Freedom for North Korea - Recently Updated Pages

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Hope4NK — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:07:11 CDT

June 20, 2009 I love this happy magenta color. Why happy? Think about this. A few women fled to China to escape starvation and dictatorship in North Korea last month. They got into China and were promised freedom, hope, food, and a job to support themselves. They ended up in a brothel of sorts forced to pay for their food by giving away their bodies--unwillingly. So, why happy? Through donations from a number of people, mostly compassionate Americans this time, we were able to rescue these escaping women out of those circumstances and help them travel to an undisclosed country. Like the underground railroad in the USA in the 1800s? You betcha. And we have Asian, American, and European Harriet Tubmans leading them through the whole process. HURRAY!!! Now you're happy, too, eh? Email me at northkorea@comcast.net if you want to be a part of this underground railroad.

June 14, 2009 Have you shown any of your friends the You Tube video that I posted on the home page of this website? I was so tickled when I found out that a seven-year-old boy led all the adults at his father’s party to their family computer and showed them all this video on North Korea! All the people in attendance were twenty-somethings who were training with government leaders in Washington, DC. There’s a verse in the Bible that says, “A little child shall lead them.” God bless this one boy who had no political party or agenda, but simply carries a compassionate heart for the destitute in North Korea. Please pass the link to the home page on to friends of like heart. We must continue to raise awareness so that Americans will understand that Kim Jong-il is not mentally stable. He does not keep promises. He starves his people on purpose and food and medical care always goes first to his family and the elite in Pyongyang, the national capital. Like this precious little boy, help us spread the word. Please pray. Prayer changes things. Hope

February 11,2009

February is Valentine's month here in America. It is also a month highly celebrated in North Korea. February 16th, Abraham Lincoln's birthday, is also the birthday of "The Dear Leader," Kim Jong-il, dictator of North Korea. On this day the citizens get a real treat--a few more hours of electricity and, if you're close to the Pyongyang capitol area, you may even get a little rice.

Kim is said to be born on a sacred mountain called Mount Paektu, a mountain where legend says Korea was birthed 5000 years ago. Of course, officials in NK (North Korea) tell quite a story about Kim's birth:

"At the time of his birth there were flashes of lightning and thunder, the iceberg in the pond on Mount Paektu emitted a mysterious sound as it broke, and bright double rainbows rose up."

Folks who've taken the time to research Kim's birthplace, say that he was actually born in the eastern end of Russia on February 16, 1942.

If you want to read more about Kim Jong-il's childhood and background, CNN did a fair report at http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/east/06/13/bio.kim.jongil/

June 14, 2008

OK, this is where I stop reporting and add personal thoughts about North Korea. Why don't I tell you about people that I admire?

I have friends who are volunteering, going inside to help the people eat or help them find their families who've escaped into China. These men and women are modern day heroes. Some of them have been to prison (and some today are sitting in prison) for trying to help their suffering human family.

If you scroll down on this page to see the pictures and links you'll see some of these friends that I've written about in my articles on North Korea. I don't just write on this website, I write for magazines such as Christianity Today, Charisma and Christian Life, World Christian, Campus Life, Brio, Breakaway, and even kids' mags such as Clubhouse, Clubhouse Jr., and Pray! magazines. (I write books, too, but who's counting?)

I think about these things ... I think about the Jewish Holocaust museum in Washington DC and the large sign there that proclaims, "Never Again!"

But it is happening again. It's happening to North Koreans who suffer in Auschwitz-style prison camps. I think people should know. Will you help me tell them?

Hope

Browse Hope's Articles:

Christians Seek Covert Ways to Send Aid to North Korea

http://www.charismamag.com/display.php?id=8383

Children's Story, Escape From North Korea
http://www.clubhousemagazine.com/fiction/family

/a0001465.cfm

Pastor Champions Plight of North Korean Refugees

http://www.charismamag.com/display.php?id=14303

Washington State Pastor Philip Buck released from Chinese prison. His crime? Helping North Koreans escape the famine. I met Rev. Buck when he testified about his ordeal to congress in September 2006. He is a strong Christian and compassionate human being. He continues to be a voice for the unfortunate in North Korea.

You can email me at northkorea@comcast.net

I'd love to hear from you!

Hope

May 10, 2008 , North Korea Freedom Week Report

North Korea Freedom Week was a huge success this year as Washington DC was filled with prayer warriors and Bible readers! The American Bible Society stood outside the capitol and in one week's time read the entire Bible through! One group after another filled Washington DC for the purpose of prayer over one issue or another, all faces tilted toward heaven to give and to receive from God from whom all blessings flow! Of course, Thursday May 1st was the National Day of Prayer and again the atmosphere of DC was bombarded with heavenly themes! It was glorious!

The term "defectors" means people who've escaped North Korea and made it into a free country. Members of the North Korea Freedom Coalition joined together to pay the airfare and lodging expenses for a number of defectors who testified in private meetings with our government. I personally was honored to lead in prayer over North Korea at the NK Prayer Vigil on April 27th. One woman was there who wept because, although she had two daughters with her, she left other family members in North Korea, some who'd died of starvation.

The special week of recognition for the plight of the North Koreans reached the heart and pen of our President, George Bush. You may browse to the blog below to see links and pictures. For now, let me close by sharing with you the words of President George W. Bush concerning North Korea Freedom Week:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary ___________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release April 30,2008

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Laura and I send greetings to all those observing North Korea Freedom Week. I am deeply concerned about the grave human rights conditions in North Korea, especially the denial of universal freedoms of speech, press, religion, assembly, and association, and restrictions on freedom of movement and workers’ rights. I have met in the Oval Office with some of the brave individuals who have escaped from that country. I am deeply concerned by the stories of divided families, harsh conditions, and suffering. The United States stands with the North Korean people in their call for freedom. We believe it is every person’s basic right to live in freedom and dignity. We will continue to support the North Korean people as they strive to achieve the rights and freedoms to which they are entitled as human beings. We look forward to the moment when we can celebrate the blessings of liberty with the North Korean people.

