A New Underground Railroad

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 04:00:00

A New Underground Railroad

One week ago, North Korea reported that it had detonated a nuclear device. On Saturday, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to impose both arms and financial sanctions on North Korea as punishment.

"For more than a decade, the people of North Korea - one of the most isolated nations on earth - have suffered from famine and acute food shortages. Hundreds of thousands of people have died and many millions more have suffered from chronic malnutrition. The actions of the North Korean government exacerbated the effects of the famine and the subsequent food crisis, denying the existence of the problem for many years, and imposing ever-tighter controls on the population to hide the true extent of the disaster. North Korea remains dependent on food aid to feed its people, yet government policy still prevents the swift and equitable distribution of this aid, while the population is denied the right to freedom of movement, which would enable people to go and search for food."
- Amnesty International Report

North Korean defectors usually head to China. But South Korean officials confirmed reports that China is erecting a barbed-wire fence along the border to keep North Koreans out. The ones who do make it into the country are in danger of being sent back to North Korea, and will face greater danger than food shortage. Dick Gordon's guest says they also face being sent to concentration camps.

"Many times when you meet North Korean defectors, physically they seem a lot younger than they are because they were malnourished. But emotionally, and just, their eyes, they seem ten, twenty, thirty years older than they should be."
- Adrian Hong

Dick talks with Adrian Hong, who runs an organization called Link Global, which is working to save North Korean defectors. This young man, a 2005 college graduate, runs thirty safe houses in a modern-day underground railroad.

Explore Adrian's website
Why does he do this dangerous work? Adrian quotes from Elie Wiesel.
Who are the volunteers?

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The Story from American Public Media - A New Underground Railroad

A New Underground Railroad

A New Underground Railroad