Thank You for DonatingLife Funds for North Korean Refugees

~ RESOURCE GUIDE ~ For Helping North Korean Refugees

We deeply appreciate your interest in and concern for North Korean refugees. If you would like to learn more about the issues and people involved, you can use the list of suggested resources below to help you gain a deeper grasp of the issues.

An excellent way to get involved is to write letters on behalf of North Koreans. The following are a few of the many resources available.

A List of Resources

Sample letters:

Amnesty International Letter Writing Guide This also includes good links to sites with information on human rights) http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/guide.pdf

From North Korea Freedom Coalition websitehttp://nkfreedom.org/advocacy.html

From Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights http://www.nkhumanrights.or.kr/NKHR_new/new_pages/write_letter.htm

Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (Main Website)NKHR is a South Korean NGOwww.nkhumanrights.or.kr

Embassy Addresses of the DPRK From the Christian Solidarity Worldwide website http://www.csw.org.uk/Countries/NorthKorea/Embassies/NKEmbassies.pdf

There are Amnesty International chapters in most major cities throughout the world. You might consider joining the one closest to you. If they are not already working actively on North Korean issues, then there is no better time to urge them to start. http:www.amnesty.org

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If you have friends or colleagues who are interested in North Korean issues, why not organize a study group, or invite speakers in? You don't have to be a large group to be effective.

If you are interested in organizing a demonstration to protest the Chinese government's policy toward North Korean refugees, you can usually use the Internet to find the address for The PRC Embassy or consulate in your area.

Chinese Embassy USA: http://www.china-embassy.org Chinese Embassy in UK: http:www.chinese-Embassy.org.UK/eng Chinese Embassy in Tokyo: http://www.china-embassy.or.jp

Recommended Reading:

Background information from Amnesty International:http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/north_korea/index.do

Background Reading from Human Rights Watch:http://hrw.org/doc/?t=asia_pub&c=nkorea

Books:

North Korea: Another CountryBy Bruce Cumings

Separated at BirthBy Gordon Cucullu

The Two KoreasBy Don Oberdorfer

Aquariums of PyongyangBy Kang Chol-Hwan

Eyes of the Tailless AnimalsBy Soon Ok Lee

We hope these resources help. Good luck to you and please let us know how things go. Thank you again for your interest in this vital issue.

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Thank You for DonatingLife Funds for North Korean Refugees

Links to Other SitesMore About North Korean Refugees

The following links are a useful list of websites devoted to Korean and North Korean issues.

Citizens' Groups: Citizens' Alliance to Help Political Prisoners in North Korea http://www.nkhumanrights.or.kr (in Korean)http://www.nkhumanrights.or.kr/index_eng1.html (in English)

RENK (Rescue the North Korean People! Urgent Action Network)http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/ro/renk/englishhome.htm

North Korea Freedom Coalitionhttp://www.nkfreedom.org

The U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK)http://www.hrnk.org

Other Groups: Doctors Without Frontiershttp://www.msf.org

Jubilee Campaignhttp://www.jubileecampaign.org

Jubilee Action UKhttp://www.jubileeaction.co.uk

Human Rights Watchhttp://www.hrw.org

Database Center for N.Korean Human Rights (NKDB)http://nkdb.org

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Thank You for DonatingLife Funds for North Korean Refugees

North Korea Freedom Coalition http://nkfreedom.org

The Commission to Help North Korea Refugees (CNKR)http://www.cnkr.org

Christian Solidarity Worldwidehttp://www.csw.org.uk

Helping Hands Koreahttp://www.familycare.org/network/p01.htm

Human Rights Without Frontiers (North Korea Project)http://www.hrwf.net/

Stand Todayhttp://www.standtoday.org (in English)

Publications: Seoul Train, the Documentary Expose

by Lisa Sleeth & Jim Butterworthhttp://www.seoultrain.com

Chosun Journal, Editor Edward Kimhttp://www.chosunjournal.com

Chosun Ilbo, Chosun Monthlyhttp://www.nkchosun.com (in Korean)

The Korea Heraldhttp://www.koreaherald.co.kr

Private Citizens:

North Korea zone - Weblog on North Koreahttp://www.nkzone.org

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Who Is LFNKR?Why this NPO Was Founded

Our group, LFNKR (Life Funds for North Korean Refugees), is a non-profit organization legally licensed by the government of Japan.

There are currently many refugees from North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) living in hiding in Russia and China. Credible sources put this number at somewhere between 100,000 and 300,000.

Among those refugees are many who crossed the border to escape starvation from the widespread food shortages in their country. Many others crossed the border to flee torture, prison camps or public execution.

Our NPO is just a small citizens' group in Japan. We have no particular political stance, ideology or religious preference.

We simply have learned of the refugees and their great difficulties. And we have heard their compelling plea: “We want to live. Please help us.”

Some here in Japan have protested that “this is too big a task for us... let the government handle it.” But the government has not handled it; instead it has looked the other way. Again, some say that “This is a Japanese NGO, so it should concentrate on helping only returnees to Japan and Korean residents in Japan.”

But we cannot ask people their hometowns before deciding whether we will help them. We do not think it is right to extend help only if they have relatives in Japan, nor to turn our backs on them if they were born in North Korea. Every one of those refugees risked their very lives to escape.

Japan and the Korean Peninsula share a tragic history that includes episodes of colonial rule and wars. As a result, there were nearly 100,000 ethnic Koreans born in Japan who chose to return to their fatherland, though they had never before set foot on their native soil. In most cases, they made that decision after suffering severe racial discrimination and poverty in postwar Japan. They chose to try and help restore their fatherland, which had been burnt away during the Korean War, rather than sit and suffer silently in Japan.

With soaring motives and high hopes, they returned to their fatherland. But what did they find there? Rather than the socialist paradise on earth or the utopia that they had hoped

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for, they faced still further discrimination, piled upon poverty, heaped upon starvation.

One of the important lessons that history teaches is the importance of never discriminating against another for physical characteristics, race, nationality, age, handicap, nor any other reason. This includes country of origin, occupation, ideology, and creed.

How many North Korean refugees can be saved by this small, weak citizens' group in Japan? It is said that the North Korean refugees number possibly into the hundreds of thousands. If the North Korean state were to collapse, then we could conceivably see more than twenty million refugees.

These figures, though overwhelming, do not mean we should simply give up. What could we say to those who cry out to us for a helping hand? It is the warm humanitarian rescue efforts of each individual member of this citizens' group that stands as a beacon of hope for the suffering refugees who have fled North Korea.

Regards from Japan,

Kato HiroshiSecretary GeneralLife Funds for North Korean RefugeesA-101 Nishi Kata Hyteru2-2-8 Nishi Kata, Bunkyo-kuTokyo, Japan 113-0024

Tel / Fax: +81-3-3815-8127Website: http://www.NorthKoreanRefugees.com Email: nkkikin@hotmail.com

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