# # #

February 12, 2008

I've written more than 100 articles for magazines and penned 3 novels and one nonfiction book, but this is my first attempt at a blog! My name is Hope and I'm the administrator of this site. I want to welcome you to, not only read my blog, but interact with me by signing up to wiki on this website. Simply click the yellow box at the top right that says, "Join this Wiki." Just call yourself "Sue Smith" or "John Jones" (whatever!) and join us. An Easy Edit Toolbar will appear at the top of the page and you can click it and write blogs, insert pictures, create pages, have fun!

So, what's going on in North Korea? Same old stuff. It's heartbreaking to see the
pictures of the children who are starving there. I want to do two things to help them:

1. Pray (Go to www.houseofprayerfornorthkorea.wetpaint.com )

2. Inform the world about what's going on. (Click Home in left column to see video)

I've written several articles about North Korea. You can link onto those articles for more information. There's even one for children that's not "too scary."

Browse Hope's Articles:

Christians Seek Covert Ways to Send Aid to North Korea

http://www.charismamag.com/display.php?id=8383

Children's Story, Escape From North Korea

http://www.clubhousemagazine.com/fiction/family/a0001465.cfm

- Centennial Celebration of 1907 Pyongyang, Korea Revival
http://ctlibrary.com/ct/2007/januaryweb-only/105-32.0.html

Pastor Champions Plight of North Korean Refugees

http://www.charismamag.com/display.php?id=14303

You can email me at northkorea@comcast.net
I'd love to hear from you!

Hope

Why Get Involved?

Hope4NK — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:47:01 CDT

Why Get Involved?

An estimated 3 million North Koreans have perished under North Korea's brutal dictatorial regime since the mid-1990s. Families continue to starve to death as the North Korean government withholds food rations to entire regions of the nation. The government arbitrarily detains, tortures, and executes its citizens, including children, in a large network of concentration camps. Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans have fled to China to survive, however they live in fear of forced repatriation and imprisonment. Children whose parents have died or been separated from them wander the streets in search of food and protection. We must act now to bring relief!!
Read more...

President Bush's Nuke Statement

Hope4NK — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:42:43 CDT

Excerpt from Press Release (Full statement from June 2008 below): The message to the North Korean people is, is that we don't want you to be hungry; we want you to have a better life; that our concerns are for you, not against you; and that we have given your leadership a way forward to have better relations with the international community. This is a society that is regularly going through famines. When I campaigned for President, I said we will never use food as a diplomatic weapon. In North Korea, we have been concerned that food shipments sometimes don't make it to the people themselves -- in other words, the regime takes the food for their own use. So my message to the people is, is that we'll continue to care for you and worry about you, and at the same time, pursue a Korean Peninsula that's nuclear weapons free. And today we have taken a step, and it's a very positive step, but there's more steps to be done.

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary June 26, 2008 President Bush Discusses North Korea
Rose Garden

