Global Festival in Tokyo Proves Popular
Almost Eighty Thousand Attend
A Global Festival to commemorate the global citizenship of every person on earth was held for two days in Tokyo, beginning on Oct. 6, which is designated International Cooperation Day. The event was hosted by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
The Festival drew nearly 80,000 visitors.
As part of our own activities to direct attention to the North Korean refugee issue, our group, Life Funds for North Korean Refugees (LFNKR) displayed a number of items from everyday life in North Korea, including school textbooks and stamps, and continuously played the documentary DVDs Seoul Train and Public Execution.
LFNKR members manning our booth were very encouraged by the participation of three new former North Korean refugees, whom LFNKR helped to reach Japan and settle here. They explained the situations and related their own experiences in North Korea to the people who visited the LFNKR booth.
LFNKR members staffing the booth were surprised by the intense interest in the near-crumbling school textbooks from North Korea. The books attracted consistently large crowds, with many of the visitors requesting permission to photograph them.
The textbooks shown below were received from several North Korean refugees whom LFNKR helped reach Japan. Until the 1980’s the country used ordinary pulp paper to print textbooks, but when the government could no longer afford pulp they began using paper made from corn husks (excluding the outermost husks). The ink used for printing is of extremely low quality. The textbooks are re-used for many years, thus the serious worn and tattered condition. Visitors had to handle the books very carefully to keep the books from coming apart.
School textbooks currently used in North Korea
English textbook: Table of Contents page
English Textbook: Dedication Page
It reads: “The Respected Leader
Generalissimo Kim Il Sung Will Always Be With Us”
English Textbook: Second Dedication Page: It reads:
“Thank You, the Great Leader Marshal Kim Jong Il !”
English Textbook: Lesson One “Listen and say: Hello !”
English Textbook: Lesson Two
“Listen and say: Good-bye !”
English Textbook: Lesson One
“Listen and say: Good afternoon !”
Math Textbook: Elementary school
Worn Out Shoes
These were being worn by a NK refugee
when we met to help him to freedom
during one of our rescue operations.
Packages of Corn Noodles
A few months ago, an LFNKR staff member brought back a case of corn noodles from Yanji, China to sell at the One World Festival. The noodles are one of the most popular foods in North Korea. Ethnic Koreans in China sell them widely.
Book:
Are They Telling Us the Truth?
Brutality Beyond Belief
This book, co-published by LFNKR in English, contains eye witness testimony by North Korean defectors who have survived unbelievable brutality in the labor camps of North Korea. (Available for donation of US$20 or more).
Most recent issue of the printed Japanese language newsletter that LFNKR mails to members in Japan.