News of next week’s Global North Korea Freedom Week, said to be the first, arrived in my inbox recently. Don’t ask me to interpret how the timetable below works. Perhaps a more accurate version can be found on the www.ifreenk.com website, but my mcaffee web filter won’t let me go there.
1st Global North Korea Freedom Week
- Participating Countries: UK, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Korea
- Date: 14 – 19 November 2016 (6 days)
- Topic: With the overseas North Korean Refugees
Dear North Korean refugees from all around the world, who are looking back on the days filled with misery and grave violations of human rights and are now exerting all their energy to realise the human rights of their people in North Korea and to achieve a change in the regime; and also to citizens from the free democratic world who are always supporting us.
We would now like to establish and anti-North Korea movement that will bring everyone together under the banner of the International North Korean Association for Human Rights and Democracy, a united association for North Korean refugee organisations all over the world.
Today, there has been an increasing level of tyranny in North Korea including threats of missiles and nuclear warfare against the international society by the Kim Jong Un regime. The more Kim Jong Un’s regime shows its madness, the more North Korean people are miserably suffering from human rights violations.
Over 25 years, the international society has tried to punish North Korea’s misconduct; sometimes through conversation; sometimes through pressure. However, we have seen no change or improvement in human rights violation issues and the lives of North Korean people. That, I believe, is because the North Korean policies have been based on the views and understanding of outsiders, not based on the people who have experienced the system first-hand. It is easy to think that by setting policies that target those at the top tier of the regime, who are the centre of absolute power, we would be able to save the North Korean society in its entirety. However, it is the normal people who can induce the real change in North Korea’s dictatorial government in this kind of situation.
North Korean refugees living in all over the world, who escaped the country resisting the autocracy risking own lives, now must lead the movement to overthrow the last dictatorial regime on earth by standing together and awakening the North Korean people. Also, we need to show the international society that we have the power to do so.
Now, it is time for us to show the power through “Global North Korea Freedom Week”
The power of North Korean people! The power of North Korean refugees will make Kim Jong Un shiver.
With the aforementioned cause, the significance of the 1st Global North Korea Freedom Week lies in that the North Korean refugees organisations all over the globe will simultaneously show the world that we not only have the hope for improvement of human rights issues in North Korea and instigate a change in the regime, but we also have the power to make it happen.
I hope you can participate in the 1st Global North Korea Freedom Week and contribute to the movement that will help advance the change of North Korea.
Thank you.
KIM Joo-il
Secretary-general of International North Korean Association for Human Rights and Democracy cum President of Free NK Newspaper
Event Mon 14 Tue 15 Wed 16 Thu 17 Fri 18 Sat 19 Seminar North Korean Human Rights Seminar
King’s CollegeTime: 12:30
Korean Residents SocietyVenue: Korean Community Centre
Time:18:00-19:00
University of Cambridge North Korean Human Rights Seminar and the Declaration of Human Rights INKAHRD, CDNK, Cambridge Korean Society
North Korea Human Rights Film Festival UNDER THE SUN Free North Korea Association in the UK
Venue: Korean Culture Centre in the UK (WC2N 5JR)
Time: 17:00-19:00
North Korea Human Rights Photo Exhibition Venue: In front of EU parliament building Free North Korea Association in Belgium, North Korean Residents in Europe Society
Venue: In Canada North Korean Refugees Association in Canada
Venue: In front of North Korean Embassy in France
North Korean Refugees Association in France, Free North Korea Association in Belgium
Venue: University of Cambridge Seminar Venue Free North Korea Association in the UK
Venue: Korean Culture Centre (UK) Free NK (UK)
Venue: In front of International Criminal Court(ICC)
North Korean Society in Netherlands
Protest for North Korea Human Rights Improvement Venue: In front of EU parliament building Free North Korea Association in Belgium, North Korean Residents in Europe Society
Against North Korean Nuclear Weapon Venue: In front of Permanent Mission to the UN of North Korea in New York
North Korean Refugees Human Rights Association in US, Mission of Refugees in US
Venue: In front of North Korean Embassy in France North Korean Refugees Association in France, Free North Korea Association in Belgium
Announcing Statement Joo-il Kim International North Korean Association for Human Rights and Democracy (INKAHRD) (UK)
Soon-kyung Hong Committee for the Democratisation of North Korea (CDNK) (Korea)
Man Seok Jang Free North Korea Association in Belgium
Sun mi Choi
North Korean Refugees Association in France
Sung-min Kim Free North Korea Radio (FNKR) (Korea)
Seokcheol Shin North Korean Society in Netherlands
Min Bok Lee Campaign For Helping North Korean in Direct Way (Korea)
Prayer Service for North Korea Prayer Service for North Korea Prayer Meeting for North Korea in UK (UK)
Talk – Human Rights in North Korea and Korean Unification Korean Residents Society Venue: Korean Community Centre
13:00-18:00
National Unification Advisory Council UK Chapter, CDNK, INKAHRD Supporters and Friends:
- International North Korean Association for Human Rights and Democracy UK headquarter
- Committee for the Democartisation of North Korea (Korea)
- North Korean Residents in Europe Society (Belgium)
- North Korean Residents Society (UK)
- North Korean Refugees Human Rights Association in US
- Mission of Refugees in US
- Prayer Meeting for North Korea in North Korea in UK
- Free NK Newspaper (UK)
- Free North Korean Association in Belgium
- North Korean Society in Netherlands
- North Korean Refugees Association in Germany
- North Korean Refugees Association in France
- North Korean Refugees Association in Canada
- Campaign for Helping North Korean in Direct Way (Korea)
- Free North Korea Radio (Korea)
- National Unification Advisory Council UK Chapter
- Korean Society, University of Cambridge
Links: