10-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

This is from the BBC:

North Korea needs at least 5.3 million tonnes of food until autumn 2008, but it will only be able to supply 3.9 million, leaving a gap of 1.4 million tonnes, the KREI study said.

It said the communist state's farming sector was damaged to the tune of $275m (£134m) in the flooding.

"The North's food inventory has almost hit the bottom, so unless there's an extraordinary measure to stabilise supply, there may be a situation next year similar to the late 1990s," it said.

North Korea has described this year's floods as amongst the worst the country has seen. They affected one million people, killing at least 600 and wiping out more than 10% of farmland.

But Unicef's deputy representative in North Korea, Michel Le Pechoux, said that while the situation was "still fragile", it was not likely to lead to famine.

He said circumstances were very different to the devastation seen in the 1990s.

The 1990s, of course, saw anywhere between 200,000 and 3.5 million people die from famine in North Korea. The very fact that North Korea is admitting they've suffered severe flood damage is a sign that things could get very bad here.

Surprise, surprise

2007-10-17T01:12:00.000-07:00

North Korea is the second worst country in the world in terms of press freedom, according to a recent report by Reporters Without Borders.

Notable this year is the increasing government crackdown on Internet media, the group said.

"Several countries fell in the ranking this year because of serious, repeated violations of the free flow of online news and information," it said.

"The governments of repressive countries are now targeting bloggers and online journalists as forcefully as journalists in the traditional media."

The cost of illegal filming

2007-10-01T00:29:00.000-07:00

Daily NK has a pretty horrifying report out about a man who was caught filming in a North Korean market. Those of you who have watched Seoul Train will probably remember that people caught filming are subject to execution. In this case, the cameraman escaped with his life, but suffered pretty badly for his actions.

A North Korean citizen who tried to capture the North Korean jangmadang (market) on a video camera was arrested by the National Security Agency and received the cruel punishment of having his achilles heel severed, reported Free North Korea Broadcasting (Free NK) on the 28th.

Free NK relayed that Mr. Shim, who was investigated for a month in closed confinement at the National Safety Agency for a cell-phone usage in August, heard the news about the NSA's torture of Huh Sang Chul (35), whom he had met at the same detention house.

According to Mr. Shim, Huh was arrested while filming at the Hoiryeong Jangmadang in mid July. While being investigated for over a month, the broadcast reported that he confessed to filming the lives of average civilians and the market and to selling the images.

According to the article (the rest of which is available here) he was charged with "handing over national secrets."

Roh to attend Arirang?

2007-09-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

All appearances are that South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun will be attending the Arirang festival later this year when he visits North Korea.

Arirang is the largest gymnastics/propaganda show in the world, involving thousands of people in a massive tribute to Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-il, and the North Korean regime.

An account of the Arirang games can be found here. From this article:

Arirang, however, is part of a propaganda offensive on a scale that would make a big-spending Hollywood mogul envious. The stage is the 150,000-capacity May Day stadium in Pyongyang, and the cast is 100,000 strong. The performance is a technicolour mix of entertainment: a floorshow by 1,000 dancers; a military tattoo; a martial arts display; hordes of waving, smiling children; an aerial ballet by dancers on bungee ropes.

The most breathtaking element of Arirang is the backdrop - a giant human mosaic that forms elaborate panoramas of megacities, slogans and cartoons. More than 30,000 children form a flip-card unit working so quickly that some pictures appear to be animated.

It is an awesome product of political control and economic weakness. Starved of energy, and economically retarded, the only resource North Korea has in abundance is its people - and they are often employed in places where richer countries would use electricity. Just as policewomen direct Pyongyang's traffic rather than automated lights; in Arirang, tens of thousands of children are used to create a giant screen.

Even at the height of Soviet power, Moscow would have struggled to choreograph such a mass performance. The politics are surreal. The "prosperous fatherland" reads one giant banner above a mosaic of ploughing tractors - no matter that almost all farmwork is done by hand because vehicles and fuel are in such short supply. "Green revolution" reads another, over an image of bumper crops, despite the fact that the nation has not been able to feed a third of its people for a decade.

Youtube has several videos of the event. This one is of the children's performance. Remember that the background is not an electronic screen; it's a massive 30,000 person card stunt.

If President Roh does end up attending, he is in effect turning a blind eye to the ugly side of Arirang: the treatment of the child performers. Unification Minister Lee Jae-Joung seems to be doing preemptive damage control in this regard. From the Chosun Ilbo:

According to the testimony of North Korean defectors, one side of the May Day Stadium where the performance takes place often smells of urine. That’s because students are not allowed to leave their positions while practicing the flash card performance. So they simply urinate while sitting down in their seats. Many children are said to end up getting bladder infections. One wrong move and children are clubbed and punished in groups. Kim Hyun-sik, former professor at Kim Hyung Jik College of Education, said the Arirang performance was “soaked with the blood and tears of the North Korean people.”

Regarding questions as to whether the South Korean president should attend such a performance marred by allegations of child abuse, South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung retorted whether the lengthy training of South Korean children for a play or sports event could be viewed as abuse was uncertain. Regarding North Korea’s human rights violations, Lee pretended not to know, saying human rights issues should be interpreted according to the unique circumstances of a particular society. He added that there was no concrete evidence of human rights violations in the North.

China opening up?

