JULY 23, 2018

by Victor Cha

On Friday, President Trump signed the North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2017 into law.  This legislation is the latest update to the original North Korea Human Rights Act, which President George W. Bush signed into law in 2004.  

The law provides support for efforts to get information into the largely isolated country, including broadcasting and other efforts; NGOs that are providing assistance and conducting research on human rights conditions inside North Korea; and provides for a State Department Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights. As with the previous versions of the law, the extension signed last week had strong, bipartisan support in Congress. 

What does this act mean for U.S. – North Korea relations?  George W. Bush Institute Fellow Victor Cha answers our questions.

Continue reading “President Signs North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act” →

Join us at 9 AM Friday, June 8 for the Victims of Communism Memorial for the annual Wreath Laying Ceremony: We will once again be representing the people of North Korea and laying a wreath to remember the millions of innocent men, women and children who have died because of the Kim family dictatorship.  It is very fitting on the days just before the Trump-Kim summit to remember that North Korea is one of five remaining dictatorships where the people continue to suffer and die under the tyranny of communism that has already killed over 100 million people worldwide.   Everyone is welcome to join us for this event. Note for the media:  Park Sang Hak of Fighters for Free North Korea and Grace Jo of NKinUSA will be attending the event and available for press interviews.  You can learn more here:

https://www.victimsofcommunism.org/events

April 28, 2018

Mr. Donald J. Trump
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20500

Dear President Donald Trump,

We are writing to you today as defectors from North Korea who have survived and left the most oppressive regime on the earth.

Today, we are holding the 15th North Korea Freedom Week event and are sending this letter to let you know how we, North Korean defectors, feel about freedom and liberty for the North Korean people.

Your meeting with Kim Jong-un has only come about because of your policy of ‘maximum pressure and engagement’ against North Korea. Please know that this meeting gives a great deal of hope to the 25 million North Koreans. Most of the North Korean people hope that the Kim dynasty, which has been in existence for 73 years, will end.

The thirty-two thousand North Korean refugees, who have left their beloved parents, family members, and relatives in North Korea, would like you to consider the following: Continue reading “Letter to President Trump from North Korean Defectors” →

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Continue reading “Report on Congressional Soellal Messages to North Korea” →

Forced Return Threatens Torture, Sexual Abuse, and Mistreatment

Sophie Richardson
China Director
Human Rights Watch

All day, Park anxiously checked her cell phone, awaiting news of her sister, who was being transported along with six other North Koreans from China’s northern Liaoning province to southern Yunnan province.

Then came the news she dreaded: a text message saying Chinese police had apprehended her sister and two other North Koreans, including a teenager, while they were waiting for a train that day in late March. The other four members of the group briefly hid out in a safe house, but they too were apprehended a few days later.

Today, Park, who only uses her surname for fear of retaliation against relatives living in North Korea, joined a gathering of North Korean exiles and their supporters outside China’s embassy in Seoul, South Korea. The group meets monthly to call on the Chinese government to stop forcibly returning North Korean refugees back across the border to face torture, forced labor, sexual abuse, and worse.

“My sister has only me,” Park said. “And we need to do all we can before China decides to send her back to unimaginable horrors of torture, beatings, threats, and being treated like less than an animal.”

Continue reading “China Detains 7 More North Korean Refugees” →

Please commit to pray and fast with us for the people of North Korea on Saturday, April 28, the International Day of Extraordinary Prayer and Fasting to Almighty God for North Korea.

While there have been many prayer vigils and services focused on North Korea, we believe that not just prayer — but also fasting — is necessary to combat the evil that reigns over the people of North Korea.

In January, 2018, Dr. Thomas Belke, one of the world’s leading experts on Juche and author of JUCHE: A Christian Study of North Korea’s State Religion, testified before the Congressional International Religious Freedom Caucus about the spiritual evil pervading North Korea explaining that it can only be defeated by prayer and fasting. Citing Matthew 17:21, when Jesus told his disciples, “This kind [of demon] does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21), Dr. Belke reminded us of the many times in America’s history (e.g., President James Madison in 1814) when Americans appealed to Heaven with prayer and fasting to change the course of history.

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