Top 5 Lessons I’ve Learned from North Korean Refugees

Four North Korean refugee women with one of their children born from a forced marriage.

This year marks Crossing Borders’ 15th birthday. I’ve been a part of the organization since the very beginning and have watched it grow from its infancy to where it is today. It has been an incredible ride filled with joy and hardship. My biggest privilege has been the interactions and relationships I have formed with the North Korean refugees in our care.

Each year, I realize that I have received much more than I have given to these people. Here are five lessons that I’ve learned from North Korean refugees:

1. My life is never that bad

I have lived through days in my personal life that I would rather forget and my family has gone through a bit of suffering. Lost businesses, broken limbs, cancer and death are all a part of the pain one endures even in a modernized country. And these things are traumatic. But as I’ve gotten to know North Korean refugees, one thing is crystal clear: the pain and suffering I endure as someone who lives in the USA is undeniably less than the hurt in the life of a North Korean.

North Korean mothers have watched their children wither away in the famine. People have witnessed cannibalism. A pregnant woman’s belly was beaten mercilessly for carrying a half-Chinese baby. People have been bought, sold and traded like household items in the silent system of human trafficking. These are all things the people in our care and our workers on the field have shared again and again with me. Even now, this brokenness in North Korea continues.

This matters in my life because, no matter what I go through, I know that I have so much to be thankful for. In my darkest hour, I can take stock and comfort in great degree of safety, liberty, and justice I have been granted - just for being born in a different part of the world. I do not deserve this kind of peace or comfort any more than the North Korean people I have met, but I realize I have been given so much.

2. Humans are resilient, North Koreans are superhumans

I once interviewed a North Korean woman who lost her family in the famine. She thought that death was inevitable because she too was starving. She went behind her house and laid down near a creek to die. She laid there for hours. But even as she lay there, immobile, powerless, and hungry, for some unexplained reason, she did not die. After several hours on the ground, she stood up and walked for the border into China. Now, over two decades later - after having trekked into a foreign country hostile toward North Korean refugees, after having been sold into human trafficking, after having survived year after year, she is still alive to share her story.

The North Korean refugees that I have met in China have similar tales of miraculous survival despite all odds. For some reason, they did not die. Some might call it luck, others providence. Whatever it is, those who have survived the worst famine in modern history are more than resilient. I have come to admire the will and grit of these people. They inspire me to push myself everyday.

3. A mother’s love is almost unbreakable

I have seen North Korean refugees separated from their children too many times. I have met North Korean women in South Korea who have left children behind in China. I have also met North Korean mothers in China who have left children behind in North Korea.

In 2009 I met a family who left their youngest daughter behind in North Korea. She had been left in the care of a relative until the family could find the funds and connections to get her out. I sat with this couple as they ate at a restaurant in Northeast China but it was clear that they didn’t have much of an appetite. They could only talk about their daughter. The mother nibbled at her food, tears flowing from her eyes the whole meal. Since the family fled North Korea, their daughter could have been sent to a prison camp. She could have been left out in the street by their relatives. I cannot, to this day, imagine the kind of fear that must have been present in this North Korean mother’s heart as she escaped North Korea.

Fortunately, Crossing Borders was able to help this family. It took months and months of planning but finally their daughter was able to escape and be reunited with her mother and father.

There is something universal about the desperation a mother feels when separated from her child. This desire is stronger than any other human instinct I have seen, perhaps just as strong as our instinct for survival.

4. How much a government can impact a person’s life

All North Korean refugees will be affected by the North Korean government for the rest of their lives, even if they live on the other side of the globe. A strange thing happened in countries that espoused Communism, rather than making its people more collectivist, Communism has given its people a more every-man-for-himself attitude.

The North Korean system is based on the idea that, together, the North Korean people can become fully self-reliant. The nation has taken draconian measures to ensure that people comply.