2007-09-18T16:25:00.000-07:00

It's not letting UNHCR in or admitting that North Korean "migrants" are actually refugees, but this, reported in the LA Times, gives reason to hope that China is moving in the right direction. First, a few quotes:

Unfortunately for Chinese censors, a more three-dimensional view of the news is increasingly just a click away. A few terms entered into one of China's Internet search engines quickly reveal reports on food inspection shortfalls, official complicity in mining accidents, questionable nuclear standards, even comments on the party's penchant for nearly identical happy-talk front pages.

...

In recent weeks, however, some Chinese officials are starting to do a better job reassuring the public at home and abroad by following a few cardinal rules: Admit mistakes, accept responsibility, minimize cover-ups and outline a concrete response.

...

But China also is working to reverse a tradition of secrecy, said Steven Dong, a professor of political communication and public relations at Tsinghua University, driven in part by its rising global stature and the reality of the Internet.

In the past, when the Propaganda Ministry didn't like something posted on a website, it would call the hosting service and get it pulled. Now, a story running on a major Chinese website is likely to be picked up by as many as 437 Chinese websites within five minutes, Dong said.

"Now they would need to call 438 people," he said. "It would never happen."

So, what does this mean? First, it suggests that China may be becoming more image-conscious in light of the upcoming 2008 Olympics. This could be a good thing, if it forces China to deal with its problems, which of course include its abominable record toward North Korean refugees. On the other hand, if China feels that it can escape international reprobation by continuing to simply deny certain issues, then it may continue to do so, especially in light of how it has dealt with missionaries, another group that China does not want interfering with the Olympics.

All in all, this could be a step in the right direction if it shows a true change in China's coverup-prone attitude. However, if this is merely a step to deal with a populace made restless by natural disasters, the international community is going to have to put more pressure on China before things change.

Korean student groups working for NK human rights

2007-09-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

Encouraging news today comes from the Daily NK, where we read that Korean students are pushing hard for human rights to be included as part of the imminent inter-Korean summit. (Background on the summit: Roh Moo Hyun hopes to improve inter-Korean relations before he leaves office at the end of this year; Kim Jong-il may be trying to appear cooperative in advance of the ROK presidential elections in December; neither leader has an incentive to address human rights.)

Mr. Yoon said, “This movement, with the confirmation of the Summit Talks agenda coming up on the 25th, was started because the government preparing for the talks has not shown an intent to discuss the North Korean human rights situation.” From the onset of the petition movement, a non-cooperative struggle is taking place.

They are planning to include the abductees’ issue in the upcoming petition movement.

The figure 100,000 represents the 12,000-some defectors who have entered South Korea, around 500 prisoners of war of the Korean armed forces, approximately 8,300 wartime abductees, and 480 abductees taken immediately after the war.

Mr. Yoon said, “A true peace and coexistence cannot begin until basic human rights are reached and expanded on North Korean soil. Talks where the human rights improvement of 20 million North Korean civilians is not discussed cannot ultimately contribute to the arrival of the flourishing of peace on the peninsula.”

...

Mr. Yoon requested, “While looking at the distant future (reunification of the peninsula), do not think that the North Korean human rights issue is somebody else’s work. College students should take a greater interest and lend their ears to those who voice the right opinions.”

More Clamping Down

2007-09-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

The DPRK continues its crackdown on foreign influences, arresting several North Korean citizens and one foreign national on charges of spying. Part of their crime was that they were apparently bringing in information about the outside world, or as the regime charmingly puts it, spreading "illusion about the free world."

The alleged spies were assigned to obtain the coordinates of a military installation using a global positioning device and to pass along state and military secrets, the ministry said, according to KCNA. They also tried to lure senior officials to leave their homeland by fomenting ``illusion about the free world,'' it said.

...

North Korea's rare announcement ``demonstrated its will to control its people and safeguard its system,'' said Koh Yu-hwan, an expert on the country at South Korea's Dongguk University.

North Korea has struggled to keep outside information from seeping into the country out of concern that it could lead to the overthrow of its reclusive communist regime.

Despite an official ban, some North Koreans are communicating with the outside world, mostly by using cell phones on Chinese communication networks, according to North Korean defectors in South Korea.

The DPRK and Outside Influences

2007-09-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

A couple of articles here that provide an interesting perspective on just how much outside culture/influence the North Korean regime is willing to tolerate.

The first, from Chosun Ilbo, discusses the North Korean Glossary of Economic Terms, published last year to help ruling elites with their economic literacy. If the DPRK's poor economy wasn't already enough of a sign that there was a problem in that department, the extremely basic nature of the dictionary clarifies that:

North Korea has published a dictionary of capitalist terminology to help its people grasp basic concepts like “principal”, “interest”, “insurance”, “income”, “labor force” and “rent.”

The second article, from Radio Free Asia, talks about how the so-called "Korean Wave" of South Korean pop culture has penetrated to North Korea, to the great chagrin of the regime, and, oftentimes, the great suffering of those who are caught partaking.

“There have been two or three reports of public executions of North Korean young people in major cities including Chungjin, as punishment for having illegally copied and distributed South Korean visual material,” said Kang Chul Hwan, vice-chairman of the Seoul-based Committee for the Democratization of North Korea.

New Semester, New Blog

2007-08-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

As we move to a new blog, it's time for a new semester to start at Cal. Come on out to Calapalooza this Thursday from 11-2 on Memorial Glade to sign up for LiNK Outreach - Bay Area and to find out about some of the events and activities we have planned for the semester!