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. The policy of the United States is a Korean Peninsula free of all nuclear weapons. This morning, we moved a step closer to that goal, when North Korean officials submitted a declaration of their nuclear programs to the Chinese government as part of the six-party talks. The United States has no illusions about the regime in Pyongyang. We remain deeply concerned about North Korea's human rights abuses, uranium enrichment activities, nuclear testing and proliferation, ballistic missile programs, and the threat it continues to pose to South Korea and its neighbors. Yet we welcome today's development as one step in the multi-step process laid out by the six-party talks between North Korea, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States. Last year, North Korea pledged to disable its nuclear facilities. North Korea has begun disabling its Yongbyon nuclear facility -- which was being used to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. This work is being overseen by officials from the United States and the IAEA. And to demonstrate its commitment, North Korea has said it will destroy the cooling tower of the Yongbyon reactor in front of international television cameras tomorrow. Last year, North Korea also pledged to declare its nuclear activity. With today's declaration, North Korea has begun describing its plutonium-related activities. It's also provided other documents related to its nuclear programs going back to 1986. It has promised access to the reactor core and waste facilities at Yongbyon, as well as personnel related to its nuclear program. All this information will be essential to verifying that North Korea is ending its nuclear programs and activities. The six-party talks are based on a principle of "action for action." So in keeping with the existing six-party agreements, the United States is responding to North Korea's actions with two actions of our own: First, I'm issuing a proclamation that lifts the provisions of the Trading with the Enemy Act with respect to North Korea. And secondly, I am notifying Congress of my intent to rescind North Korea's designation as a state sponsor of terror in 45 days. The next 45 days will be an important period for North Korea to show its seriousness of its cooperation. We will work through the six-party talks to develop a comprehensive and rigorous verification protocol. And during this period, the United States will carefully observe North Korea's actions -- and act accordingly. The two actions America is taking will have little impact on North Korea's financial and diplomatic isolation. North Korea will remain one of the most heavily sanctioned nations in the world. The sanctions that North Korea faces for its human rights violations, its nuclear test in 2006, and its weapons proliferation will all stay in effect. And all United Nations Security Council sanctions will stay in effect as well. The six-party process has shed light on a number of issues of serious concern to the United States and the international community. To end its isolation, North Korea must address these concerns. It must dismantle all of its nuclear facilities, give up its separated plutonium, resolve outstanding questions on its highly enriched uranium and proliferation activities, and end these activities in a way that we can fully verify. North Korea must also meet other obligations it has undertaken in the six-party talks. The United States will never forget the abduction of Japanese citizens by the North Koreans. We will continue to closely cooperate and coordinate with Japan and press North Korea to swiftly resolve the abduction issue. This can be a moment of opportunity for North Korea. If North Korea continues to make the right choices, it can repair its relationship with the international community -- much as Libya has done over the past few years. If North Korea makes the wrong choices, the United States and our partners in the six-party talks will respond accordingly. If they do not fully disclose and end their plutonium, their enrichment, and their proliferation efforts and activities, there will be further consequences. Multilateral diplomacy is the best way to peacefully solve the nuclear issue with North Korea. Today's developments show that tough multilateral diplomacy can yield promising results. Yet the diplomatic process is not an end in itself. Our ultimate goal remains clear: a stable and peaceful Korean Peninsula, where people are free from oppression, free from hunger and disease, and free from nuclear weapons. The journey toward that goal remains long, but today we have taken an important step in the right direction. I'll take a couple of questions. Mike. Q Mr. President, thank you very much. After declaring them a member of the "axis of evil," and then after that underground nuclear tests that North Korea conducted in 2006, I'm wondering if you ever doubted getting to this stage. And also, I'm wondering if you have a message for the North Korean people. THE PRESIDENT: I knew that the United States could not solve, or begin to solve, this issue without partners at the table. In order for diplomacy to be effective, there has to be leverage. You have to have a -- there has to be consequential diplomacy. And so I worked hard to get the Chinese and the South Koreans and the Japanese and the Russians to join with us in sending a concerted message to the North Koreans, and that is, that if you promise and then fulfill your promises to dismantle your nuclear programs, there's a better way forward for you and the people. In other words, as I said in the statement, it's action for action. It took a while for the North Koreans to take the six-party talks seriously, and it also took there to be concerted messages from people other than the United States saying that if you choose not to respond positively there will be consequences. And so I'm -- it's been a -- multilateral diplomacy is difficult at times. It's hard to get people heading in the same direction, and yet we were able to do so along -- our partners helped a lot, don't get me wrong. The message to the North Korean people is, is that we don't want you to be hungry; we want you to have a better life; that our concerns are for you, not against you; and that we have given your leadership a way forward to have better relations with the international community. This is a society that is regularly going through famines. When I campaigned for President, I said we will never use food as a diplomatic weapon. In North Korea, we have been concerned that food shipments sometimes don't make it to the people themselves -- in other words, the regime takes the food for their own use. So my message to the people is, is that we'll continue to care for you and worry about you, and at the same time, pursue a Korean Peninsula that's nuclear weapons free. And today we have taken a step, and it's a very positive step, but there's more steps to be done. Deb. Q Mr. President, what do you say to critics who claim that you've accepted a watered-down declaration just to get something done before you leave office? I mean, you said that it doesn't address the uranium enrichment issue, and, of course, it doesn't address what North Korea might have done to help Syria build its reactor. THE PRESIDENT: Well, first, let me review where we have been. In the past, we would provide benefits to the North Koreans in the hope that they would fulfill a vague promise. In other words, that's the way it was before I came into office. Everybody was concerned about North Korea possessing a nuclear weapon; everybody was concerned about the proliferation activities. And yet the policy in the past was, here are some benefits for you, and we hope that you respond. And, of course, we found they weren't responding. And so our policy has changed, that says, in return for positive action, in return for verifiable steps, we will reduce penalties. And there are plenty of restrictions still on North Korea. And so my point is this, is that -- we'll see. They said they're going to destroy parts of their plant in Yongbyon. That's a very positive step -- after all, it's the plant that made plutonium. They have said in their declarations, if you read their declarations of September last year, they have said specifically what they will do. And our policy, and the statement today, makes it clear we will hold them to account for their promises. And when they fulfill their promises, more restrictions will be eased. If they don't fulfill their promises, more restrictions will be placed on them. This is action for action. This is we will trust you only to the extent that you fulfill your promises. So I'm pleased with the progress. I'm under no illusions that this is the first step; this isn't the end of the process, this is the beginning of the process of action for action. And the point I want to make to our fellow citizens is that we have worked hard to put multilateral diplomacy in place, because the United States sitting down with Kim Jong-il didn't work in the past. Sitting alone at the table just didn't work. Now, as I mentioned in my statement, there's a lot more verification that needs to be done. I mentioned our concerns about enrichment. We expect the North Korean regime to be forthcoming about their programs. We talked about proliferation. We expect them to be forthcoming about their proliferation activities and cease such activities. I mentioned the fact that we're beginning to take inventory, because of our access to the Yongbyon plant, about what they have produced, and we expect them to be forthcoming with what they have produced and the material itself. So today I'm just talking about the first step of a multi-step process. And I want to thank our partners at the six-party talks. It's been incredibly helpful to achieve -- the beginnings of achieving a vision of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula to have the Chinese to be as robustly involved as they are. You notice that the North Koreans passed on their documents to the Chinese; after all, we're all partners in the six-party talks. The other thing I want to assure our friends in Japan is that this process will not leave behind -- leave them behind on the abduction issue. The United States takes the abduction issue very seriously. We expect the North Koreans to solve this issue in a positive way for the Japanese. There's a lot of folks in Japan that are deeply concerned about what took place. I remember meeting a mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office. It was a heart-wrenching moment to listen to the mother talk about what it was like to lose her daughter. And it is important for the Japanese people to know that the United States will not abandon our strong ally and friend when it comes to helping resolve that issue. Today is a positive day; it's a positive step forward. There's more work to be done, and we've got the process in place to get it done in a verifiable way. Thank you. END 7:53 A.M. EDT

President Obama's Nuke Statement

Hope4NK — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:35:23 CDT

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 25, 2009

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Today, North Korea said that it has conducted a nuclear test in violation of international law. It appears to also have attempted a short range missile launch. These actions, while not a surprise given its statements and actions to date, are a matter of grave concern to all nations. North Korea's attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, constitute a threat to international peace and security.
By acting in blatant defiance of the United Nations Security Council, North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community. North Korea's behavior increases tensions and undermines stability in Northeast Asia. Such provocations will only serve to deepen North Korea's isolation. It will not find international acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.
The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants action by the international community. We have been and will continue working with our allies and partners in the Six-Party Talks as well as other members of the U.N. Security Council in the days ahead.