People will publicly tell lies to stay out of trouble. They know that their government has also lied to them. What this has created is a whole society that is based on lies. This behavior is tacitly taught to every citizen. Don’t show your hand or someone will come take you away at night. Don’t share your feelings, even to your own children or you may be reported, imprisoned and executed.

North Korean refugees cannot shake this kind of fear even when they leave their country. And sadly, many maintain this habit that was indoctrinated in them even after they leave. After all, over 200,000 of them still reside in China -  where North Korean refugees must continue to lie about their identity, nationality and beliefs just to survive.

5. How little a government can impact a person’s soul

Despite the overwhelming odds against joy or peace in their lives, a state of hopelessness is not present in the lives of all North Korean refugees. Some have found a way to break free from the grip their government has had on their lives and, through faith in God or other means, many have risen above their circumstances.

I wrote a story about this in the past. I once played a modified version of the staring contest with a North Korean refugee. Underneath her stone-cold stare was an iron will that would not bend to me or to anyone. Needless to say, I did not win the contest.

Despite all of the hardships the North Korean people have endured, there are those who have found a way not to let their government take what is most pure and special in all human beings. In many ways, the North Korean government has found a way to make their people comply. But within a few of the North Korean refugees I have had the privilege of meeting  is an indomitable spirit that will bend but never break. There are some who have suffered with the spirit and strength to cling to things that we could not see, who are able to withstand seemingly insurmountable odds by holding on to deep-seated, immovable hopes in peace and joy to come.

I truly believe that God can use this more than any actions by governments around the world to free the North Korean people.

North Koreans find faith and family in LA church

North Korea refugee May Joo survived a harrowing journey before arriving in Los Angeles where she met Sarah Cho and her father at a ministry that serves North Koreans. 

SUSANICA TAM/FOR KPCC

Amid a dozen other North Koreans, May Joo found herself in a community that gave her a sense of familiarity. But sitting and singing in the small church in LA's Koreatown, Joo found herself getting to know a God she had no idea existed before fleeing North Korea. 

The ministry, founded by the Cho family who immigrated from South Korea, aims to offer an open faith-based community for Koreans, in particular North Koreans who can often feel isolated or discriminated against. 

North Korea refugee Sammy Hyun plays with his son after a church service in Los Angeles, Calif. on Sunday February 4, 2018. 

SUSANICA TAM/FOR KPCC

"There's this Korean word jeong — it's like this love you want to feel from people — but in Los Angeles, I was not able to feel a lot of community support. So I wanted to go somewhere they serve North Koreans, to receive jeong," said Sammy Hyun, 41.  

Listen to the full radio story and read the in-depth article here: https://www.scpr.org/news/2018/02/16/80767/once-barred-from-practicing-religion-north-koreans/

Portrait: North Korean Orphan Care in China Part 2

KyungTae walking near his home in Northeast China.

The following is an excerpt from our Orphan Growth Fund update we sent late in 2017. The Orphan Growth Fund is a subscription program that Crossing Borders runs. All funds donated to OGF are earmarked to benefit of half North Korean children like KyungTae, whose story is below.

“Betrayed Families”

After being released from prison, YA befriended a young woman who shared her story: she had run away to China and been abused by the man who bought her. After being abused, she had gone to the police station herself to be repatriated to North Korea.

As the 26-year-old kindred spirit confided in YA her desire to escape and cross the border again, YA in turn opened up about her plans to be reunited with KyungTae and eventually move to South Korea.

Despite the suspicions of a kind HwaKyo, a term to describe a Chinese national born in North Korea or legally married to a North Korean, YA insisted on trusting her new friend with hopes, dreams and even details of her contacts along the North Korean “Underground Railroad.”

When YA went to a neighboring city to call her “sister” in China, she was ambushed and immediately arrested. Her friend had been an informant for the “bowibu,” a secret police force dedicated to tracking and hunting defectors.

