12/6/10 – With the recent military skirmish between North Korea and South Korea, the crisis in North Korea is growing ever more serious. Is this it? Are we nearing another world war?
“I can’t see anything but a worn patience between the two Koreas. I feel as though they’re going to reach a point where it’s really going to lead to the next world war,” Jane Choi, junior at Grover Cleveland High School and vice president of its Korean Club, said. She was referring to the November 23, 2010 shelling of the island of Yeonpeong by North Korea and South Korea’s return fire. “Think about it: there’s North Korea with its Chinese support, a rising world power, and South Korea with its American support, another world power.”
Just nearly a week earlier, on November 18, 2010, Choi was a part of organizing a screening of the documentary, “Hiding,” produced by Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) at Grover Cleveland. Korean Club co-hosted the screening with Teen International Media Exchange Club.
“The documentary was real and very unreal at the same time. It was amazing how real the risk was… I kept imagining what would happen if they got caught,” Choi said.
About 30 students were gathered to watch the documentary about North Korean refugees hiding in China and their escape to safety, with the help of LiNK Nomads, who rescue, shelter, and assist them in their resettlement process to other, safe countries. LiNK also works to raise awareness among youth across America by sending volunteers called Nomads to show original documentaries and discuss the current issues of North Korea. They brought information and sold t-shirts to students to raise money for refugee aid.
“I saw pictures and I heard many sad stories,” Lois Kim, a sophomore, said. “This was the first documentary I saw on North Korean refugees. [It] reminded me of the people of North Korea. In my daily life, I am so busy that I forget about how blessed I am to live here. The documentary really reminded me of how so many people are suffering in many different countries, even in the U.S., but especially in North Korea, the most closed country in the world.”
Learning about the harsh human rights conditions driving North Koreans to risk their lives to escape their homes and the recent military fire between North Korea and South Korea seemed to compel students like Kim to a common hope: “I know it’s been open fire since the Korean War, but I think, I hope, that in the future, Korea will be one country.”