North Korea Freedom Week Picture Gallery

Hope4NK — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:23:19 CDT

Picture Review of North Korea Freedom Week in Previous Years

North Korea Freedom Day, U.S. Capitol

Wreath laying ceremony at the Korean War Memorial

Suzanne Scholte, President of NKFC, giving opening statement

Participants at the U.S. Capitol

Photographs from North Korea Freedom Day 2004

Our first North Korea Human Rights Day, U.S. Capitol, April 28, 2004.

North Korean refugees in chains make their voices heard near
the Holocaust Museum, April 28, 2004

Students protesting at the U.S. Capitol, April 28, 2004.

North Korean refugees testifying to Congressmen about atrocious
human rights abuses experienced, April 28, 2004.

Peaceful protest rally in Washington, D.C.

News & Notes

Hope4NK — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:12:51 CDT

This news is presented in the hopes that you will tell someone else what is going on in North Korea and, if God touches your heart, pray for these precious families.

Inside News, June 2009

I am pleased to report that several North Korean women were just rescued from sex trafficking after their escape into China. They are in the hands of Christians who will love them and share truth with them. Americans are donating, praying, and volunteering in this endeavor. If you want to be a part of these rescues email me at northkorea@comcast.net

National Geographic Online Report
February, 2009
Please click the link below to hear this revealing report on sex trafficking in China and the Christians who help the North Korean women get out of North Korea and China through the underground railroad.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/02/north-korea/oneill-text

North Korean children exploited by state: report

By Jon Herskovitz Jon Herskovitz Mon Feb 2, 2009 1:50 am ET

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea forcibly mobilizes its children as cheap labor, diverts their food aid and throws minors into detention centers because their parents have run afoul of the law, human rights groups said in a report.
The North's failing school system has led to an increase in drop-outs and illiteracy in the impoverished state, according to the report, obtained on Monday, from the Seoul-based Citizen's Alliance for North Korean Human Rights and The Asia Center for Human Rights.

"Child labor and economic exploitation have become widely spread and a customary practice accompanying the worsening economic hardship of the country," said their "Situation Report on the Rights of the Child in the DPRK (North Korea)."

Children in the poorest parts of the destitute state face the greatest difficulty in obtaining an education. The few textbooks available in their schools are usually works celebrating the North's communist party and leaders, it said.
Children are often sent out to work at farms and factories or to scrounge for materials such as tin and wood that can be used by the state's powerful military or sold by local authorities, said the report, based on interviews with about 50 defectors.

"Consequently, it seems illiteracy rates have increased and the overall level of academic achievement in North Korean youth has decreased in most areas except for Pyongyang and a handful of other areas," it said.
International aid agencies who try to feed the neediest people in the country of about 23 million have placed numerous checks to make sure their food reaches its intended destinations, but the report said children can still easily miss out.
It said teachers in poor provinces, who are supposed to help distribute the food, instead sell it to students or merchants and that part of the aid is also diverted to children of the privileged class in the capital of Pyongyang and the military.

Those who remain in school were forced into two years of quasi-military service from the age of 14 in the "Red Young Guards" that takes them away from studies for several months.

The United States, European Union and others have criticized North Korea for having one of the worst human rights records on the planet, saying the reclusive state uses guilt by association to imprison relatives of those the North sends to its vast network of political prisons.

The report said the children of those imprisoned are forcibly put in custody and sent to facilities where they are "deprived of a basic education, forced to child labor and restricted of freedom."
The report noted some improvements in the condition of children, such as a North Korea cutting down on its use of torture of minors suspected of criminal offenses and easing penalties on children caught trying to escape the state.
The North has also increased its childhood vaccinations.
(Editing by Alex Richardson)

March 2008, North Korean College Students Arrested With Christian Literature North Korea (MNN) -- The United Nations is voting on a resolution critical of human rights abuses in North Korea. Among those abuses is religious persecution targeting Christians and those involved in Christian work. It's timely, considering the latest, says Voice of the Martyrs' Todd Nettleton. "Ten college students in one of the northern provinces of North Korea have been arrested by the National Security Agency. They apparently were caught reading the Bible and watching a Christian DVD. Because of that, they were all taken into custody. Their situation is very grim." The man who reported the case has since escaped to China to avoid arrest. Nettleton urges prayer. "What we can do now is pray. That is really all we can do. The North Korean government is almost immune to international pressure. So our option, at this point, on behalf of these brothers and sisters who have been arrested, is simply to go to the Lord, to pray for their safety, to pray for justice for them, and pray that their lives would be spared." Full story: http://www.MNNonline.org/article/11055

March 2008, North Korea Executes 22 fishermen who strayed into South Korean waters by mistake
News » World news
By RICHARD SHEARS-

North Korea has executed 22 fishermen who strayed out of the country's waters by mistake, it was claimed yesterday. The group were apparently gunned down once they returned to the Stalinist state.

Having drifted into South Korean territory, they had the opportunity to seek asylum, but insisted they never had any intention of doing so. They told South Korean officials they had strayed accidentally while fishing for clams and oysters, so were sent back to North Korea - and to their deaths. Scroll down to read more ...
Secretive: North Korea, whose citizens worship deceased leader Kim Il-Sung, above, reportedly killed 22 fishermen for straying into South Korean waters by gunning them down

A South Korean newspaper reported yesterday that all the drifters were immediately shot dead in a secret location by agents of North Korea's national security agency.

It was another alleged incident supporting claims that North Korea has a "no tolerance" policy against anyone suspected of trying to leave the country - even in error.

The drama began when two North Korean fishing boats containing 14 women and eight men - among them three teenagers - drifted into waters off South Korea's Yeonpyeong island.

South Korean officials, suspecting at first that the group were intending to defect, questioned them about their plans and were told they had accidentally strayed out of North Korean waters.

There were a large number of women on the vessels, it was explained, because they were needed to clean the oysters and clams.