These types of traps are often accompanied by close government surveillance of “betrayed families” such as YA’s. The branding of “traitor” can often extend to the family members of defectors. Earlier in 2013, YA’s older brother had also attempted escape across the Tuman river and was captured. The family left behind had since been shunned by the village and YA’s mother’s protruding bones and sallow face are explained by their rusted rice cooker—there hasn’t been any food to cook.

KyungTae (second from right) with other North Korean orphans.

Hope for the Future

After YA’s deportation, KyungTae and his father struggled. Both loved YA and cried upon news that she had been deported without being allowed to say goodbye. At 67 years old, the elderly father, could no longer work to provide basic necessities, let alone support KyungTae’s education. KyungTae, who was only 10 when his mother was deported, retreated into silence and became withdrawn.

As we await more information on YA’s well being in the labor camp, as well as the possibility of early release through a bribe, we have set up a home sponsorship with a family and a member of Crossing Borders staff to host KyungTae in a town an hour away from his father so he can continue his education.

KyungTae is now about 17 years old. He has not seen his mother since July 2009 and on top of classes and other challenges typical to a teenager his age, KyungTae confronts the daily challenges of being a half North Korean child.

But in recent years he has been changing and light is returning to his life. He still misses his mother but he is now moving toward adulthood. Recently, he was selected for a work-study program at his school. He is studying to become a mechanical engineer. A company paid to have him work at a factory in Southern China. When he returned home to his father, KyungTae proudly handed him about $100 USD. His father broke down in tears. KyungTae is turning 18 next year. We are still waiting for his mother to be released from prison.

These children’s lives and their stories often echo some of the most painful aspects of the refugee experience. And yet, through our ministries and your support, KyungTae and other Orphan Care children have also found the unending love and redemption through their faith.

For more information about the Orphan Growth Fund, click here.

Portrait: North Korean Orphan Care in China Part 1

KyungTae during a visit in 2012.

The following is an excerpt from our Orphan Growth Fund update we sent late in 2017. The Orphan Growth Fund is a subscription program that Crossing Borders runs. All funds donated to OGF are earmarked to benefit of half North Korean children like KyungTae, whose story is below.

KyungTae is a teenager who has grown up in China as the child of a North Korean defector. His exact date of birth is unknown, but his father’s family estimates he was born in 2000.

KyungTae’s story is not uncommon among his generation of half-Chinese, half-North-Koreans–the aftermath of various Chinese and North Korean policies. These children, even if they were born in China, often feel the direct effects of North Korean oppression. Crossing Borders, in response to this growing need, has created group homes and caretaking services for the children of North Korean refugees.

KyungTae’s mother, YA, was in the military during her past life as a North Korean citizen. But following the infamous Great North Korean Famine of the 1990s, YA, like hundreds of thousands of others like her, fled North Korea to neighboring China in search of food, hope and a better life. It is estimated that 1 to 3 million North Koreans died of starvation during the famine’s peak years of 1995-1998.

China, though an ally to the DPRK, was also suffering from a stark gender imbalance following the One-Child Policy. With an increasingly male-dominated population and thus a shortage of brides, China’s traffickers welcomed many of the North Korean refugees crossing the border by tricking or kidnapping them into slavery and selling them to the highest bidder.

YA was immediately sold as a forced bride and married off to a man the same age as her father. However, despite the 45-year age gap between husband and wife, KyungTae’s parents were happy and raised their son together in a home free of violence or abuse.

“We all cried at the meeting place.”

In 2009, YA was captured with 26 other refugees and imprisoned with other defectors, awaiting their deportation. A total of 44 refugees were rounded up in a two-day raid, the largest this village had ever seen.

As husbands and mothers-in-law gathered in front of the police station and waited through the night, it became clear that this raid was ordered from higher ranks. Their bribes, regardless of the sum, would not be enough to save their loved ones, or to even see them one last time.

Our staff joined the crowds of family members mourning their mothers, wives, and daughters at the nearby KFC and “we all cried at the meeting place,” according to a report from our staff.

