More than 500 persons including North Korean Christian defectors belonging to the “Citizens’ Association Against Forced Repatriation of North Korean Defectors” gathered in front of Tapgol Park in Jongno-gu, Seoul, at 11 a.m. on the morning of November 18. There they held a prayer meeting to express their gratitude on the occasion of the 1000th day of a 1-person relay protest against the forcible deportation of defectors back to the North, and carried out a street campaign calling for the rescue of defectors. In 1997, North Korean defector Lee Ae-ran, director of the Research Center on North Korean Traditional Food, proposed that a street protest be organized to demand an end to China’s compulsory repatriation of North Korean defectors. Her idea led to the start, on February 23, 2012, of a 1000-day-long series of tent sit-ins, picketing, rallies and other actions against the coercive repatriations. In particular, protests in the form of prayer meetings and prayer fasts in front of the Chinese Embassy in Hyoja-dong, Seoul, generated much concern both inside and outside Korea.
Following the worship service, the North Korean Christian defectors held a ceremony inaugurating the “North Korea Visitation Team to Support Our North Korean Families,” and read aloud a statement of appeal, asking permission to visit the North and “feed our families a bowl of warm rice.”
Reporter Yeong Dae Yoo (ydyoo@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)
Photo by intern reporter Heo Ran
Click here for the original article in Korean
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