On March 22, Member of EU Parliament Lazslo Tokes hosted an event at the EU Parliament on the power of information in North Korea. He played a big role in sparking the Romanian Revolution in 1989, and hsa been very active in human rights affairs in the EU Parliament. Willy Fautre, the director of the Human Rights without Frontiers organized the panelists and the event drew almost 100 attendees to discuss this subject. While I spoke of the importance of information getting INTO North Korea, Mr. Do spoke (to my left) spoke about the importance of information getting OUT of North Korea.
Mr. Do, a South Korean activist for human rights in North Korea, helped arrange to smuggle out what is known to be the first work of fiction written by a North Korean dissident currently living inside North Korea. That original manuscript was smuggled out of North Korea, passed through China, and arrived safely into South Korea. “The Accusation” is written by Bandi (the North Korean author’s pen name) and has been translated into many languages, including English. For more on this, please check out a recent New York Times article about the book.
Professor Remco Breuker from Leiden University spoke about his research findings on North Korean forced laborers in numerous countries. Not only are there North Korean workers in the EU, but they are working on projects that are paid for by the EU. For more fascinating reading on Professor Brueker’s research, read his report.
A movie (that I have yet to see, but has been repeatedly recommended to me) brings together all the elements of this blog post: CHUCK NORRIS VS. COMMUNISM. Information access, Romanian revolution, North Korea, Hollywood movies, activists, Christians and the Church all wrapped up into one movie. Go watch it!
