For those of you in Seoul

[davidpdx]

There is a seminar on North Korean refugees on March 15th. Details below:

http://freedomfactory.co.kr/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=liber&wcode=1329&idx=3313

[RAFREE]

1. I have been

reading a lot lately about the North Korean refugees. It is a horrible problem that the world cannot find some solution to free those held in prison camps. What is going on there is no better than what was happening in Germany in WWII and in some ways far worse.

I have an uncle who fought in Korea and was nearly killed there trying to run a communication line in the middle of the night. Problem was it was a full moon that night and he ended up surrounded by Chinese soldiers who would plainly see him. He hid behind a rock he managed to crawl to and sat silently until he could crawl away which was hours and hours later. I remember him telling me this story. The area he was in at that time is now North Korea.

Since the time he had relayed his experiences there to me I've tried to keep up with the situation for people in North Korea.

I a wondering if there is nothing further that can be done? The Chinese send them back when they catch them and it looks like NK even sends agents to China to try and track down the escapees.

The recent Human Rights report makes it seem as if the only recourse is more finger wagging from the U.N. for all the good that will accomplish. It's such a frustrating problem to not be able to help in a more effective manner for a larger number of people who are suffering so badly.

[davidpdx]

2. I watch a lot of documentaries on North Korea

The one thing I haven't gotten to do is to go up to the DMZ and help them launch balloons into the north. I think that is pretty damn cool. They fill them with assorted things anything from candy, to DVDs, hand written messages.

Really the only thing that can be done is to continue to put pressure on China, get information into the country, and help refugees escape. Sharing information about North Korea with friends and family helps as well.

My FIL is from a village just outside Kaesong. He was going to college when the war broke out and fled to the south as he was going to be forced to join the North Korean Army. With no job he ended up fighting anyway on the side of the south and the US. He hasn't seen his family in over 60 years. It is very sad, but he does have a great family here with a wife, three daughters, three son-in-laws, a granddaughter and grandson (in the old days they thought it better to have sons, so I think it's kind of funny he had 3 daughters). I have a picture of the three taken when my wife was about 5 more so and you can see just how poor they were back then (this would have been around the mid 70s).

I didn't have any relatives (that I know of) fighting in that war. My grandfather in the most important mission in WWII (I'll let you guess, just don't say it). In that case both my grandfather and my FIL's lives depended on the outcome of a war.