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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. - From The Story 10/16/2006
Why does he do this dangerous work?
Adrian quotes from Elie Wiesel.
"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.
There is so much to be done, there is so much that can be done. One person - a Raoul Wallenberg, an Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther King, Jr. - one person of integrity, can make a difference, a difference of life and death.
As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our life will be filled with anguish and shame. What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs.
Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to all those who need us desperately." - Elie Wiesel, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
Who are the volunteers?
"To deny these people is to deny my soul. And really, I think that sums up how I feel perfectly. We don't really have a choice, do we? We must help them." - anonymous applicant to LiNk
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"I am willing to speak on behalf of these people who cannot speak for themselves, wittingly leaving my own life behind, because I have hope for this nation. I can't live the privileged life that I do everyday, while knowing that oceans away there are people who look just like me living in unbelievably extreme oppression and suffering. If I wasn't aware of the situation in North Korea I know I would not be typing this right now, but because I know, I must act. I will not turn my back on their cries by being silent. Silence equals acceptance and I will not accept the suffering in North Korea. I will offer all I can, even though it may be little, in the hope of a better life for these people. - anonymous applicant to LiNK