Satisfied with their story, the South Koreans seized the two boats and sent the group back across the border via an overland route.

Last night, a source with the South Korean national intelligence agency said: "We found the group were neither asylum seekers nor spies. "

They didn't want to stay in South Korea, so we sent them back. "We have heard that they were shot, but we had no idea that would happen."

A source with North Korean contacts added: "They weren't even given the option of going to a prison camp. They were simply executed."

An intelligence official said it was possible the fishing party were executed because they had set out on an expedition without authorisation from North Korea's maritime authorities.

He said if the group had indicated they were defectors, they would not have been sent back to North Korea. "It would be beyond imagination to repatriate a North Korean defector, given the country's poor human rights conditions," said the official.

Four North Koreans claimed asylum when their wooden boat drifted onto Yeonpyeong island last year.

Above news story taken from online website, Daily Mail at this website:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=522899&in_page_id=1811&ct=5

The first three pictures are from Chosun Journal Website.
You may link to their site at http://chosunjournal.com/visuals/

Born in Korean gulag, punished for no crime

By Jerome Taylor

Published: 20 June 2007
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2679480.ece

For the first 22 years of his life Shin Dong Hyok's home address was Political Prison Camp No 14, Gaechon County, South Pyeongan Province, North Korea.

He grew up in unimaginable hardship in one of North Korea'skwanli-so, the gulag system built by Kim Il Sung in 1972 to work prisoners until they died.

His "crime" was to have been born to parents categorised by the regime as from the "hostile classes" - the 27 per cent of the population considered national enemies, impure elements and reactionaries. Under Kim Jong Il's "three generation" policy, the family members of anyone who commits a political crime are punished alongside the perpetrator, even if they have yet to be born.

Two years ago, Mr Shin did the unthinkable. He escaped from the labour camp of his birth, then from the world's most secretive and repressive state. Now he is trying to rebuild a new life in South Korea... (story continued on http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2679480.ece )

Friends in the fray

Hope4NK — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:22:12 CST

http://www.houseofprayerfornorthkorea.wetpaint.com

http://nkfreedom.org/
Actively pursuing justice for the victims of the North Korea government.

Come to North Korea Freedom Week and Meet Suzanne Scholte. Click Suzanne's picture for a link to details.

There's a wonderful group of young people who founded a group called PSALT NK:

Prayer
Service
Action
Love
Truth

North
Korea

To find out more about PSALT NK go to www.PSALTNK.org

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/northkorea/
Human Rights Watch - The Invisible Exodus. The report on China's role with North Korea.

“Drive, walk, run — but however you
do it, be sure to see ‘Seoul Train,’
a wrenching documentary.” (Denver Post)
“So compelling that you can‘t stop watching, even though you know it will haunt your dreams.” (The Wall Street Journal)
http://www.seoultrain.com/

A brilliant, award-winning documentary on the humanitarian crisis in North Korea.

http://www.asanocpa.com/reach
Japanese appeal to the world to free all the abductees held in North Korea.

http://www.seehope.com
If you like thinking about brighter things, like heaven, check out Hope's website! There are testimonies there of people who said they saw heaven!

What President Obama Should Do About NK

Hope4NK — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:50:40 CST

This is a template page

Suzanne Scholte (center), recipient
of the Seoul Peace Prize 2008.

Korea Times

What President Obama Should Do About North Korea
by Suzanne Scholte

Although President Barack Obama will have his hands full of both domestic and foreign policy challenges during his first year in office, he will also have an obligation as the leader of the free world not to forget the least free people on earth, the people of North Korea. His election offers an enormous opportunity to learn from the past and set forth a North Korea policy that does not sacrifice the lives and well-being of the North Korean people for the Kim Jong-il regime’s empty promises on the nuclear issue.

Both former Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush set out with the best intentions to engage North Korea to give up their nuclear ambitions through Clinton’s Agreed Framework and through Bush’s Six Party Talks. Both helped provide food aid to North Korea to try to stop the deaths of millions of North Koreans from starvation. Both intentionally sidelined human rights concerns, making them secondary to addressing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

Despite their efforts, North Korea’s nuclear ambitions have not been thwarted, their proliferation of their nuclear technology to countries including Iran and Syria continues, and most recently, North Korea went off the 6 Party Talks Agenda and “upped the ante” declaring it would not give up its nuclear weapons accusing the United States of hiding nuclear weapons in South Korea.

Meanwhile, despite tons of food aid and billions in economic aid, millions of North Koreans have starved to death and continue to starve to death even today. The human rights conditions in North Korea are the worst in the world: massive political prison camps where at least 200,000, including children born in these camps, are worked to death; torture, imprisonment and public executions for those who try to flee starvation; while not a single human right is observed in North Korea: no freedom of thought, movement, or assembly. And the North Koreans are not the only ones who suffer from Kim Jong-ill’s brutal dictatorship but South Korean POWs, South Korean, Japanese and other abductees from other counties continue to be held against their will in North Korea.

President Obama can learn from his predecessors and set forth an agenda that can greatly enhance security on the Korean peninsula by adopting these four specific strategies:

First, Save the North Korean Refugees: Obama should work with South Korea and Japan and other countries in the region to establish a First Asylum policy for North Korea refugees, as was done to save the Vietnamese boat people, and call on China to honor its international treaty obligations by stopping its repatriation of North Koreans. Right now, the situation for the North Korean refugees is worse than even before the Olympics when China had a massive crackdown on both the refugees and anyone daring to shelter and feed them. China has continued to thwart efforts by the UNHCR to interview and shelter North Korean refugees and has increased police surveillance around the embassies and consulates of South Korea, the United States, and other countries sympathetic to the plight of the refugees. China’s cruel policy of repatriation has not only led to the imprisonment, execution, and torture of hundreds of North Koreans, it has also resulted in a rampant trafficking situation , where 80% of North Korean females, including older women and young girls, have been subjected to forced marriage, forced prostitution, rape, and terrible physical and psychological abuse. Most North Korean men and women who finally make it to South Korea have suffered post traumatic stress disorder.