Defectors who have lived abroad for more than 10 years, like YA, are judged harshly and often sent to the most austere re-education camps. Many become disabled as a result of their beatings, though some have escaped in the past.

For four years, neither our staff nor YA’s family members had any confirmation of whether or not she was alive, if she had survived the camp, or how long her sentence would be.

Praying for KyungTae and his family in 2010.

“Sister, please take care of my KyungTae”

Through a network of underground contacts, in 2015, our staff got a message through to YA, who had just been released after four years of hard labor in a camp, and was now back in her hometown.

A port town of about 400,000 residents, ChongJin makes up one of the many dark spots seen from space. With little to no electricity, much of North Korea is pitch black after sunset, leaving inhabitants vulnerable to looting and theft at the hands of armed military troops. Due to ChongJin’s location and distance from the border, messages are few and far between, often requiring coordination between several staff members and Chinese nationals.

Severely anemic and recovering from years of malnutrition and abuse, YA wrote a letter for her former caretakers in China who had never stopped searching for news of her wellbeing.

In her letter, YA quickly addresses the facts. She was released in December 2014. She describes her family’s health and confirms that she was imprisoned with another Crossing Borders refugee. But at the core of her message, she expresses gratitude. She is thankful for not being forgotten. She thanks her “sister” for the aid she can send in the form of food, medicine and money. And most importantly, she asks for photos of KyungTae and begs, “Sister, please take care of my KyungTae.”

Based on the details of her letter as well as confirmations from other contacts who visit her village for business, we were able to begin researching options for a second escape.

YA, focused on regaining her physical strength, also set her sights on reuniting with her son and husband in China.  To do this, she would have to pay a broker to smuggle her across the border – a dangerous and expensive option.

YA’s “sister,” who was a staff member of Crossing Borders, sent her clothes and the little money she had—only a fraction of what it would cost to pay the broker’s upfront fee—and waited for news.

The next installment of KyungTae’s story will be posted next week. For more information about the Orphan Growth Fund, click here.

Grace Jo lived in North Korea until her family defected when she was 7. / Photo by Alex Melagrano

Grace Jo, a North Korean defector who recalls living in hunger, eating boiled mice soup for basic nutrition, spoke about her experiences as a citizen of one of the world's most repressive nations, and her journey to eventually resettling in the US. 

With the help of the UN and a Korean-American pastor, Jo sought asylum and eventually found the organization Emancipate North Koreans (ENoK) and was housed in their "Empower House."

“Even after I [came] to America I didn’t actually realize what freedom [was],” Jo said. “But the moment I could go to other states freely, or take a plane and meet other people from other states it [felt] like I’m traveling…it’s a big country and I can travel if I want and I can go anywhere.”

However, to close out her talk, Jo focused on cultural similarities and the importance of showcasing Korean culture.

“I think culture is a very beautiful thing,” Jo said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s North Korea or South Korea or the U.S. The cultural beauty, we can share that even if we don’t know the language.”

Read more here: https://www.huntnewsnu.com/2018/02/north-korean-defector-speaks-out-at-harvard/ 

30,000 Elephants in the Room

The Korean unification flag (above) will be used as the two Koreas march together at the opening ceremonies of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

There is no country in the world better than North Korea at theatrics and spectacle. And there is perhaps no better stage than the Winter Olympics for the North to display its chops.

Last year the country was wrapped up in a worldwide performance as they launched ICBMs and tested a nuclear weapon, much to the ire of their neighbors and other global powers. But this year North Korea seems to be changing course. After a year of provocations, comes a charm offensive and an offer to field a joint team under one flag at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

But even as the theatrics of the Olympics will warm hearts and provide North Korea a platform to soften its image, over 30,000 North Korean defectors living in South Korea will be watching. Their presence will tell a darker story behind the theatrics.

North Korea’s attempts at smoothing over the past two years with their Olympic delegation, which will include an “Army of Beauties.” This “army” is a cheering squad comprised of 230 attractive, tall North Korean women from elite universities.

