Since the launch of North Korea Freedom Week (NKFW) on Sunday, numerous events have taken place, including the press conference that took place Monday morning at 9 AM local time in Washington, D.C. at the National Press Club, during which representatives from various organizations shared information regarding the status of North Korea.
Representatives from various non-profit organizations spoke at a press conference on Monday morning at the National Press Club.
"Over the past 12 years that we've had North Korea Freedom Week, there have been many changes within North Korea, especially within the last year," said Suzanne Scholte, the chairman of the North Korea Freedom Coalition, the main host of the NKFW. "Information from within North Korea is becoming more accessible from outside of the country, and the North Korean people are becoming less and less dependent on the government. The beginnings of a capitalistic society is being seen."
"Through North Korea Freedom Week, we've been able to report the human rights conditions, drug trafficking, illegal weapons trafficking, and other crimes that the country has been partacking in to the international public," said Sung-Min Kim, the president of Free North Korea Radio. "We are at a time in which the information from within North Korea can be publicly reported within 24 hours -- a time in which North Korea can no longer hide the things it has been trying to hide."
"Pamphlets, radio, and USBs are the major ways through which refugee organizations have been creating change within the country," Kim continued.
Kim also emphasized that these organizations are in need of the help of the U.S. government, explaining that the U.S. did have short-term programs toward offering humanitarian aid to North Korean people, but these efforts are not continuous, and the scale is decreasing, according to Kim.
Participants of North Korea Freedom Week visited the Korean War Memorial and participated in a wreath-laying ceremony.
Other events that took place during the NKFW so far over the past two days include a benefit concert, which took place on Sunday night, a wreath-laying ceremony at the Korean War Memorial, and a church service at the Korean Central Presbyterian Church in Centreville on Sunday morning.
Some 2,000 were present at the church service, during which Scholte and 20 refugee representatives were also present. Korean Central Presbyterian Church is known to be a church that regularly intercedes for North Korea.
Suzanne Scholte, the chairman of the North Korea Freedom Coalition, participated in the church service that took place at the Korean Central Presbyterian Church in Centreville, the first official event of North Korea Freedom Week.
In particular, Young-Hee Kim, one of the refugees, shared her testimony during the service, and shared the precious value of freedom, and her hopes that the gospel that sets prisoners free would penetrate North Korea.
"The fact that I am here is a result of the sincere prayers of all of the members of the Korean church on behalf of North Korea," Young-Hee Kim shared, and said that she would continue dedicating herself to "bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners, just as it proclaims in Isaiah 61:1-3."
Other notable portions of the NKFW include a panel discussion hosted by the Heritage Foundation regarding policy recommendations to improve conditions for the North Korean people on Tuesday; testimonies being heard in a Congressional Hearing on Wednesday; testimonies from defectors at the United Nations on Thursday; and a demonstration at the PRC Embassy for North Korean Refugees on Saturday. The official NKFW activities end on Saturday, May 2.
Young-Hwan Hahm and Hyung-Jin Im contributed to this article.
