Although the two may seem completely unrelated, in fact, one leads directly to another.

For years, the United States took no notice of, and I dare say, avoided relations with the DPRK instead of giving aid.  As a result, along with the development of nuclear power in North Korea, Kim Il Sung has been using nuclear power for negotiation purposes. Furthermore, continued progress of the nuclear power may result in producing more jobs and enough energy to light up the country, which would be greatly beneficial in boosting the economy & increasing tourist attraction to the currently isolated nation.

For more information, check out this website.

Guess the fiend has some idea to feed his country after all…

CHECK IT OUT! HE’S SPEAKING HIS PERSONAL TESTIMONY!
UIC’s NKPeace org will be there Friday =)

Dong Hyuk SHIN shows his former home, the Kaechon Concentration Camp in North Korea, on Google Earth.

DHS IS IN CHICAGO May 9th & 10th:

Chicago | Fri 05/09 | 6:30pm
Presentation & Talk @ Northwestern University Law
Arthur Rubloff Building
Room 150
375 E. Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611

Special thanks to (for Friday):
Heartland Alliance
Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries (IRIM)
Korean American Community Services (KACS)
NK Peace [:)]
Pan-African Association

Chicago | Sat 05/10 | 6:00pm-8:30pm
Presentation & Talk @ Foster Bank Basement level Community Hall
5225 N. Kedzie – Chicago, IL 60625
6 p.m. – Reception (Light refreshments will be served)
7 p.m. – Presentation by Deputy Director Hannah Song & Dong-hyuk Shin
8 to 8:30 p.m. – Q&A
NOTE: Korean speaking only. Limited seating available — To guarantee your seat, please contact JANE LEE-KWON. Donations will be greatly appreciated & welcome! For more information, please contact JANE LEE-KWON at 312/498-6437 or janejlk@yahoo.com

Special Thanks to (for Saturday):
Foster Bank
Korean American Coalition Chicago (KACC)

Links:
http://crossing2008.co.kr/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUqRvVgogZ0
http://www.koreanmovie.com/Crossing_depicts_the_plight_of_North_Korean_defectors_news1686/
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200803/200803170011.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSEO16870720071029

This opportunity is not open to members of the entertainment press; only limited seats are available.

More information on the tour: http://libertyinnorthkorea.blogspot.com/

Biographies

Dong-hyuk SHIN
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.

survivor and escapee of NK refugee camp,
Shin Dong Hyuk’s out to share his personal experience
and story…

in order to do so, he has had a book published titled
“Escape to the Outside World: From Total Control Prison Camp No. 14 in North Korea.”

for more information, check out the following websites:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1106/p07s01-woap.html
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071030/FOREIGN/110300055

Kang Chol Hwan. Heard of him?
He’s a survivor of the hidden gulags of NK.
Currently he works for Chosun Daily in South Korea.

For the entire story:  click here.

The arrested women argued that, “If there were more jobs, salary or even rationing, who in their right mind would do such things for a living?”

Due to the lack of food, there has been a direct increase in the
number of young women entering the prostitution business.

The punishment for business owners?

“The seven restaurant owners and managers were sentenced to execution by a firing squad and the 40 underage children that were involved in the prostitution are currently in jail receiving indoctrination.”

Furthermore, there was a “a shortage of necessities in North Korea
nationwide due to the huge flood this summer.”
North Hamkyung is faring the worst without rice, water and electricity.
Since the transportation methods within the
province are terrible as well, it makes things worse–they are
unable to receive even the minimal aid.

For more information: The Daily NK.

What’s “The Dear Leader” have to say for himself?

“I know I’m an object of criticism in the world, but if I am being talked about, I must be doing the right things.”

It’s interesting that Kim Jung-il spends hours online, watching movies, drinking liquor while his people are starving to death.

All information taken from here.

It’s been almost a month since a particular 15 people were shot
to death for trying to cross the border between North Korea
and China.

13 Women and two men were executed by a firing squad on
February 20th of this year for trying to cross over. This crime
is seen as an act of disloyalty towards the government. Furthermore,
although there have been refugees escaping to South Korea
and China, they are not recognized as refugees, but rather as illegal
immigrants. As a result, many who are caught living “illegally”
in neighboring countries are repatriated, where the refugees are
then put in prison camps or tortured to death.

From Time magazine:

“A growing number of North Koreans cross into China in search of food and to avoid political oppression. Activists claim tens of thousands of North Koreans live in hiding in China, where they face forced repatriation to their impoverished homeland if caught.”

These shootings created greater instability for the rest of the civilians:

“The execution ‘has further stirred the public (unrest) … and made people upset at a time when all people were worried as there were nothing to eat,’ the group quoted an unnamed woman in the town as saying.”

Let us keep praying and seeking ways to help these people.
Entire article, here.

“Households that eat corn-rice with salted radish and a miso soup (fermented soy bean soup) made with Korean cabbage and radish leaves dried in the fall are all considered well off. If the middle class is this bad, then people say that there is no saying how much worse the lower class is faring. Since everyone knows of the current hardships, the elderly man cannot possibly speak of his dream out loud.”

“One elderly person in Baechun , Hwanghae Province said that, although he cannot ask his children outright because of guilt, his dreams would come true if he could eat even a single grain of white rice before he died.”

Documentation from Amnesty Internation (AI) on North Korea:

“Suppression of freedom of expression, association, information and movement in North Korea makes investigation of the human rights situation on the ground extremely problematic. Detailed information is very difficult to obtain and verify.”

You could probably call it a monarchy where Kim Jong-il is
the King (known as “Dear Leader”) and all/any sort of opposition
to government is severely punished. For decades the children have
been brainwashed and taught loyalty only to the government,
regardless of family or friendly ties. Furthermore, there is a radio
within the homes of the people that is broad-casted by the government
and can never be turned off–only the volume turned down low.
The radio broadcasts war propaganda, displays America as evil
& “the enemy” as well as reinforces how great their Dear Leader is.

Politically, North Korea, also known as the Democratic People’s Republic
of Korea (DPRK), is a communist country. It has been in isolation for
decades and is also known as “The Hermit Kingdom”. The leader of its
people is Kim Jong-il, son of Kim Il-sung. They adhere to a strict ideology
known as “juche”. Juche ideology basically follows this principle:

man is the master of everything and decides everything (Wikipedia).

Because of its strict adherence to the Juche ideology and rare interactions
in international affairs, there have been less food donations from
other countries to DPRK, even though their need for food is devastatingly
great. Furthermore, the government itself continues to deny the existence
of the problem itself.

From the same documentation of AI:

“The actions of the North Korean government exacerbated the effects of the famine and the subsequent food crisis, denying the existence of the problem for many years, and imposing ever-tighter controls on the population to hide the true extent of the disaster.”

Along with starvation, there are definitely structural, ideological and
humanitarian rights concerns at hand. For entire reading, click here.