It is clear that North Korea is trying to send a message through these women. It is an attempt to show the world that all is well within its borders, that the North Korean people are well fed, healthy and beautiful.

The two Koreas will also send a unified delegation during the opening ceremonies under one flag. They’ll field a joint women’s ice hockey team. There will no doubt be other signs of unity between the two countries that will indeed be heart warming.

For over 30,000 North Korean refugees watching this global performance, there will be a different tale to tell of their homeland, North Korea. Many have spoken out against their former country in a damning UN report, which details in amazing consistency the gruesome methods of torture that the regime employs.

In the thousands of interviews and interactions I have had with North Korean refugees, people have told me of death, cannibalism and the hellscape that North Korea has become.

It will, without a doubt, be an emotional moment when the two countries enter the Olympic arena under one flag. But such images should not overshadow the truth present in the lives of over 30,000 defectors who have fled desperately for their lives. Perhaps they, with us, can witness the union of the Koreas in this year’s Olympics, beyond its theatrics, and look forward to a day when peace and harmony will extend beyond a single, international event.

North Korean labor in Russia

A North Korean worker walks through the building site.

In a report published Tuesday, there are an estimated 50,000 North Korean workers in Russia, living clandestinely on construction sites as "slave-like labor" to send meager funds home to their families. 

The US State Department has focused on this ex-patriate community in their most recent sanctions in an effort to reduce economic support for Kim Jong Un and the totalitarian state's nuclear program. 

However, with Russian diplomats weighing in on the effectiveness of sanctions and toeing the line between international condemnation and acting as the "crucial lifeline" to North Korea, the workers in Russia will continue building for now. 

Read more here: http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/15/europe/russia-north-korea-labor-intl/index.html

North and South unite for the Olympics

In anticipation of the Winter Olympic Games opening on Feb. 9, North Korea has sent delegations to the demilitarized zone at Panmunjom for discussions on how to unite the peninsula for the games. 

The South Korean Unification Ministry has led talks primarily around coordination of the musicians and entertainment groups. However, officials in Seoul, Washington, and Pyongyang have expressed hopes for peace talks. 

Read more here: http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-north-korea-olympics-20180115-story.html

Music is Contagious

Children of North Korean women learning new songs at our annual retreat.

What is the value of a song to a child? How can one song affect her life?

We taught a child of a North Korean refugee a simple song at a retreat this summer. It’s a Christian song about how God can help us in times of trouble. A young child who learned this song, Esther, seemed to take to the music and lyrics at the retreat.

Last year we were able to host a retreat with many of the refugees in our network. The purpose of this retreat is to provide Christian counseling and support to address the trauma that North Korean refugees have endured. During this retreat is a smaller retreat, which is for the children of these refugees. This is where Esther was able to learn this song.

When we made a follow-up visit to Esther’s family this fall, we were surprised that, not only did Esther retain the music, she continued singing it after the retreat. She loved it so much that she taught the song to the children in her neighborhood.

We think this is symbolic of the love and care that we show to the refugees when we see them. The support and the services that we provide for these people never just ends with them.

We have seen time and time again that refugees share the money they receive from Crossing Borders with others in their community. They bring other refugees into their communities. They help each other in times of need.

It is like a song that Esther could not help but share with the community around her.

Inside the Ministry of Unification:

In the background of the Demilitarized Zone, behind the wires and fencing are two countries, two sides, two telephones and one talk to barter peace in the peninsula that has been split since their ceasefire in 1953. 

The Unification Ministry of South Korea, employing hundreds of analysts and specialists and with a $1.02B budget, has worked to approach peace through many dimensions: military, culture, education, etc. 

However, despite a two-year hiatus between the two countries' telephone hotline, the ministry is facing an "intractable" task: garnering unity among brothers who look increasingly different from one another. Among younger generations, unity is less popular than among those who remember a single country peninsula.  