The Obama administration should join with the Republic of Korea and Japan to call upon China with one voice to stop forcing refugees back to North Korea to face certain torture, certain imprisonment, and increasingly execution for fleeing conditions in their homeland. The recent tripartite meeting hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Aso Taro with China’s Premier Wen Jiabao and South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak, is a huge opportunity to enhance greater cooperation on this issue.

Working with South Korea, the United States should also quietly encourage Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, to provide temporary asylum to these refugees, not to punish them, to help alleviate this enormous human rights tragedy. In Thailand, for example, North Koreans are forced to serve a detention sentence because of entering the country illegally before they can pursue resettlement in South Korea.

The Chinese Government and even U.S. policy makers have an unfounded fear that if China showed compassion to the refugees, this could cause de-stablization: they fear China would be flooded with refugees and this could lead to the collapse of the North Korean regime. This fear is not only unfounded, but is prolonging this suffering of the North Korean refugees. This refugee situation is unlike any in the world as the refugees have a place to go – South Korea and other countries! Furthermore, refugees are leaving North Korea mostly because of famine-like conditions and most want to go back – even those who have resettled in South Korea want to go back to North Korea once Kim Jong-il is gone or reforms are enacted. If fleeing refugees could lead to the collapse of the regime, it would have happened by now. After 500,000 crossed the border and 3 million people died, Kim Jong-il’s grip on power never faltered. By abiding instead by its international treaty obligations and allowing refugees safe passage to South Korea, this would instead be a means to subtly pressure Kim Jong-il and his regime to reform, something that is also in China’s best interest. When reform comes to North Korea, conditions will improve and China will no longer have to deal with this refugee problem, because North Koreans will not need to flee -- so China is prolonging this refugee problem by their policy.

Second, Put human rights on the agenda of any and all negotiations with or about North Korea. The human rights issue is as important as the nuclear issue and no one knows that better than Kim Jong-il. Part of his strategy to remain in power is to keep us focused on his nuclear ambitions so we will not focus on the genocide he is committing against the North Korean people. As North Korea’s highest ranking defector, Hwang Jang-yop, has described it, “Human rights is Kim Jong-il’s achilles heel.” Kim has cleverly manipulated our fear of his nuclear program to keep us focused on this issue, as he has seen what has happened to other dictators once the people get a glimpse of freedom.

Since the Obama administration plans to continue the 6 Party Talks, it can begin by raising these immediate human rights concerns which are very modest first steps, considering the situation: 1) promise continued food aid based on the ability of it to be strictly monitored to the point of consumption to ensure it is being consumed by the intended recipients and not being used as a weapon by Kim Jong-il against his own people, as has been done in the past; 2) promise delivery of food and medicines to their so called “re-reducation centers” (political prison camps) by requesting that the International Red Cross be allowed to visit these sites and provide assistance; 3) ask for a complete accounting of all deceased and the return of all living South Korean POWS and all abductees from South Korea, Japan, and other nations; and 4) condition future food and economic assistance by requiring that North Korea end its punishment of border crossers and be allowed freedom of movement within their country.

These are simple “baby steps” that must be required to put North Korea on the eventual path of shutting down its political prison camps and opening up to reform.

Third, Reach out to North Koreans: Because of the rumors and uncertainty about Kim Jong-il, it is more important than ever before to reach out to the North Korean people. They must know that the Obama administration, representing the American people, as well as the South Korean people, have been trying unsuccessfully to save their lives through food aid and other means.

The failure of the 6 Party Talks in addressing the human rights issues is giving credence to Kim Jong-il’s lie that all we care about is the nuclear issue and that we want to destroy the North Korean people. They need to know the truth now more than ever before: that the free world has delivered enough assistance to feed every starving North Korea. America and South Korea need to be the advocates for the people of North Korea, who do not realize that the source of all their misery is in fact their dear leader, Kim Jong-il, not us, as they have been brainwashed to believe.

The Obama administration should continue to support radio broadcasting into North Korea as well as other creative efforts that the North Korean defectors in South Korea have undertaken to get information directly into the hands of the North Korean people. He does not need to make statements denouncing Kim Jong-il – that’s our job as NGO leaders -- but he should make strong statements of concern about the human rights conditions in North Korea and our desires for their well-being.

The ability of Kim Jong-il to completely isolate them from the rest of the world is breaking down and this offers a great opportunity to get the truth to the North Korean people about our concerns for them and about American and South Korean prosperity that is a direct result of our freedoms and human rights.

Fourth, Utilize the North Korean Defectors and Bipartisan U.S. Groups: No one knows better how to bring about reform in North Korea than the defectors themselves, especially those who were among the elites in the regime. Up until the election of President Lee Myung Bak, they were forbidden from sharing information and insights with the United States. Now, they are free to speak out and should be considered an excellent resource for learning more about the regime and how to bring about reform.

Also, there is great bipartisan consensus among policy experts on promoting the human rights issues and a good place to start for counsel and recommendations is with the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea chaired by former liberal Congressman Steve Solarz and former conservative National Security Advisor, Richard Allen. The Obama administration should seek their recommendations and counsel on his North Korean policy and selection of a Special Envoy on North Korean human rights.

We must recognize that Kim Jong-il will never act in the interest of the North Korean people, and that it is the obligation of those who live in freedom to speak out for the world’s most persecuted people. By making human rights a priority, the Obama administration has a great opportunity to bring hope to the North Korean people, show the way forward for change and reform, and lead to the eventual peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula. (1/20/2009)

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Dr. Suzanne Scholte is the 2008 Seoul Peace Prize Laureate

Home

fammu — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 02:33:01 CST

Young Soon has one desire-- she wants to hear her children laugh. A widow, pregnant with her third child, Young Soon cooks grass soup just to survive.

