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Category: Activism

January 16, 2011

Kim Jong Il’s Biggest Enabler Is Coming To Town

Passing on an email from Henry at the NK Freedom Coalition (note newly redesigned website) about what they’ll be up to in D.C. the night Kim Jong il’s biggest enabler will be dining at the White House.  For those not in or near D.C., we can participate, too: On the occasion of the White House State dinner that President Barack Obama will host for President Hu Jintao of the People’s Republic of China on January 19, 2011, the North Korea...
Categories Activism/America/China/Human Rights
December 12, 2010

Vote for Justice for North Korea

For the last three years I’ve been an active volunteer with a small group called Justice for North Korea in Seoul.  JFNK currently is one of a dozen and a half NGOs in Korea competing for gift certificates valued at several thousand dollars to be raffled or auctioned off at a fundraising event. The online voting at 10 Magazine went up late last week and ends Tuesday, December 14th at 11:59 p.m., Korea time (that’s 9:59 a.m. EST on Tuesday)....
Categories Activism/Refugees
December 4, 2010

Stephen Solarz, Rest in Peace

I came to know the name of Stephen Solarz as a high school kid, observing a man I either agreed with (the Philippines) or disagreed with (Central America) strongly. After his electoral defeat in 1994, the next time I heard his name when I learned that he was one of the leading members of the board of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. I met Mr. Solarz once, after observing him making a rousing speech in front of...
Categories Activism/Human Rights/U.S. Politics
October 10, 2010

Of Conferences and Reports … and Reports from Conferences

10-10-10 has been another busy day for North Korea watchers, what with the military parade being broadcast live from Pyongyang and the passing of Hwang Jang-yop. But I want to mention several things I’ve spotted over the last weeks and months and the upcoming NKnet conference in Washington, D.C., on October 21st.  This will be in no particular order. _______________________________ In the beginning of September Tim Peters chaired a panel and other OFK favorites (e.g., Chuck Downs) spoke at a...
Categories Activism/Defectors/Human Rights/Refugees
August 30, 2010

North Korea and South Africa: A Study in Hypocrisy

After less than three weeks, FIFA has closed its investigation into allegations that players and coaches of North Korea’s losing soccer team were subjected to criticism sessions when they returned home. But when you go to FIFA’s web site, it’s apparent that FIFA’s “investigation” consisted of opening and reading a letter from the North Koreans denying it. I have no inside knowledge of whether the allegations are true, but I know that FIFA has no more idea of the truth...
Categories Activism/Human Rights/Racism/Sports
July 14, 2010

Congratulations to Suzanne Scholte

Scholte, whom I’ve known since 2003, leads the North Korean Freedom Coalition, which (among its many good works) contributes to those leaflet balloon launches that have irritated the North Korean regime so much. In 2008, Scholte won the Seoul Peace Prize. This year, she receives a new honor: Suzanne Scholte, the president of the conservative Defense Forum Foundation of the U.S., has been named the winner of the Walter Judd Freedom Award. The prize will be presented by The Fund...
Categories Activism
July 8, 2010

Korean Church Coalition Events for Next Week in Washington

The Korean Church Coalition forwards this press release: KOREAN CHURCH COALITION for North Korean Freedom will be hosting a series of events in Washington D.C. on July 13, 2010 to July 14, 2010, to Speak on Behalf of the Voiceless. Irvine, CA ““Member pastors of the Korean Church Coalition (KCC) for North Korea Freedom will hold a series of events in Washington D.C. and its surrounding areas. The events are intended to bring awareness to the current plight of the...
Categories Activism
July 1, 2010

In Their Desperation to Meet With Ban Ki-Moon, N. Korean Gulag Survivors Try Borrowing a White Guy

North Korean gulag survivors are knocking on Ban Ki-Moon’s door, asking for a meeting to tell him what he’s known for a decade — that the North Korean prison camps they lived to tell about, no thanks to Ban, are the Mauthausens and Buchenwalds of our time. Odd thing is, it would be a lot easier for Ban to simply not answer if former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik weren’t knocking with them: “The profound suffering of the North...
Categories "United" Nations/Activism/Human Rights/The Camps
June 1, 2010

Human Rights Updates

The former laughingstock called the National Human Rights Commission of Korea is planning to release a North Korea human rights “road map” this fall. On a related note, congratulations to Open News’s Young Howard, who now has the cred and the means to host a conference on human rights in North Korea. Open News also notes that Former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik has emerged as a leading advocate of this issue to the still-worthless Ban Ki-Moon and a...
Categories "United" Nations/Activism/Human Rights/Uncategorized
May 3, 2010

Blogged With Love

I’ve been working on posting audio of Vitit Muntarbhorn’s address last Friday at PSCORE but have gotten bogged down in researching and learning some of the technology involved (long story – eg, Korea’s “real ID” online requirements are a hassle in addition to being just plain wrong). In the meantime, I want to pass along a link to a friend’s blog, which I’ve enjoyed reading since she started it last month. Lauren is a friend and fellow JFNK campaigner (she...
Categories Activism/Blogs & Blogging/Human Rights
April 29, 2010

North Korea Freedom Week: Brief Update

Just got back from the demonstration across from the Chinese Embassy in Seoul. For those who have been wondering, they said the balloon launch will be at 11 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday) at Freedom Bridge. Full schedule available here. I’m off to the PSCORE event from 1 to 5:30 p.m. (Friday) at the Press Center in Gwanghwamun. But first, here’s a flier for the screening of Crossing in the basement of the chapel building at Yonsei Unversity at 4 p.m. I...
Categories Activism/China/Human Rights
April 26, 2010

Statement from Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on North Korea Freedom Week

Dear People of both South and North Korea, Members of the North Korea Freedom Coalition, Ms. Scholte of the Defense Forum Foundation, Members of the NGO Human Rights Community, Pastors, North Korean Defectors, Abductee Families, Members of the Korean-American Community and Friends of Korea: It is particularly fitting and proper that this year’s annual North Korea Freedom Week will be held for the first time on the Korean peninsula. This week of events also comes at a particularly critical time...
Categories Activism/Human Rights/U.S. Politics/Washington Views
April 21, 2010

North Korea Freedom Week Comes to Seoul: April 25 – May 1, 2010

I was very excited when I learned a few months ago that the NK Freedom Coalition’s annual North Korea Freedom Week would be held in Seoul this year. The event was first held as North Korean Freedom Day in 2004. I’ve offered to volunteer during the week, so I’m not sure how busy I’ll be or if I’ll be able to post much. But I hope at least to periodically upload photos from the various events. And there are many!!...
Categories Activism/Human Rights
March 8, 2010

The LiNK / Pepsi Contest Isn’t Over After All

I’m not sure of what the story is, or why Pepsi’s site used to say, “Voting ends on February 28th,” and now says, “Voting ends on March 31st,” but LiNK confirms they’re still in the running for $250K. I suppose that means I’ll have to fix that button and put it back in my sidebar. For now, vote here. They’ve dropped to number 7, so they definitely need your vote. And if anyone from LiNK can explain why the deadline...
Categories Activism/Refugees
February 24, 2010

Last Push to Help LiNK Win $250K

We’re coming up on the final days of the Pepsi’s “Refresh “Everything” campaign. Some of you, like me, have been voting for LiNK faithfully every day. Thank you. For the rest of you, I humbly ask you to join the effort in a last push. You can go here to vote. If LiNK can make it to second place, it wins the money. The problem is, it’s still stuck in 4th place. Now, I’m one of those people who doesn’t...
Categories Activism/Refugees