Read more here: http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/06/asia/south-korea-unification-ministry-intl/index.html

China prepares refugee camps amid growing tensions in North Korea

A propaganda slogan and portraits of former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (R) and his father and founder of North Korea Kim Il Sung (L) are seen in a North Korean village on the banks of the Tumen river, which is seen from the Chinese side in Tumen, China, January 7, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Despite a long history of refugee policy reporting any North Koreans back to almost certain imprisonment or death, China is now constructing refugee camps along

The camps, located in provinces nearby China’s iconic but porous border with North Korea – the Tumen River – are expected to house thousands of migrants.

The construction, amid increasing volatility and international pressure in the region, represents a shift in policy for the long-time ally of the hermit kingdom.

Though officials from Changbai County declined to comment, the leaked documents from state-owned telecommunications company China Mobile document inspections of internet connectivity.

“Because the situation on the China-North Korea border has intensified lately, Changbai County government plans to set up five refugee sites in Changbai,” China Mobile said in the document.

Generosity is Contagious

North Korean refugee women at one of their gatherings.

Crossing Borders has been a witness to the power of community. We believe that no one person can positively change the lives of North Korean refugees more than themselves. This has shown itself to be true over and over again in the lives of the refugees in our network.

This fall, a woman in one of our communities had a son whose shoes were badly worn. He is currently in seventh grade and is extremely active. His shoes bore the burden of this activity. His soles were almost worn right through.

When North Korean women are sold to Chinese men, they are usually sold to the poorest of the poor. They are sold to men with very low social and economic standing who otherwise could not find a wife for themselves.

All of the women in our network live in abject poverty with few resources within the family and even fewer that are entrusted to them by their families, which is why this mother could not afford shoes for her son.

North Korean refugees are all running from an even deeper state of poverty. By enduring one of the worst modern-day famines, many North Korean women have been conditioned to take what they can and give only when it has a direct benefit for themselves.

“Normally, these women only know how to steal or grab everything quickly before others,” one of our field workers stated in a recent report.

This is why it was such an amazing occurrence to see this community of about 10 women come together to experience the joy of giving by pooling their money together to purchase shoes for this boy.

Generosity is contagious. Refugees who have received the generosity of so many from the US and around the world and are beginning to return it back to their communities. This was evident when a group of community members worked to restore the sight of a blind refugee last year.  Or when a North Korean refugee who escaped to China, mobilized a clothing drive for the refugee women still in China, as chronicled in our latest annual report.

Many of you reading this give so that these women can meet and have a life outside of fear. What you are giving them is much more. You are giving them the will to care for others.

Defectors with Chinese papers face obstacles in South Korea

Kim Seok-cheol with a photograph from 1981 in which he is flanked by two friends in Sariwon, North Korea. Credit Jean Chung for The New York Times

Though the path to entry into South Korea and official refugee status often passes through China, for those who have papers designating them Chinese citizens, the end destination is often blocked.

Kim Seok Cheol, a 52-year-old man who escaped with his family over three decades ago, has been stuck in a country he only intended to stay in temporarily. 

“I never felt I truly belonged in China,” Mr. Kim said. “Chinese was still a foreign language to me. And I had to give gifts, like expensive bottles of liquor, to officials who could cause trouble for me by exposing that I was a North Korean.”

Because of Kim's Chinese passport and nationality -- obtained through a bribe his father orchestrated -- the South Korean government does not accept Kim's claims of being a defector. 

The status afforded to all North Korean defectors as citizens of the Korean Peninsula, as decreed in the Southern neighbor's constitution, is withheld for those with Chinese papers--even if they're fake. 

read the full story here: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/09/world/asia/north-korean-defector-south-korea-kim-seok-cheol.html

Smartphones in North Korea are used as “Weapons of Mass Surveillance”

The country that is infamously closed off and inundates state-run media with propaganda now has smartphones.