The town loud speaker, her only news source, brags daily that her beloved North Korea is prospering while the rest of the world is starving. She believes the loud speakers and is shocked when her brother, a military soldier, informs her that millions in North Korea are starving. A smuggled newspaper reveals there is food just over the border in China.

Will Young Soon be forced to abandon her communist beliefs? Must she risk her life and the lives of her children to cross the guarded Tumen River?

Inside China, 21-year-old Mei Lin launches her first missionary tour. While on a journey of miracles, Mei Lin has a heart-pounding dream of a baby crying out to her from murky waters. Who is this baby? How will she find him?

Click the book to order!

Advance Praise for I'll Cross the River Hope's novel broke my heart for the pain and suffering of our beloved North Korean brothers and sisters. We must stand with North Korea to be a voice for the voiceless and a face for the silent suffering of millions. This book stirs a deep hunger for the light of His glorious love to break forth in the hardest and darkest areas of the earth ...

Dr. Heidi G. Baker
Read more ... Click picture
Founding Director, Iris Ministries Click the book to order!

Click Heidi's picture to hear all that Heidi and other friends have to say about I'll Cross the River!

North Korean people are crying . . . who is listening? View this video now!

This video is presented to you with hope that you will tell people around you that you care.

We are here to give a voice to the voiceless--- the victims of starvation and communist brain washing in North Korea.

Please sign in and share your stories or comments.

We invite you to write out your prayers for North Korea and submit them here.

Tell a friend-- we believe there is HOPE for North Korea!

Contact Hope :
northkorea@comcast.net

Order Form for I'll Cross the River

Hope4NK — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:26:53 CDT

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Fill out an order form at http://seehope.com/bookstore/Order_Form_General.pdf

Print out the form and send your personal check in the mail!

Famine Predicted 2008

Hope4NK — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:14:47 CDT

Famine fears for North Korea, aid group warns

Story Highlights

North Koreans dying because of food shortages in rural areas, aid group says
Aid group: Situation as bad as famine that hit the country in the mid-1990s
North Korea has relied on foreign aid to feed its 23 million people since 90s

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Koreans are dying because of food shortages in rural areas, and a massive famine is just a matter of time, a South Korean aid group said Friday.

North Korean children eat lunch at a government run kindergarten, World Food Programme

The food situation was as bad as the famine that hit the country in the mid-1990s, which left as many as 2 million people dead, Seoul-based Good Friends -- a Buddhist-affiliated group that sends food and other aid to the North -- cited an unidentified North Korean official Friday as saying. "So far, mass deaths have not occurred as people have become more used to starvation than in the 1990s, but famine is a matter of time," the official was quoted as saying by the aid group. Good Friends also quoted Kim Ki-nam, 39, a resident of Sariwon, south of Pyongyang, as saying one or two deaths were happening every day in rural areas around the city.

Behind the Scenes: Amanpour's notes from North Korea

North Korea has relied on foreign assistance to help feed its 23 million people since the mid-'90s. This year's food situation has worsened because last year's harvests were hampered by devastating floods. The North also has refused to ask for help from South Korea after a new conservative government took office in February that has been critical of the Pyongyang regime. The aid group urged North Korea to acknowledge the situation's seriousness and ask for international help to prevent massive famine. It also urged South Korea to soften its position on the North and offer aid without waiting for Pyongyang's request. The United States has offered to provide food and held talks this week in North Korea over how to guarantee aid gets to the needy. North Korea said Thursday the talks were "in-depth and good." The World Food Program warned last month the North faces a food crisis, saying the country's annual food deficit is expected to nearly double from 2007 to 1.83 million tons. The U.N. agency estimated 6.5 million people were short of food, and the number could rise if shortages were not addressed.

Advance Praise for I'll Cross the River

Hope4NK — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:32:19 CDT

The Lord is looking for laid-down servant lovers to run into the darkness and call in
His lost Bride. Hope's novel broke my heart for the pain and suffering of our beloved North Korean brothers and sisters. I truly believe that there is a deep spiritual connection with our Mozambican revival in one of the poorest countries of the world and the North Korean harvest in one of the darkest countries of the world. The cup of suffering North Korea has willingly taken will one day yield a cup of joy. The interwoven lives of the persecuted church in China and Korea awaken my heart to dream even more the glorious dreams of God's heart for His persecuted Bride. Our friend Hope has given us a rich treasury of stories to provoke you to carry God's healing presence all over the earth as the waters cover the sea (Hab 2:14). We must stand with North Korea to be a voice for the voiceless and a face for the silent suffering of millions. This book stirs a deep hunger for the light of His glorious love to break orth in the hardest and darkest areas of the earth.
Dr. Heidi G. Baker, Ph.D.
Founding Director,
Iris Ministries, Mozambique, Africa

Hope Flinchbaugh has skillfully interwoven two stories she carries deep in her heart—the beauty of the vibrant housechurch Christians of China and the grossly oppressive and warped society of North Korea, where unspeakable atrocities and suffering occur every day. I’ll Cross the River will both encourage and challenge you to follow Christ unreservedly and to make an impact on our needy world.
Paul Hattaway
Author of Heavenly Man
Missionary to Asia (Hidden Location)

Powerful and compelling, I’ll Cross the River captured my heart with the reality of the suffering of our North Korean brothers and sisters. It is a moving story of bold spiritual courage—I highly recommend you read it, and pray!

Carl A. Moeller, Open Doors with Brother Andrew
Carl prays over North Koreans who escaped
North Korea and testified in Washington, DC
before congress during North Korea Freedom Week.

Pastors Dennis and Kathy Balcombe & Family
Missionaries to China
I pray that the story in this book will birth in you the heartbeat of God for this nation. Hope Flinchbaugh—whom I know personally—once again has captured the heart of a nation by going deep into the lives of its people. Our hearts become knit with theirs as we experience with them their oppression and their salvation!

