Seoul Train

So my wife and I had another showing of the documentary Seoul Train. The documentary is about the plight of North Korean refugees in China.

This was my third time seeing the documentary and still gets to me. The refugees are not free nor at peace after they escape from North Korea(link to DPRK's official site). Even if they survive the escape they live in constant fear of being captured and repatriated back to North Korea(CIA link). once you flee the North you're branded as a traitor and the punishment is usually hard labor, torture and or death. Currently China(link to China's official site) does not recognize those fleeing North Korea as refugees instead they view them as illegal immigrants and thus they are not protected under any international law or by the United Nations. However the UNHCR, the United Nations' agency created to protect refugees have done next to nothing to protect them. To make things worse, South Korea(link to ROK's official site) still doesn't recognize North Korea(link to DPRK's official site) as an official country and so they don't recognize the refugees either. Matter of fact at a conference that I was at the South Korean(Wikipedia link) government officials left the room when the documentary was about to start.

The only ones that are helping these refugees are a small group of activists who either tries to lead them out of China (CIA link) or help them get the official refugee status. The movie shows three attempts as well as interviews with various people and agencies involved with the refugee problems.

Our main objective for having these showings is to disseminate information and to bring more awareness to issues surrounding North Korea (CIA link). The popular media has done a great job of putting Kim Jong-Il's face on North Korea (Wikipedia link) and rightfully so. However, there are so many people suffering right now and there are so many North Korean nationals suffering OUTSIDE of North Korea! North Korea is a secretive and closed society but these refugees have already escaped yet they're still not free nor are they out of danger... If you get a chance check out the documentary and perhaps you'll see different faces when you hear "North Korea (US State dept link)" being mention.