On Tuesday, Oct. 29, Joel Chang, a member of Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), screened a TED talk and  led a discussion with a group of University students. The event was co-sponsored by the University’s LiNK chapter lead co-chairs Deborah Ko ’15 and Tess Lemon ’14. LiNK is a grassroots organization based in North America that is devoted to North Korean human rights and humanitarian crises.

“It’s the only organization in North America that focuses on the rescue and the resettlement of North Korean refugees,” Ko said. “In the past they’ve rescued 188 refugees from North Korea. They also want to change the public focus from North Korea’s political crisis to the major humanitarian crisis that’s going on as well. [LiNK] sends groups to go on tours across the country to show films and lead discussions.”

The screened TED talk was given by Joseph Kim, a North Korean refugee who narrowly escaped starvation by fleeing to China. After entering China, LiNK helped Kim resettle into America. Kim recounted the hope he needed to survive in North Korea.

“When I could not fall asleep from bitter cold or hunger pains, I hoped that the next morning my sister would wake me up with my favorite food,” Kim said during the TED talk. “That hope kept me alive.”

Chang, who recently had the chance to meet Kim, expanded on this theme of hope in North Korea.

“When people watch the news, all they see is the negative images from North Korea, the nuclear weapons,” Chang said. “But North Korea is a hopeful situation. The North Korean people are very smart; they’re intelligent and they’re making changes right now. Our organization actually believes that North Korea will be free in this lifetime. With this underground market, it is fueling changes in the country from the bottom up.”

An underground market began in the 1990s, which allowed North Koreans to secretly trade for banned goods. Both Lemon and LiNK member Hae Kwon ’17 reacted to this message of hope.

“North Korea is a hopeful situation because of the bridge LiNK is promoting,” Lemon said. “There are a number of refugees who are now outside of Korea, and they’re finding new, innovative ways to help those living in North Korea. The refugees are helping the people in North Korea empower themselves. The more the refugees are able to help, the more hope there is of fostering change in the country from the inside out.”

Kwon spoke in a similar vein.

“While many people assume nothing can be done because of the dictatorship and this huge boundary, there actually is hope,” Kwon said. “We can do something about it and I think we should.”

Despite the growing hope for those remaining in North Korea, the journey to escape to China is still a very difficult one. North Korean refugees discovered by the Chinese government are promptly deported back to their homeland, where they are punished for their attempt to flee. In addition, many refugees are subject to exploitation as well as sex trafficking in China.

In his TED talk, Kim mentioned that living in China was in fact more difficult than living in North Korea. Kwon noted that this was not surprising to him.

“I heard about how horrible it was for refugees in China before,” Kwon said. “But I’ve never seen anyone talk about it like Joseph did; it definitely became more real.”

North Korea has been in the news this past summer after former NBA star Dennis Rodman met with Supreme Leader Kim Jung-Un. Yet the news hasn’t reflected the current struggle of the North Korean people.

“It is helpful that North Korea has been in the news recently,” Lemon said. “However, LiNK’s message is that the news shouldn’t just be about North Korea’s nuclear program but about getting people to recognize other things that are happening there. So many are living in starvation just like Joseph was.”

Lemon elaborated on the need for people to be aware of the atrocities in North Korea, and the University’s LiNK chapter’s aims to do just that.

“It’s almost disturbing [that] people don’t talk about what is happening,” she said. “For example, if you were discovered to be a defector, you’re entire family would be sent to a gulag for life. Obviously these aren’t fun things to talk about, but I think people need to be talking about them.”