Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Action in 18 Countries, 42 Cities Worldwide:
Xi Jinping: Stop Killing North Koreans!
Washington, DC Area Media please note:
- Prayer Vigil at the Lincoln Memorial: 11 am
- Demonstration and Appeal Delivery: 1:15-2 pm at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China 3505 International Place, NW, Washington, DC
- Congressional-Executive Commission on China Roundtable Briefing 3:30-5 pm visit cecc.gov
WASHINGTON D.C. —Tuesday, September 24, Save North Korean Refugees Day, the North Korea Freedom Coalition will join with activists and non-governmental organizations in 18 countries to deliver appeals to Chinese embassies and consulates in 42 cities that call for President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China to end his inhumane and illegal repatriation of North Korean refugees back to North Korea where they face certain torture, imprisonment and even execution.
Tuesday is the 42nd anniversary of the People’s Republic of China becoming a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, the very agreement China is violating when it forces children, women and men against their will back to North Korea. Because of the horrific findings of what the refugees face when repatriated that were well documented in 2014 by the UN Commission of Inquiry’s Report on North Korea, China is also clearly violating another treaty: the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment which it signed in 1988.
The refugees were fleeing persecution in their homeland, trying to reach freedom in South Korea where North Koreans are openly welcomed by President Yoon Suk Yeol. President Yoon has appealed strongly to China to allow the refugees safe passage as they are citizens of South Korea under the Republic of Korea’s constitution. South Korea has already successfully resettled well over 34,000 refugees.
This coordinated action, Save North Korean Refugees Day, is organized by the North Korea Freedom Coalition each year to show China that the international community is aware of their heinous actions and so that these refugees know that the world is aware of their plight.
According to Jang Sei-ul, a North Korean defector who is leading the demonstration in Seoul, “two North Korean women aged 39 and 42 years were tried on August 30, 2024 and then executed, while nine others were sent to slow deaths in a political prison camp with a life sentence.” Among the “crimes” the two women committed were helping 41 North Korean women get to South Korea. Hundreds of others who were repatriated have been sent to political prison camps, while another group is currently in extreme danger of repatriation.
“This year in addition to these protests worldwide against Xi’s repatriations and his aiding and abetting Kim Jong Un’s crimes against humanity, we are also delivering a letter of heartfelt thanks to President Yoon Suk yeol for his efforts to try to save the lives of these Korean refugees,” said Suzanne Scholte, Chair of the North Korea Freedom Coalition.
Pastor Star Lee of the Esther Prayer Movement, who is leading efforts in Washington, D.C., pledged, “South Korea, the United States, and the world will unite to protect North Korean refugees until the end.”
Letters of Appeal are planned in the following countries and cities which may also include protests, prayer vigils and other activities to raise awareness of this issue:
- Australia (Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney)
- Canada (Ottawa, Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver)
- Colombia (Bogota)
- Cuba (Havana)
- Timor-Leste (Dili)
- Fiji (Suva)
- Finland (Helsinki)
- France (Paris)
- India (New Delhi)
- Japan (Tokyo, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Nagoya, Niigata, Osaka, and Sapporo)
- Malawi (Lilongwe)
- Mexico (Mexico City and Tijuana)
- Micronesia (Palikir)
- New Zealand (Wellington, Auckland, and Christchurch)
- Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby)
- Republic of Korea (Seoul)
- Solomon Islands (Honiara)
- South Africa (Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg)
- United States (Chicago, Los Angeles, Sacramento, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, DC)
- United Kingdom (London, Belfast, Edinburgh, and Manchester)
In Washington, D.C., NKFC members will hold a prayer vigil at the Lincoln Memorial at 11 am hosted by the Esther Prayer Movement and then proceed to the Chinese Embassy to deliver an appeal to Xi and host a demonstration from 1:15-2 pm. They will then deliver a letter of thanks to President Yoon Suk Yeol before participating in a Congressional Executive Commission on China briefing on Capitol Hill on the current North Korea refugee crisis from 3:30-5 pm.
For further information contact, Suzanne Scholte (English) or Johnny Park (Korean).
Suzanne Scholte
Seoul Peace Prize Laureate
President, Defense Forum Foundation
Chair, North Korea Freedom Coalition
