Displaying items by tag: North Korea

September 24, 2019, is the annual Save North Korean Refugees Day, organized by the North Korea Freedom Coalition, marking the anniversary of Communist China signing the international refugee convention – the very agreement it ignores and cruelly violates by its treatment of North Korean refugees.

Do not forget that China’s president Xi Jinping continues to kill innocent men, women, and children fleeing North Korea, as we see reports of his ongoing brutality against Christians, Falun Gong practitioners, Tibetans, Uighers, and now the citizens of Hong Kong.

Everyone, regardless of where you live, can participate with us on Save North Korean Refugees Day, this September 24. We are recruiting city and country coordinators who agree to deliver an appeal, on that day, to the local Chinese Embassy or consulate in your city.

Here’s what you can do:

If you live in a City with a Chinese Embassy or Consulate: Consider being a country or city coordinator.  We ask you commit to deliver a letter of appeal to Communist Chinese President Xi Jinping demanding the PRC end its repatriation policy.  A template letter will be provided for your use, or coordinators can prepare their own letter of appeal from their respective NGOs.  We only ask that you share a picture of your delivered letter.

You are also welcome to take whatever additional action you would like on that day.  For example, coordinators have hosted conferences and film screenings to raise awareness of the North Korea human rights issue, while others have planned demonstrations and rallies and prayer vigils.   

Here is a link to last year's activities and events for reference to give you some ideas of what folks from Los Angeles to Pretoria, from Tokyo to Linglongwe did last year to stand up for our North Korean brothers and sisters facing death by China's actions: http://www.nkfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/B-SNKRD-2018-FINAL.pdf

We must not remain silent for those being led away to death.  If you can deliver a letter or take action in solidarity to raise awareness of this issue, please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Suzanne Scholte - Seoul Peace Prize Laureate

President, Defense Forum Foundation

www.defenseforumfoundation.org  /  www.nkfreedom.org

Pray: Lets be in prayer for a step change in China's treatment of these innocent and vulnerable people escaping North Korea.

Pray: For a change in policy by President Xi Jinping, that stops the killings and forced re-patriations.

Pray: For an end to the imprisonment and brutality against Christians and other faith groups in China.

Pray: For the Church in China and North Korea to grow and become stronger despite the persecution and oppression.

Pray With Youth – 22 September 2019

http://praywithyouth.com/

Save North Korean Refugees Day - 24 Sept 2019

www.nkfreedom.org

10 Days - 24-7 Virtual Prayer Gathering - 29 Sep - 9 Oct 2019
www.10days.net

United Prayer Rising – South Africa – 4-6 October 2019

www.uprising-south-africa.org

South East Asia Prayer Council Conference – 8-11 October 2019

https://www.seaprayer2019singapore.org/

Hindu World 15 Days of Prayer - 20 Oct - 3 Nov 2019

www.15daysprayer.com

Go 2020 Prayer Gatherings - 1^stMay 2020

https://www.go2020.world

One God - One Day - One Africa – 31st May 2020

www.1gda.org

Donald Trump became the first sitting US president to enter North Korea in an ‘impromptu’ meeting after he left the G20 summit. Later he said that he and Kim would restart nuclear negotiations and he invited Kim to the US ‘when the time is right’. He added, ‘Great progress has been made, great friendships have been made and this has been, in particular, a great personal friendship.’ But the ‘friendship’ faltered four days later when North Korea accused the US of being ‘hell-bent on hostile acts’ and ‘obsessed with sanctions’. When Pyongyang's delegation visited the United Nations, North Korea also accused Washington of attempting to ‘undermine the peaceful atmosphere’ on the Korean peninsula. This indicates a return to the angry exchanges which have marred relations in recent times. We need to pray for the teams representing the US and North Korean leaders who will be meeting over the coming weeks to resume the talks which collapsed four months ago.

China’s president Xi Jinping visited North Korea on 20/21 June. It is the first visit by a Chinese president in over a decade. While the world ponders Korea’s denuclearisation issue, the plight of trafficked victims from North Korea to China is being ignored. Women and girls from the reclusive state are being taken to China and forced to work as prostitutes or sold as brides, and Beijing is doing little to stop it. Fleeing a patriarchal regime of tyranny and poverty, they are passed through the hands of traffickers, brokers, and criminal organisations before being pulled into China’s sex trade. Pray for sexual slavery and trafficking to be topics of conversation  between Xi and Kim. Xi is also expected to attend the G20 summit in Osaka the following week. Pray for a positive meeting between him and Donad Trump there.

