Why North Korea

Right now, 24 million people face the most repressive regime in the world.

The people of North Korea are denied even the most basic rights of free speech, free movement, and information freedom, because the ruling elite prioritizes regime survival over all else. They use a brutally repressive system of political control to ensure their domination over society, employing extreme measures including collective punishment, public executions, and political prison camps.

why_nk_image_3

5 Political Prison Camps

3 Generation Punishment

Public Executions

This system is one that would rather spend millions of labor hours idolizing their leaders than improving their economy; and even punishes its citizens for watching smuggled DVDs because learning about the outside world is a threat to their system. Such punishments include torture, execution, or political prison camps.

The most brutal institution of social control are the five political prison camps that hold 80,000 to 120,000 people living on starvation rations and subject to hard labor. These are not just people who have ‘wronged the state’, but whole families who are condemned for the ‘crime’ of one person daring to question the country’s leadership.

why_nk_image_3

25% of children in North Korea are chronically malnourished.

This poverty is the result not of a lack of conditions for economic development—North Korea has the same potential that saw South Korea go from one of the world’s poorest countries to the dynamic economy it is today inside 50 years—rather it is the tragic consequence of the ruling elite’s aversion to change and absolute prioritization of political stability, maintained through the micromanagement of society and the ruthless repression of alternative views. This stifles the people’s potential and has left an entire generation of North Koreans with stunted growth and higher susceptibility to health problems.

TV_Animated_NoMatte

To make matters worse, international attention has focused on nuclear weapons & the Kim family.

The international politics is deadlocked, but that is still what the international media focuses on. This affects the people because the highly politicized and securitized image of North Korea makes the issue seem hopeless, with nothing you or I can do to support the people.

WHILE THE OUTSIDE WORLD HAS IGNORED THE PEOPLE, THEY HAVE QUIETLY EMERGED AS UNIQUE AGENTS OF CHANGE INSIDE & OUTSIDE THEIR COUNTRY…

The PEOPLE are breaking away from the control of the regime & are transforming their society from the bottom up.

Since the collapse of the state economy in the 1990s, unofficial markets have not only enabled the North Korean people to make a living but also provided the people with goods that are outside the government’s control, including technologies like DVDs, USBs, laptops, and cellphones. These new information channels provide the people with new ideas, perspectives and possibilities. North Koreans are not as isolated as they once were, and they are gaining physical and psychological independence from the regime.

why_nk_image_3

North Korea bridge

North Korean refugees send an estimated $10-15 million back home every year.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have risked their lives to escape to a better life outside, and many of these people have also emerged as agents of progress by sending money and information back to their home communities through illicit channels. This helps to accelerate social change, fuel grassroots marketization, and weaken the regime’s control.

why_nk_image_3

The grassroots changes being driven by the North Korean people are irreversible, long-term, and will eventually lead to a transformation and opening of North Korea.

The North Korean people have shown incredible resilience in the face of their challenges, and they have emerged as a unique force of change in this issue. It is increasingly clear that the grassroots changes being driven by the North Korean people are irreversible, long-term, and hold the promise of eventually leading to a transformation of North Korea. We have made it our mission to come alongside the North Korean people and act in the most effective way possible to help them accelerate positive change so that they can gain the conditions and freedoms to pursue their hopes, dreams, talents and potential to the full, and achieve their liberty.

WE BELIEVE THE NORTH KOREAN PEOPLE WILL ACHIEVE THEIR LIBERTY IN OUR LIFETIME. OUR MISSION IS TO ACCELERATE THAT CHANGE.

This is Jung Ha. She is one of over 500 North Korean refugees who has reached freedom through a rescue. Please donate to rescue and support refugees who need it now.

Right now, 24 million people face the most repressive regime in the world.

25% of children in North Korea are chronically malnourished.

To make matters worse, international attention has focused on nuclear weapons & the Kim family.

The international politics is deadlocked, but that is still what the international media focuses on. This affects the people because the highly politicized and securitized image of North Korea makes the issue seem hopeless, with nothing you or I can do to support the people.

The PEOPLE are breaking away from the control of the regime & are transforming their society from the bottom up.

North Korean refugees send an estimated $10-15 million back home every year.

The grassroots changes being driven by the North Korean people are irreversible, long-term, and will eventually lead to a transformation and opening of North Korea.

Your donation will help more North Korean refugees reach freedom and safety.