Dear Friends:

 

I am pleased to share with you a number of upcoming events starting next week which will be of interest to everyone focused on North Korea.

 

First, the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea and the Committee for the Release of Shin Sook-ja, Oh hae-won and Oh Kyu-won with the U.S. Korea Institute at SAIS will be hosting a special event to update everyone on the campaign to rescue Dr. Oh Kil-nam's family from North Korea. This special event will be held Tuesday, September 11, 2012, from 1:30-3 pm at the Rome Auditorium at SAIS (1740 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC, 20036). Among the speakers will be Dr. Oh, HRNK Co-Chairman Roberta Cohen, Choi Sung-yong, Choi Hong-jae, Kwon Eun Kyoung and HRNK executive director, Greg Scarlatoiu, shall moderate the session. RSVP to Daniela Sanatan of HRNK at hrnkdc@gmail.com.

 

Also, next week, H.R. 1464, the North Korean Refugee Adoption Act of 2011, introduced by Congressman Ed Royce, is scheduled for a floor vote. This legislation reached 54 co-sponsors which is a direct result of the work of Sam Kim and the Korean Church Coalition for North Korea Freedom and Grace Yoo of the Korean American Coalition of Los Angeles -- both of these individuals organized visits at different times during these past few months to Members of Congress, and you could see after each of their visits to Capitol Hill, a dramatic increase in the number of co-sponsors for this legislation. The KCC's events in July were spectacular as anyone who participated can attest and they made this legislation a major part of their efforts. You can see the results. This is just another example for us all of the importance of individuals speaking out! Which leads me to the next major events coming up the following week:

 

Fourth Annual Save North Korea Refugees Day slated for September 22, 2012, will include visit by North Korean Defectors; International Protest; Special Screening of48M; and other events. The North Korea Freedom Coalition is organizing a number of events during the week of September 17-22 in conjunction with the fourth Annual Save North Korean Refugees Day and the International Protest that will occur around the world on Saturday, September 22nd. Among these events are:

 

World Premier of 48M -- the distance between life and death (FLYER ATTACHED): In recognition of the fourth annual Save North Korean Refugees Day, the producers of 48M are hosting three special screenings of this powerful movie -- two in the Washington D.C. area and one in Los Angeles during the month of September. There will be a screening on Capitol Hill hosted by Congressman Ed Royce and the Defense Forum Foundation either on September 19 or 20th for Members of Congress and Congressional staff, as well as NGO leaders and the media. There will also be a special screening at Pilgrim Church in Burke, Virginia, on Saturday, September 22. The screening at Pilgrim Church will be a fund-raising event to benefit North Korea outreach projects including radio broadcasting and balloon launches and the newly formed NKUS, an organization dedicated to helping North Koreans who have resettled in the USA. Tickets are $20 per person and there are also options for being a sponsor for this event with some very, very special benefits for sponsors. Seating is limited! Please see attached flyer for all details!

 

About 48M: This is a powerful and gripping South Korean movie with English subtitles depicting the reality of what has been happening and is happening right now to North Koreans trying to escape North Korea when they cross the 48 meters of the Yalu River from North Korea to China. The script was written based on the real life testimonies of over 200 North Korean defectors who have made that dangerous trek and is dramatized through the main plot of sixteen defectors who have gathered to cross the river - their stories, their dreams. Produced by An Hyuk, himself a defector and survivor of the Yoduk political prison camps who also made that journey of escape, 48M vividly tells the story of the real life experiences of North Korean defectors who even today are fleeing simply because they tell us: We just want to live.

 

An and his colleagues spent over two years to make this film with the fervent hope that through their film those who care for peace and human rights will understand the reality of the North Korean refugee crisis and those who even today are risking their lives to make that 48 meter journey will have courage and hope.