The Situation in the North

In the weeks following the Hanoi Summit, the issue of North Korean denuclearization has been in the news a lot.  As evidence mounts that the North is rebuilding a major missile launching site that it had been dismantling, Trump has been warning against just that. The commander of U.S. forces in South Korea states that North Korea's activities are "insconsistent" with denuclearization.  While the U.S. also believes that North Korea wants to continue denuclearization talks, the North has threatened to discontinue them. In the meantime, the U.S. has been reaching out to China to help with the situation.  To be honest, I don't thing anyone really knows what will happen; however, the website, 38 North, has a number of very thoughtful articles on the whole denuclearization process.  I recommend taking a look.  There are some hopeful developments in Trump cancelling additional sanctions and the UN lowering sanction barriers for humnitarian work, specifically by the Mennonite Central Committee.  Pray for things to open up for other humanitarian organizations as well.

A few brief items.  Here's a story on how Russian technicians keep the North Korean leaders' bodies looking fresh.  North Koreans are managing to get outside media through new smartphone aps and as workers overseas.  Pray that they learn about the things that are really important and don't spend all their time on dramas...

Remembering Our Brothers in Prison 

We continue to pray for six South Koreans held in the North as well as Daily NK journalist, Choi Song Min (alias). Here's information on the pastors and others who have been detained and released.  Please remember them in your prayers.

President Vladimir Putin was ‘pleased’ with the outcome of his 25 April meeting in Vladivostok with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying he would discuss the results with his Chinese counterparts when he travels to Beijing later. Many believe that after the diplomatic failure with Trump at Hanoi, Kim wants to prove he is still being sought after by world leaders; he does not want to look too dependent on Washington, Beijing, and Seoul. Also 10,000+ North Korean labourers working in Russia’s logging industry have to leave by the end of 2019, as UN sanctions take effect. The workers provided a revenue stream of hundreds of millions of dollars that Kim’s regime would like to keep flowing. As for Russia, the Putin-Kim summit will reaffirm Moscow's place as a major player on the Korean peninsula, and improve Russian international prestige. See also

The satellite launch facility at Tongchang-ri became dormant last August. Now satellite images show that rebuilding efforts began between 16 February and 2 March - either just before, during or immediately after Kim Jong-Un and Donald Trump abruptly ended their second summit on 28 February without signing a deal. Though the satellite images provide useful information, analysts and experts express caution against reading too much into them without sufficient intelligence to complement. Amid much media and ‘professional’ speculation, a senior research associate at the Centre for Nonproliferation Studies said, ‘It's possible that the activity at the facility is a chess move in North Korea's negotiating strategy to ratchet up pressure on Washington. The site, in the macro-sense, is very transparent and the North Koreans know we are always watching.’

Afghanistan, Libya, North Korea, Pakistan, and Somalia are the five worst places for women to live, according to the 2019 World Watch List of ‘50 most difficult places to be a Christian’. The list reports that, in contexts which restrict women’s legal rights to equal representation, minority Christian communities are especially vulnerable to having their women and girls sexually attacked, forcibly married, subjected to domestic abuse, stripped of their inheritance, or even killed - all with impunity. Sexual violence is used as a means of power and control against Christian women. Discrimination based on stereotypical roles of men and women is one of the most widespread human rights violations worldwide. It can assume cruel forms and deprives many women and girls of their rights to life, freedom, and respect for human dignity. In Afghanistan, ‘women found to be married to new converts from Islam and sharing their husbands’ Christian faith, are punished by being raped. The same happens with children of converts who are at risk of child abuse.’

Lim II went to a construction site in Kuwait, where he worked day and night for five months, but was not paid. His salary was sent straight to Pyongyang. Over the years, an estimated 150,000 North Korean men and women have been recruited and sent abroad to work for the ruling Kim family. Toiling in factories and on construction sites around the world, they have generated billions of dollars for the pariah state. Reporters in a documentary met defectors who confirmed that the cash earned overseas was going directly to fund the development of the country’s nuclear missile programme. A former high-ranking official spoke of Office 39, which manages thousands of companies and factories overseas and provides half of the country's gross domestic product. ‘Our main goal was to make foreign cash, and this foreign cash business is a complete secret.’

In a New Year speech, Kim Jong Un has said that he is prepared to meet Donald Trump at any time, while warning he would pursue an alternative course if Washington kept up sanctions on Pyongyang. He wanted an outcome that would be ‘welcomed by the international community’, but warned the US not to ‘misjudge our patience by unilaterally demanding certain things and pushing ahead with sanctions and pressure’. Kim also said the US should continue its halt to joint military exercises with South Korea and not deploy strategic military assets there. He also called for stronger inter-Korean cooperation, stating that he is ready to resume operations at a jointly-run factory park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong and to restart South Korean tours to the North's Diamond Mountain resort. Neither is possible unless sanctions are removed.