However, rather than representing unfettered access to news, outside information and facilitation of an underground network, the network of smartphones and a limited intranet is being distributed—and closely monitored—by the North Korean government itself.

Similarly to how they are viewed in the West, the “Arirang Touch” phones, modeled closely after iPhones, are status symbols among citizens. They are also monitored around the clock for usage and surveillance via censorship, spyware software and even random stops by passing police.

Read the full story here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/north-koreans-get-smartphones-and-the-regime-keeps-tabs-1512556200

North Korean soldier defects, crossing DMZ

Surveillance video shows a North Korean defector running to the border with South Korea on Nov. 13. U.N. Command / via EPA

Though most North Korean defectors will choose the clandestine path of escaping through the Chinese border, last week a soldier fled across the heavily militarized DMZ at Panmunjom. 

Shot and chased until he reached the safety of the South Korean side of the border, the soldier suffered internal injuries and was later transferred to a hospital for surgery. 

Human rights activists have published reports of the soldier's health and speculation surrounding his reasons for defection. In the meantime, the United Nations has been focusing on the violations of the Korean armistice agreement from 1953. 

The U.N. command said the North violated the armistice by "one, firing weapons across the [Military Demarcation Line], and two, by actually crossing the MDL temporarily."

A U.N. Command statement said officials notified the North's military of these violations and requested a meeting to discuss the investigation results and measures to prevent future such violations.

Read the full story and watch the footage here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/north-korea-violated-war-armistice-firing-defector-u-n-command-n823186

Get Ready for #givingtuesday!

This #givingtuesday we are looking to raise $2,000 to pay for one safehouse for North Korean refugees in 2018.

This safehouse will act as a central hub for most of the refugees in our network. They will use this house to hide from the Chinese police, flee from abusive husbands or to meet and make plans on how to support one another.

Over the past five years, Crossing Borders has greatly expanded our network. In 2014, we had 13 North Korean refugees in our network. As of the writing of this post, we have 139 women. Thanks to your generosity, our budget increased almost three times from $120k to $300k in 5 years.

The math is simple, the more money that we raise, the greater our capacity to help North Korean refugees is. You can contribute to our safehouse project until Monday, December 4 at midnight, so please be generous and consider making a gift. Click here and select “Safehouse”

Any funds raised above $2,000 will roll over to pay for the following year’s rent. If this program ends, funds will be placed in our general fund.

There are many ways to give. Donate directly (one time or monthly recurring) and you can also give through your Amazon shopping via Smile

North Korean Community in Japan

Why North Korea has children's schools in Japan Follow Johnny to stay up to date on Vox Borders: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnnywharris Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnnyharrisvox Last week's episode: https://youtu.be/Wx_2SVm9Jgo My dispatch about Japan's rising right-wing nationalism: https://youtu.be/IHJsoCAREsg Original Music by Rare Henderson: https://www.rarehenderson.com/audio The six Vox Borders documentaries, presented by lululemon, are publishing weekly on Tuesdays.

Lesser-known by outsiders, the community in Japan called the "Chongryon" is composed of Korean minorities who identify with North Korea. 

Ethnically Korean but brought over during Japanese occupation of the peninsula, the 150,000 people claiming North Korea as both their promised land and benefactors are often discriminated against in Japan. 

The cycle of discrimination leading to increased loyalty to the Kim regime and insulation is often repeated but has more recently escalated to issues of safety. 

The Vox Borders documentary above delves into this unknown community and the fine line between cultural barriers versus physical borders.

A Thanksgiving Wish from Our Executive Director

A group of North Korean women and their children prepare a meal for us during one of our visits.

The following post was written by our Executive Director, Dan Chung.

I had a meal with a family who narrowly escaped North Korea as the authorities attempted to arrest them about eight years ago. In the rush to flee, they had to make the difficult decision to leave their youngest daughter behind. The three sat with me in a restaurant, father, mother and oldest daughter. None of them could eat because they were wracked with worry and guilt.

