blog

Humans of North Korea: This is freedom

April 7, 2021

I got foreign media from my dad. He was a member of the Korean Workers Party and many of his friends were security agents. They confiscated a lot of foreign media and gave it to my dad and he would bring it home.

Some of my most vivid memories are getting together with my friends at someone’s house, shutting off all the lights, and secretly watching South Korean dramas. It was exhilarating. If you heard anything outside, you’d get startled and think,

“Did they come to arrest us? Are we going to jail now?” It was thrilling doing things we knew we shouldn’t do.

Everything portrayed in the South Korean dramas was so clean and everyone seemed so wealthy. I used to think “Wow, there is such a world out there.” We were taught that South Korea was a poor country but I wondered, “Why can’t we live like that?”


I wanted to wear clothes from the dramas but I couldn’t find them anywhere. We used to get a lot of used clothes from the market down by the harbor. You either find used clothes or fabric and have a tailor make the outfit for you. After three or four days of wearing a new style, everyone would be wearing the same thing because it looked so cool.


My designs were very popular. If I started wearing something new, there was always someone who would wear similarly styled clothes because the number of South Korean dramas that inspired us was so limited. Girls would ask me where I got my clothes and if I wanted to exchange outfits. Bartering was very common and sometimes they’d offer their more expensive clothes in exchange for mine.


But you had to look out for the Inspection Unit. If they caught you wearing jeans and a hoodie, they’d cut the bottom of the jeans with scissors. My sister and brother were older than me so their friends were sometimes in the Inspection Unit. If I knew the person, I would just tell them, “I’ll go change right now” or “I’ll give you these jeans but please don’t cut the bottoms off” and I would go get it back from them later.


The regime doesn’t want people wearing those kinds of clothes. I think it’s because things like jeans symbolize freedom. North Korean society is so restricted that if they allowed jeans there would be no end to what people would want to wear.

Even now in South Korea, every time I put on a pair of jeans I think, “This is freedom.”


- Jihyun Kang
escaped North Korea in 2009. She now works in the fashion industry in Seoul.



URGENT: North Korean Refugees At Risk of Forced Repatriation

November 8, 2023

A Call for Advocacy and Action from LiNK’S CEO, Hannah Song

There are currently large numbers of North Korean refugees being held in detention in China, including a group of individuals who were caught earlier this year while trying to escape through LiNK’s networks. As of last month, the Chinese government has started forcibly sending them back to North Korea where they are at risk of torture, imprisonment in horrific forced labor camps, and even execution.

A North Korean mother grappling with Chinese police as she seeks asylum at the Japanese consulate, 2002. Forced repatriations have been happening in China for decades.

This comes after the North Korean government has slowly reopened the country’s borders. During the pandemic, extreme lockdowns and increased security effectively brought forced repatriations to a temporary halt. At the same time, Chinese authorities continued to arrest and detain North Korean defectors, waiting for the opportunity to send them back. UN Special Rapporteur on North Korean human rights, Elizabeth Salmon, estimated this number to have reached 2000 people.

On October 13th, in response to media reports that Chinese authorities had forcibly repatriated around 600 North Korean refugees, the South Korean government confirmed that “a large number” of North Koreans had been sent back.

We are deeply concerned about this situation and the imminent repatriation of more North Korean refugees, including specific individuals we have confirmed are currently in detention.  We are closely monitoring these cases and continue to advocate directly with 10 other governments, the EU, and the UN on this issue. In September, LiNK also signed an open letter to China’s President Xi alongside civil society organizations, calling for humanitarian protection for North Korean refugees.

Right now, this issue needs more attention. The Chinese government needs to know that the world is watching and that North Korean refugees must be treated with humanity and dignity.

The Chinese government has 276 embassies and consulates representing their interests around the world, more than any other country. Please contact the embassy or consulate where you live, and also the Chinese mission to the UN, through email and social media to send a simple but direct message of concern and support for North Korean refugees.

Here's What You Can Do:

Copy, and feel free to edit, the template letter below, and email it to the Chinese Foreign Ministry via the Chinese embassy or consulate where you live, and also the Chinese mission to the UN:

United States
DC: [email protected]
NY: [email protected]
LA: [email protected]
SF: [email protected]
Chicago: [email protected]

South Korea: [email protected]
Australia: [email protected]
Canada: [email protected]
France: [email protected]
Germany: [email protected]
Japan: [email protected]
UK: [email protected]

Chinese missions to the UN
Chinese mission to the UN in New York: [email protected]
Chinese mission to the UN in Geneva: [email protected]

If your country is not listed above you can find it by googling “email Chinese embassy [your country]".

Template Letter to Chinese Foreign Minister:

Dear Minister Wang Yi,

I am writing to express my concern about the large number of North Korean escapees who are currently in detention in China, and the risk of them being forcibly sent back to North Korea to face torture, horrific conditions in forced labor camps, and potentially even execution.

Such treatment would clearly be inhumane from any standard of basic decency, but since China is a signatory to the Refugee Convention and Convention against Torture, there is even more obligation and expectation for Chinese authorities to facilitate an individualized determination of refugee status and humanitarian protection for North Korean escapees in China. Failure to do so damages the image of China and the reputation of the Chinese government around the world..

I appeal to your good conscience, and the sympathy of Chinese people for North Koreans facing horrific abuse, in asking your government to stop forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees and instead treat them with the humanity and dignity that any person in this world deserves.

Sincerely,
[Name]
[City/Region]

Twitter (X) Users:

Additionally, you can tweet at the Chinese Foreign Ministry using this template tweet: 

There’s a lot going on in the world right now. The Chinese government is taking advantage of this diverted attention to quietly send North Koreans back, and it will quietly continue to do so. This is the time where we need strength in numbers and Allies around the world to clearly and firmly call out their inhumane actions.

Thank you for standing with the North Korean people.

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