Yeonmi Park’s refugee memoir In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom is Radio 4’s book of the week this week, airing at 9:45am. If you missed this morning’s episode there’s a repeat at 12:30 tonight, or of course you can listen to it for the next 30 days on the Radio … [Read More]
Category: Social Justice (page 5)
Yeonmi Park’s DPRK refugee memoir out next week
Yeonmi Park’s defector memoir In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom comes out in a couple of days. It is trailed in this weekend’s Telegraph and her testimony has also been examined in The Diplomat. Italian and German editions will be coming out later this year. According to Aidan Foster Carter, … [Read More]
Event news: The Voices of the Comfort Women and Their Journey for Peace
A rare opportunity to meet a survivor of the Japanese military sexual slavery system presents itself at Goldsmiths on Monday. The Korean NGO Justice to the ‘Comfort Women’ is also holding an event at the KCC tomorrow, Friday, at which presumably she will be present. The Voices of the Comfort Women 18 Sept, KCCUK Let’s … [Read More]
Event news: The Promised Land screens at the ICA
Anna miyoung Kim continues her work looking at the hidden costs of economic development with a film screening of The Promised Land. The screening is free, but registration is essential via [email protected]. The Promised Land Human Rights of Migrant Workers Köken Ergun | Kyongju Park | Santiago Sierra | Ekta Mittal and Yashiswini Raghunandan Wednesday … [Read More]
Hyeonseo Lee: The Girl with Seven Names and three book launches
Hyeonseo Lee’s memoir, The Girl with Seven Names, is published on 2 July. Three separate events on 1 July (Asia House), 2 July (European Association for Human Rights in North Korea) and 3 July (Guardian / Amnesty) will give you the chance to hear her story and get a signed copy. Details in date order … [Read More]
Bedrooms of the Remembered
Photographer Kim Hong-Ji has put together a moving portfolio of pictures in memory of the Sewol victims. He has been in touch with relatives of some of the students, visiting their homes and taking pictures of the bedrooms of those who died in the disaster. Available on the BBC and Reuters websites. [Read More]
Cart (카트, 2014) review: a Single Spark for the 21st century
While it would be difficult for any film on the subject of workers’ rights and labour laws to come even close to the importance of 1995’s ‘A Single Spark’, with ‘Cart’ Boo Ji-young nonetheless successfully combines an insightful story of workplace injustices with a tale of female empowerment that is both human and humane. [Read More]
Looking back at 2014: Domestic news
Our final look back at 2014: mainly domestic news stories from South Korea: The Sewol and safety culture The MV Sewol capsized on 16 April, causing the death of 304 passengers. A number of factors contributed to the disaster, including lax safety inspections, unsafe modifications, unsecured cargo, overloading, and an inexperienced crew hired on temporary … [Read More]
DPRK responds to Shin Dong-hyuk’s inaccurate testimony
Further to the news that Shin Dong-hyuk, the “Camp 14 escapee”, has admitted that some of his testimony was inaccurate, the DPRK has written to the UN Secretary-General and the President of the UN General Assembly seeking to get the 18 December 2014 resolution overturned. The full text of the DPRK’s 2 February 2015 letter … [Read More]
The Korean Information Centre is launched
Theatre for All’s ambitious project, the Korean Information Centre (KIC), has been set up to help the Korean community by increasing access to information and to promote integration. Aim: To build a healthier and happier Korean community by transcending cultural barriers. Objectives: To integrate with the local community To increase access to information To empower … [Read More]
UN General Assembly passes resolution on DPRK Human Rights
On 18 December the UN General Assembly passed its resolution condemning the DPRK’s Human Rights record by 116 votes to 20, with 53 abstentions. China voted against. Here are the links to the relevant documents UN Press release Official record of the meeting Full text of the resolution [Read More]
North Korea Freedom Week – programme of events
Attached is a full programme of events for North Korea Freedom Week. Here is an introduction to the week, from Kim Joo-il: North Korea Freedom Week in Europe 2014 8-14 December On 18 November, the UN General Assembly Third Committee passed a resolution condemning North Korea for its systematic and widespread human rights violations. The … [Read More]
Forum on North Korean Human Rights and Engagement
EAHRNK’s notice of their upcoming one-day conference on North Korean Human Rights and Engagement: Rethinking our Approach to Media Reporting, Human Rights, and Engagement with North Korea European Alliance for Human Rights in North Korea – EAHRNK Forum: Rethinking our Approach to Media Reporting, Human Rights, and Engagement with North Korea to be held at … [Read More]
Shin Dong-hyuk: “passionate human rights campaigner and an ordinary young man”
Youngeun Koo reports from the first of EAHRNK’s “North Korean Memoirs” events. On Tuesday 16 September, the UK had the rare opportunity to meet Shin Dong-hyuk in person. Shin is so far the only person known to have successfully escaped from Camp 14, a ‘total control camp’ in North Korea. Organised by European Alliance for … [Read More]
Shin Dong-hyuk comes to St Anne’s Church, Dean St
Shin Dong-hyuk, whose story is told in Escape from Camp 14, will be talking at St Anne’s Church, 55 Dean Street, London, W1D 6AF on Tuesday 16 September, 7.15pm to 8.45pm, as the first of a “North Korean Memoirs” series, which will act as a focal point of the work of European Alliance for Human … [Read More]
The Sewol story in links
A random collection of links relating to the sinking of the Sewol on 16 April, updated as necessary. Arirang News compares the capsising of the Sewol with that of its sister ship the Ariake. Confucian guilt spreads in Korea – Death of innocents sparks condemnations of wicked adult world: an early use of the C-word … [Read More]