Crossing Borders has sat with North Koreans going through the worst of circumstances. Over the years I’ve learned to stay quiet and speak only when asked.

People sometimes ask me if I have trouble celebrating when I've witnessed so much sadness in the world. They’ve asked if events we host should be so ‘fun’ when the purpose is to remember those who have suffered so much.

My answer lies at the heart of the season we are about to celebrate: Thanksgiving. For through the simple act of giving thanks, we acknowledge the brokenness in this world but we also remember how blessed we are.

The first American Thanksgiving took place in 1621 in a time of immense difficulty for the Pilgrims, who had just landed on American shores one year prior.

“So, in some way, that day of Thanksgiving is also coming out of mourning,” said Kathleen Donegan, author of “Seasons of Misery: Catastrophe and Colonial Settlement in Early America.” “But we don’t think about the loss, we think about the abundance.”

Donegan is correct. When we think about Thanksgiving, we often think of the copious food and drink at the table. But the holiday was born out of sorrow and hardship.

Some of the most grateful people I have ever met are North Korean women. Women who have been robbed of everything they held precious: their families, their freedoms and their dignity. And yet, in the midst of these sorrows, they are joyful. They joke around, do impressions of each other and even their Dear Leader, sing and play games like little children. It is truly a sight to behold.

They are thankful not despite their circumstances but rather their circumstances drive them to focus on the good. From these women I am reminded that we can be truly thankful when we realize how fragile our circumstances are.

So when we feast this Thanksgiving, I hope we don’t push the uncomfortable thought of North Korean refugees and other suffering out of mind. This can only lead to guilt. I hope we hold them in our hearts so that we can truly remember how blessed we are.

"When we talk about North Korea, we forget what’s happening to its people"

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/when-we-talk-about-north-korea-we-forget-whats-happening-to-its-people

On the “Humble Opinion” segment of PBS newshour, host Judy Woodruff spoke with Min Jin Lee about North Korea and the aspect we forget about most often: its people.

As a Korean-American writer, Lee has given lectures and talks on writing, literature, and politics all throughout the US and Asia. As a novelist, Lee has written historical fiction stories about Korean families in Japan.

However, in her most recent talk, Lee delves into her personal history and connection to North Korea. She describes the journey her father made at 16, in the height of the Korean War, aboard a US refugee ship.

Imagine being 16, and because there is a war, you must leave your birthplace and never see your mother again. Imagine now knowing that she must be dead, based only on natural life expectancy, rather than on a real moment in time.

Imagine if you didn’t know that this was your last goodbye.

Lee describes the living conditions she imagines her cousin in—an authoritarian regime clamping down on freedom of movement and expression, and the dangers awaiting her in China if she should defect. Her reminder comes at a time when fears of a nuclear standoff are pervasive and analysis of Kim Jong Un are featured on international newscasts.

Lee reminds us that amid these discussions, we can keep compassion at our core:

So, when I hear about nuclear weapons, like you, I am afraid. But we can also remember the democratic values we cherish. We can learn more about how we can help. And we can have compassion for our global brothers and sisters who are trapped in a dystopian invention not of their making.

North Korean defector blogging

More than a decade after defecting from what he calls the "Animal Farm" in North Korea, Gyoon Heo has settled into university life in South Korea. 

However, upon reflecting on life from the outside looking in, he found that creating a blog was a perfect outlet: 

My father was one of those ‘traitors’ who were made examples of by the WPK during Kim Jong Il’s time. He simply disappeared one day, received no trial that I know of, and was never seen again. I do not know what happened to him or where he is. I may never even find out whether he was sent to prison or executed.

Among North Koreans it is this fear — of losing one’s country to an enemy state, one’s family to a purge, and one’s own life to ever-present danger both definable and abstract — that compels them to obey the regime.

Read more from Gyoon Heo here: https://koreaexpose.com/author/gyoon-heo/