Tag Archives: labor camps

What Repatriated NK Refugees Must Endure

Below is our interview with a North Korean defector.

“I escaped into China on November 27, 2008.  This is my fifth escape.  I have no place to go.  Let me die here or please help me.”

The temperature outside is already down to -10°C and it will continue to fall.  Hong Song-man, 65 years old, begged the interviewer (an LFNKR local staff member) for help, pleading with tears in his eyes.  He said he had previously stayed in a village in Helong, Yanbian Korean-Chinese autonomous state of Jilin Province, where villagers helped him.

Letter Sent to US Secretary of State

LFNKR has submitted, through the American Embassy in Tokyo, the following letter to the new US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton who is visiting Japan from Feb. 16, 2009:

To:  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
From:  Life Funds for North Korean Refugees (NPO), Tokyo, Japan
Re:  Human Rights in North Korea

February 10, 2009

Dear Secretary Clinton,

May we congratulate you on your appointment to the post of Secretary of State, a position which is more vital in today’s world than ever before. And we welcome your visit to Japan and hope that your discussions with the Japanese government are fruitful.

Noguchi Sentenced to 8 Months

OFFICIAL STATEMENT
For Press Conference 28 June 2004

The sentencing of Takayuki Noguchi, a member of the Japanese NGO Life Funds for North Korean Refugees (LFNKR), was held At 10:00AM June 28, 2004 at Chong Zuo Intermediate People’s Court in Nanning, Guangxi in China.

Noguchi was charged with one count of illegally transporting people with the intent of crossing the border (Article 321 of the Chinese Domestic Criminal Code) and an additional count of attempting to assist in illegally crossing the border (Article 61). He was sentenced to 8 months in prison and fined 20,000 RMB (about US$2,778). All his personal goods, including 340,000 yen in cash (about US$3,148), a video camera, and a cellular phone were also confiscated.