Pastor Kathy Balcombe

Revival Christian Church, Hong Kong

Since the 1950s, millions of Chinese and Koreans have suffered horrendously and countless numbers have died due to the dogma of atheistic communism and the policies of evil rulers. Due to this satanic ideology, Chinese Christians in the past and to this day are suffering as they obey Christ’s Great Commission. While China has reformed and improved since the implementation of the “Open Door Policy” in the 1980s, North Korea is still in a dark nightmare of starvation, brainwashing and brutal oppression of the whole populace, somewhat akin to China’s Cultural Revolution and the massive famine that was the result of the “Great Leap Forward” campaign. It is vital that Christians in the West understand what is happening now in North Korea and the plight of refugees who escape to North China. C. Hope Flinchbaugh has already written extensively about the plight of Christians in China, and this highly challenging and informative book will open your eyes to understand the power of evil and the triumph of Christ and righteousness in both nations. I highly recommend it to the Christian who has the compassion of Christ for these tens of millions in North Asia. I believe it will motivate you to prayer and action as we reach out and help our brethren.

Pastor Dennis Balcombe, Hong Kong

Revival Christian Church Revival Chinese Ministries International

I’ll Cross the River touches my heart—I am so impressed. I believe this book represents the situation of North Korea exactly so people can understand the most closed country and the lives of North Korean citizens. Please pray for God to bless them.

Jung Min Noh

Broadcaster/Reporter Korean Service Radio Free Asia

Washington, DC

I’ll Cross the River is a timely and provocative novel based on true stories researched by journalist Hope Flinchbaugh, who’s written extensively about persecution and revival in the nations of China and North Korea for magazines such as Christianity Today and Charisma and Christian Life. With stunning accuracy, Hope details the real life drama and unthinkable choices involved with being a modern day Christian in the oppressive communist nation of North Korea. Woven into this captivating storyline is the journey of a courageous young Chinese believer named Mei Lin who is willing to follow the Lord wherever He leads her. Undoubtedly your heart will be stirred and inspired as you read this book!
Pat Robertson

Chairman/CEO

The Christian Broadcasting Network

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute." (Proverbs 31) This gripping story plunges into the continuing holocaust in North Korea as the mad leader starves and destroys his own countrymen. The author brings you into the courage, humanity and pathos of Chinese Christians, who risk prison and martyrdom, becoming unlikely heroes, giving rescue and aid to the desperate fugitives who risk their lives to flee this hell on Earth. Charles Stock, Senior Pastor

Life Center Ministires International

Pennsylvania, USA-- Hope's Pastor

Too often we forget what goes on behind the closed doors of countries like North Korea. Often things that are hidden from day-to-day life get ignored by those of us who can do something and make our concerns and our voices heard. It is shameful that such aggression and violence toward the ordinary people in North Korea is tolerated by other nations who know better. Hope Flinchbaugh wants to draw your attention to the plight of the people of North Korea and hopefully we will all respond. Kathie and David Walters Good News Ministries Macon Georgia

For most of the past 54 years North Korea’s man-made famines and disasters, regime brutality, corruption and repression, national trauma and dysfunction, as well as the unparalleled religious repression that has virtually annihilated a once dynamic and vibrant Church has been largely hidden from the world. Isolation has been the dictator’s best friend! I am so thrilled that a writer as skilled and as passionate as C. Hope Flinchbaugh has chosen to write on this subject. Because she bases and builds her plots around the testimonies of North Korean refugees, she manages to give her readers a painfully accurate insight into North Korean suffering. By exposing the truth, she is also contributing to the end of isolation.

Elizabeth Kendal, Journalist

World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission

Australia

Tragically, because of the lack of access to North Korea, most people living in the free world have no idea of the horrible suffering of the people in North Korea. Even those few who travel to the country are carefully watched by “minders” and have no access to see the general population. Through her book, Hope Flinchbaugh has given us a picture of life for the average citizen who must struggle daily to survive, cut off from the rest of the world and enslaved by Kim Jong-il in what could arguably be described as the world’s biggest prison. Flinchbaugh, who has led a prayer team to help me with my work on this issue, rightfully reminds us that helping the North Korean people is as much a spiritual battle as anything else. Her central character, Young Soon, reminds us of the triumph of the human spirit. Emboldened by love, redemption, and forgiveness, Young Soon overcomes in a land gripped with fear, suspicion and condemnation. She embodies both the despair and courage of over 10,000 North Korean defectors who have fled their homeland. These defectors are a living testament that no matter how many years of darkness North Koreans have faced, the light of the human spirit can never be extinguished.

Suzanne Scholte (in red) President, Defense Forum Foundation

Chairman, North Korea Freedom Coalition

Young Soon has one desire-- she wants to hear her children laugh. A widow, pregnant with her third child, Young Soon cooks grass soup just to survive.

The town loud speaker, her only news source, brags daily that her beloved North Korea is prospering while the rest of the world is starving. She believes the loud speakers and is shocked when her brother, a military soldier, informs her that millions in North Korea are starving. A smuggled newspaper reveals there is food just over the border in China.

Will Young Soon be forced to abandon her communist beliefs? Must she risk her life and the lives of her children to cross the guarded Tumen River?

Inside China, 21-year-old Mei Lin launches her first missionary tour. While on a journey of miracles, Mei Lin has a heart-pounding dream of a baby crying out to her from murky waters. Who is this baby? How will she find him?

Contact Hope: northkorea@comcast.net

President Bush's Statement on North Korea Freedom Week

Hope4NK — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:52:50 CDT

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary ___________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release April 30,2008

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

# # #

You Tube Videos on North Korea

Hope4NK — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:05:12 CST

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Photos

Hope4NK — Tue, 01 May 2007 18:59:20 CDT

Measuring the arm of a starving boy Add photo caption or credit here.	More than 3.5 million people have died of starvation in North Korea since 1995.
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